Encountering your business through online searches

What customers see online is fundamental to their impressions of what you and your business are and offer. Book 5, Chapter 6 is all about connecting with customers online. This section is about assessing what customers see when they search online and whether their search results align with what you want them to believe about your business.

Study search results for your name and the name of your company and products. First, Google your name, and then search with Bing, DuckDuckGo, and other search engines. Here’s what to look for:

• Does the name you’re searching for appear prominently in the first few pages of results — which is as far as most people look?
• Are you happy with what you see? Do links to your name lead to sites with information that’s relevant to the brand image you want to project? (See Book 5, Chapter 4 for more on your brand.)
• Do top results lead straight to your business website or to a map or phone number for your company?
• When you search your name in online images and video, are you happy with what you see or are results inconsistent with the image you want your business to project?

Arriving at your website

To people shopping online, your website is your business. To everyone else, it’s a gateway to your business. Here are some quick points to keep in mind as you develop an online presence that supports your business image:

• You have to work to be found online. With the web already hosting at least a trillion pages, and the number of URLs or site addresses increasing by hundreds of thousands each day, any business now needs the following:

  • A website with its own name in the site address
  • Social media pages
  • A network of online links that point web users to the business site
  • A commitment to optimizing the site’s visibility in search engine results
  • A communication effort that features links to all major online locations in all ads and marketing materials

• People arriving at your site may not know where they are. They may be coming from search engine results or online links that send them to an internal page of your site, so be sure that every page features your name or logo, along with a link to your home page.

• Realize that most customers are channel agnostics. They migrate between online and offline encounters and expect continuity as they travel. Whether they see your Facebook page, your website or blog, your traditional media ads, your display windows, or you and your staff members in person, they expect a single business image. Be sure your online identity meshes with your offline identity, right down to the style of typeface you use, the kinds of messages you present, and the way you display your business name and logo.

Don’t ignore the fact that more than eight out of ten smartphone owners search from their phones while they’re shopping, traveling, or otherwise away from their computers, even when they’re in their own homes. Be sure to create a simplified mobile version of your website (see Book 2, Chapter 5 for more details).

Managing email impressions

Sometime in the late 1990s (in other words, ancient history), the number of email messages eclipsed the volume of traditional letters sent by businesses. Yet while businesses routinely format, proofread, print, and file traditional correspondence, they send email messages spontaneously, often with no standard policy and rarely with a company record for future referral. Such an informal approach to email is fine for thank-you notes or quick updates to customers, but what if the message includes a fee estimate or a notice that client-requested changes will result in an additional thousand dollars of expense? And what if the staff member who sent the email is no longer with your company when the customer questions the bill?

For the sake of your business, set a few email guidelines:

• Unify all company emails by use of a common signature. A signature or sig is a few lines of text that appear at the end of every email message. The signature usually includes

  • The name of the person sending the message
  • Your business logo
  • A tagline that tells what your business does
  • Your business address, phone number, and website URL
  • Often a promotional message or offer

  Note: You can create a signature in almost any email program. Go to the help function for instructions.

• Set a tone and style for email messages. In well-managed businesses, traditional letters go out on company letterhead, use a consistent typeface and style, and employ clear, professional language. Consider email a dressed-down version of your formal correspondence. It can be more relaxed and more spontaneous, and it can (and should) be more to the point — but it can’t be impolite or unprofessional.
• Respond to email within four hours, even if your response is simply a one-line note that offers a complete answer within days. An email that isn’t answered promptly falls into the same category as phone calls that are placed on endless hold or long, slow-moving lines at the cash register. The customer service impact is devastating.
• Back up email messages so they’re easily accessible. This is especially important should an employee quit or not be available when a customer questions a pricing, delivery, or other promise made through email communications.
• Consider establishing business-wide email standards. Keep email messages short, encourage the use of greetings and standard punctuation, and limit the use of emoticons. Also avoid colored backgrounds or graphics that make messages slow to download on customer computers or mobile devices.

Arriving by telephone

Often, with no prompting at all, callers will tell you how they found your number: “John Jones suggested I call,” or “I’m curious about the new whatchamacallits I see in your ad,” or “I was on your website, but I couldn’t tell whether your business is open Sundays.” If the conversation doesn’t naturally disclose how the person obtained your phone number, take a few seconds (but only a few seconds) to ask something like, “I’m glad you called us. We’re always working to improve our communications, and I’d love to note how you got our phone number.”

The responses help you see what is and isn’t working to generate phone calls. They also help you determine which first impression points bring qualified prospects into your business and which ones reel in people who are “just looking.” In the latter case, realize that the problem is rarely with the caller and most often with the impression point.

For example, a real estate brokerage that specializes in high-end residential properties continuously fields calls from shoppers trying to buy homes in a much lower price tier than those listed by the realty company. Upon questioning, the real estate agents discover that most of the mismatched callers found the phone number in a regional real estate guide in which the company’s ad read, “We have your dream home.” The agents realize that their ad message is appealing to the wrong target market. As a result, they amend their ad to read, “Specialists in fine properties and estate homes.”

To get the right prospects to call your business, be sure to target your communications carefully, help customers understand what you offer, make your phone number appropriately large and bold, give people a reason to dial it, and then be ready to treat every call as a valuable business opportunity.

All marketing communications — whether through advertising, direct mail, email, networking, presentations, social media, or website visits — aim to achieve a single goal: a personal contact and the opportunity to make a sale. Chapter 5 in Book 5 has more information on marketing communications that work.

When the hard-won call comes, don’t fumble the opportunity:

• Answer calls promptly. Pick up after the first or second ring whenever possible. Even if you have a receptionist, train others to serve as backups, answering any call that reaches a third ring.

• Transfer calls as quickly as you answer them. Be prompt about getting the caller to the appropriate person in your business. If that person isn’t available, say so immediately. Offer to take a message, put the caller through to voicemail, or find someone else to help.

  On hold is a dangerous and costly place to leave valuable prospects.

• Get everyone in your company to answer the phone in a consistent and professional manner. “Hello, this is John” is an appropriate business greeting only when the caller is specifically calling John. Otherwise, answer with the business name in addition to a personal name.
• Keep voicemail messages brief and friendly. Use wording that conveys your business purpose and personality and offer no more than three options so callers can quickly jump to the option they seek. For example:

  “Thank you for calling 20/20 Vision. We’re focusing on eye exams and frame selections right now, but please press 1 for our hours and location, or press 2 to leave a message. We promise to call you back within the hour.”

• Ask your phone company to monitor and report on your hang-up rate. Multiple rings, lengthy hold times, and voicemail responses are reasons for callers to abandon their efforts to reach your business.

Consider placing mirrors near the phones if your business relies heavily on telephone contact. People instinctively smile at themselves in mirrors because it makes them look more attractive, and a smile also makes a voice more attractive — more natural, friendly, and enthusiastic. You’ll be able to hear the difference, and so will the person on the other end of the line.

Approaching your business in person

If a person walks into your business, looks around, and asks, “What kind of a business is this?” you can make an educated guess that the drop-in was unplanned and triggered only by a look at your signage or window displays. (You may want to improve these impression points to better address this obvious question.)

Many businesses boast that their signage is their most effective means of attracting first-time visitors. But before banking on your sign to draw people in, realize that when people respond only to your signage, they’re making spur-of-the-moment, drop-in visits — perhaps at a time when they’re short on both time and money. Instead, work to achieve destination visits by making impressions and cultivating interest well in advance of prospects noticing your sign and walking through your door.

Surveying your marketing materials and communications

Start by pulling samples of stationery, ads, signs, brochures, coffee cups, T-shirts, online communications, and any other items that represent your business. Line them all up and evaluate them using these questions:

• Does your business name and logo look the same every time you make an impression?
• Do you consistently use the same colors?
• Do you consistently use the same typeface?
• Do your marketing materials present a consistent image in terms of look, quality, and message?

Study your samples and isolate those that don’t fit with the others, perhaps because they use outdated or inaccurate versions of your name or logo. Or maybe the colors are wrong or the tone is inconsistent. Possibly the message is witty or silly when the rest of your communications are fact-filled and serious. Or the caliber may be unprofessional compared to the rest of your materials.

Cull the inappropriate items and then look at what’s left.

• Does the consistent portion of your marketing materials accurately reflect your business?
• Do your marketing materials adequately appeal to your target market?
  • For example, if you know that your customers value top quality, do your marketing materials convey a top-quality company? Do your ads convey quality? Do you apply your logo only to prestigious advertising items? If you’re a retailer, are your shopping bags the finest you can afford? If you’re a service company, do you present your proposals in a manner that reinforces the caliber of your firm while affirming your customer’s taste level?
  • If your customers value economy, do your materials look too upscale? If so, they may telegraph the wrong message.
  • If your customers choose you primarily for convenience, do your materials put forth that assurance? Or, if customers value your reliability, do you convey that attribute through a flawless commitment to a reliably consistent projection of your identity?

In forming opinions about your company, your market relies on the impressions it gets from your communications. See Chapter 5 in Book 5 for details on creating marketing communications that work.

Creating an impression inventory

Your business makes impressions in person, online, in ads and marketing materials, in correspondence … the list goes on and on. Every contact is capable of contributing to or detracting from the image you want people to hold in their minds about your business. Try the following tips:

• Define your company’s impression points. Using the provided entries, check all impression points that apply to your business, and add any additional ways your business comes into contact with customers and prospective customers. No item is too small to include. If your ad is a work of art but your proposal cover is flimsy, the negative impact of one cancels out the positive impact of the other. Every impression counts.
• Define the target market for each impression point. Is it to develop a new prospect or to communicate with an existing customer — or maybe a little bit of both? If your business has a number of customer types or product lines, you may want to get even more specific. For instance, one ad for an insurance brokerage may target property insurance prospects and another may target life insurance prospects. By defining the different purposes, the brokerage is able to gauge how much it invests in the development of each product line.
• Rate the quality of each impression your business makes. Give each of your communication vehicles a grade of Good, Average, or Poor, based on your assessment of how well it conveys your business image, message, look, and style.
• Who’s in charge of each impression point? Many impressions that affect a company’s image are made by those who don’t think of themselves as marketers. Nine times out of ten, no one is thinking about marketing when a cost estimate is presented, a bill is sent, or a purchase order is issued. The key is to think about the marketing impact far in advance so that you create materials, processes, and systems that advance a positive image for your company.
• Evaluate the costs involved. What does each communication cost in terms of development, media, printing, or other expenses? After you know the answer, you can add up what you’re spending on business development, customer retention, and marketing of each product line. You may be surprised to find that you’re over-supporting some functions and under-supporting others, and you can adjust accordingly.

Improving the impressions you’re making

Ask yourself the following questions to assess the quality and effectiveness of the impressions your business makes:

• Are you allocating your efforts well? Are you spending enough on efforts to keep current customers happy, or are your efforts too heavily weighted toward getting new people through the door — or vice versa?
• Do your communications fit your image and objectives? Answer this question for every item, whether it’s an ad or a logo-emblazoned coffee cup. Be sure that each contributes to the image you’re trying to etch in your marketplace rather than to some decision made long ago based on the powerful presentation by a sales representative.
• Is your image consistent, professional, and well suited to the audiences that matter most to your business?

Use your inventory as you fine-tune your communications. Keep it on hand. If you ever decide to change your name, logo, or overall look, this list will remind you of all the items that you need to update.

Use your impression inventory to guide changes as you strengthen the image you project to your market. Work to phase out and replace any impression points you rate as poor and to adjust and improve the quality of any impression points you rate as average.