Making obvious website blunders

• It’s so hard to navigate! If your website is poorly designed – maybe even incomprehensible – you’re going to be losing potential customers left, right and centre. Keep it clear, logical and easy to understand, with functional links and simple design. Don’t try to create a work of art. This is business!
• Vital information is missing. If you’re leaving out crucial details about pricing and delivery options, for example, customers will give up and go elsewhere.
• Contact info is too hard to find. Your site should be intuitive and easy to follow. If your contact details are buried in the last place a potential customer will look, their potential might be lost to you.
• It’s not mobile friendly. Recent changes to Google’s search algorithm mean that businesses without a mobile-friendly site will plunge in the search rankings, and are likely be overlooked in favour of more accessible sites.
• It doesn’t offer secure payment options. Customers these days are cautious when it comes to web payments. They want to be assured that your site is super-secure, keeping their credit card details safe.
• You’re failing to respond to site enquiries. This isn’t bright. If someone is asking you a question or wanting more info on your products, you should be biting their virtual hand off. You never know what might come of your polite, timely and informative response. So be diligent, and pay attention to all your potential customers’ questions.

Neglecting social media

Facebook and Twitter are where it’s at these days, and there’s no sense in trying to deny it. You can choose to go on ignoring it, but there’s no way of knowing how many potential customers you’re losing. Even a basic Facebook page is a great way to start. Start small, get yourself and your staff sharing, and see your business name pushed out into cyberspace. There might be no stopping you once you get the hang of it!

Neglecting the office phone

This is a brilliant way to lose customers without knowing it. Grab yourself a virtual receptionist who will always pick up, know what to say, how to say it, and where to direct those valuable calls. The phone is still a core ingredient of every successful business, so don’t just let it ring!

eVoice’s call features offer a number of key phone tools, including the ability to create a Customised Greeting which presents your business in the best possible light, whoever happens to be calling. 1300 numbers get you noticed, while 1800 numbers give your customers a free call.

Making your customers feel unloved

It’s fundamental, really. Your customer service is non-existent. You don’t take the time to make your customers feel valued or special. You can’t wait to hang the ‘closed’ sign up at the end of the day. Your work hours are inflexible; you don’t thank your customers or reward them for their loyalty. This is the quickest way to lose customers, and perhaps the easiest to address. So why not have a rethink?

After all, you’ve come this far. Do you really want your customers to fall away when you’ve worked so hard to attract them?