Small business website optimization involves many aspects – and one of them is how you address your prospective customers once they arrive on you home page. Most people do not like pushy salespeople – especially on the internet…

In a one on one situation, a salesman can push to close the deal – it’s a matter of salesmanship. However, during a physical, face to face “hard sell”, it is not too easy for the client to back out. After all, the salesperson is “closing all exits” as the prospect is trying to get away from buying…

It works – offline, anyway. Many people have bought many things they did not really want because they were methodically cornered into a purchase by a clever, capable sales person. How many times have you heard from a friend “I did not really intend buying it, but…”

Sound familiar?

However…

Online, things become a little different. You see, offline, the salesman can RESPOND to the prospect’s response, and bring him or her “back on track” – to reconsider the product. Unfortunately, on your small business website, it is not possible to know the response of every person, or correctly gauge it and plan how to handle it. And any sales rep will tell you that it only takes ONE bad (or poorly timed) sentence to blow the whole deal…

NOTE:

Many people who use the internet to find what they need or want to buy, do so in order to be free of pushy sales personnel in the first place. SO by being pushy with your sales copy on your website, you are “force-feeding” them exactly what they do not want. And the “back” button is just ONE mouse click away…

So – on the internet, there is only one way to get the client to do business with you. He or she has to believe that it is the right (and most logical) choice.

The best you can do is to present your business, your product and/or your services in such a way that it comes across not only as a good deal, but also comes across as a company or person that the prospect would want to do business with.

So how do you do it?

Firstly, it is a matter of credibility. Can you offer references or testimonials of happy clients? It counts. Additionally, depending on the industry you work in, it may require specific knowledge. Use your website to showcase that knowledge – and convince your prospective customer that you know what you are doing.

So…

Don’t push. Don’t try to “hard sell”. There is NOTHING stopping the visitor to simply leave your site at any given time. Instead, get him or her to trust you. Offer referrals. Offer information. Offer a money-back guarantee…

After all, the visitor simply wants to be sure that he or she is making the right choice. But if you keep pushing, all the other steps you took towards small business website optimization may be laid to waste.

Can you afford to risk it?