Online Sales Mistakes

Business Week Online has an interesting article about Classic Selling Mistakes  It reminds me how Web 2.0 has changed our online buying expectations.  The key to the online sales process is building trust.    Once you understand that your customer won't buy until she's comfortable, you can take your foot off the accelerator.  High pressure selling is old school. 

To make the best use of your sales vehicle—website, mini-site, blog, etc. you need to create a step- wise process and expect to check off each item to get to the final sale.  This is especially useful because you can see at which point customers drop off.  Then you can go back and strengthen that item.

For example, you start the process with a free PDF that provides information about your topic in exchange for an email address.  Next, you offer a monthly newsletter that provides information along with an offer for a free consultation and a link to your blog.  Next, you offer a free teleseminar and at the end you make an offer with a discount.  Along the way you are letting your customer make comfortable choices and get to know you.  A classic sales tenet is that the customer always buys 'you' before he buys your product.  The anonymity of online selling expands this task.  Develop a 'trust building' checklist for each product and you will discover how to get your customers to say yes.

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