Website as a sales tool

Use your small business website as a sales tool.

I was recently involved at a local bridal show - related to a project I am working on.  A couple of things simply floored me.  First off, it was very interesting to see what kinds of businesses came out and took part.  Some you would expect, some you might not.  But I was blown away at how few of these businesses actually had a good website.  I mean, it is not rocket science to build one, nor does it cost a small fortune to outsource a nice site.  I understand that not everyone can build one but this is part of your marketing efforts.

For example, there was an event planner there.  To my knowledge they don’t even have a website.  I have looked for them online and can’t find them.  Nor do they have a site listed on their business card.  Their email address is at gmail.com.  Painful really.

Another company had a beautiful display at the show.  The are a business that rents out portable shelters.  So if you want to have an outdoor reception, you call them, they bring in a big tent and set up your deal.  Their business is named All Shelter Sales and Rentals, which unfortunately is not completely what they do.  They had a beautiful display at the trade show offering complete catering equipment, location decorating and so on.  Their website does not do justice to the different types of services and products they offer.

Here is what we do.  You see, our website at starsluxurylimousine.com is used daily right within our business.  Maybe someone finds our info in the phone book or from some advertising and they call us.  They are looking for a wedding package.  Great, we have 3 different wedding packages they can choose from.  But instead of trying to explain what these are over the phone, we just simply send them to the website.  Go check out our website and give us a call back (now, of course we take their contact info in case they do not call us back).  We do this for a couple of reasons.  First, you can’t explain the 3 packages over the phone and what the differences are.  People can’t remember that many details all at once and it just ends up sounding like gibberish when you are done.  So, this is all clearly laid out on our website - it is easy to find and easy to understand.  Secondly, we want people to go to our website.  It looks good, it displays our limousine very well, it is a good website and we are proud to have it.  If people go to our website and then to our competitors, they will book with us.  We want them to go there, call over another family member to say “hey, come see this site” and we want them to bookmark it for future reference.

Now, when people call back after seeing the site (most of the do, by the way) they are ready to book.  Very few questions are left to answer and we have had people that call use, go check the site, and call right back ready to book.  Now that is a great feeling - and a great use of our website.

Tags: article marketing, website optimization, internet marketing tips, niche marketing, internet marketing