Getting sales and conversions through a web/blog is not always easy. Avoiding the typical mistakes of online entrepreneurship will save you headaches and wasted time. Today I’m going to tell you about 12 big mistakes if you want to sell online and give you some tips for getting results NOW.
Do you want to increase your digital presence and get more customers? In addition to ensuring the quality of what you offer, you must stand out without making mistakes. There’s a lot of competition and we’re not about to lose customers, are we?
Don’t segment your target audience
As trite as it may sound, this is the reality. Oftentimes, we forget to segment the customer, which wastes our time and effort for a customer who is not interested in the offeror who does not have the necessary purchasing power.
The first thing to do is good market research to know and analyze if your product has a future and if it will be attractive to a certain group of people. Here are some questions you can ask yourself when defining your target audience.
- What is your customer’s need?
- Can my product solve this problem?
- Why will your customer buy your product?
- Can they afford it?
- Are there other brands that offer these services?
- Have these brands achieved a good presence? (based on your answer) indicate How did I succeed? What were their mistakes to avoid it?
- What is the sex and age of your client?
- Where do they live?
- Do you know how they behave on the Internet? Do they use social networks? Which?
The stats of your Facebook page and of course the data you can get from Google Analytics will help you get to know your target audience better. Do good market research, based on real data, to determine who you are targeting and start segmenting your campaigns well. Leave nothing to chance, in online marketing everything can be measured and analyzed.
Not be a specialist in the field
Believe it or not, failing to properly define the area in which you work can hurt not only the definition of your goals but also the definition of the target audience and the credibility of the brand. Sometimes “knowing about everything” can be interpreted as not knowing anything.
This factor is much more important for freelancers, as most clients will prefer a specialist. If instead of being a self-employed person, you are a business, you should surround yourself with a good team of professionals and if possible each of them is specialized in a field. This will give more confidence to your customers and you can avoid losing sales.
Say “yes” to everything
The biggest mistake we can make is to say “Yes” to anything the customer asks of us. If it is something that is beyond the reach of our products or what we offer, we must avoid the temptation to say “yes”. I know that when we start we cannot avoid it because we want to have immediate income, experience, opportunities, among other things.
Don’t worry, we all add a few “hazes” a year, but I’ve learned that it’s best to clear things up early on. When the customer gets used to receiving all of their requests (I mean those that go beyond what has been agreed), they will always ask for more and it will not be good for you or the customer in the long run. term.
If the request is reasonable, say “YES” as this is an opportunity for you to develop yourself, but if it is unreasonable say “NO”.
In conclusion, it is worse to say “yes” to everyone, because there will come a time when you will no longer be able to do the job properly and you will end up fighting, arguing, or defrauding the customer. This is also why you add stress to the workplace by not keeping your promises. Believe me, avoid always saying “yes”.
Do not provide detailed information about your products or services
This does not mean that we should overload the person with information, as they may feel dizzy and confused. And if that happens, the user won’t buy from you and, worse still, won’t come back to your website. The main thing is to write good texts to captivate users and bring them back to your target: form, sale, subscription, etc.
So you need to know how to communicate your message in a concise, understandable, striking, and fast way to capture and attract the users who can become your customers. Don’t try to confuse them with technical and fancy words, because the most important thing is to give them the information they want to know and need. This writing guide will help you spot catchy phrases and better focus on writing your website.
The reason you have to give detailed but straightforward information is that now people don’t have the patience to read all the information, you may get some sales but not the intended goal. So try to use more images and videos to grab the customer’s attention and give the information in a summarized and appealing way to your customers.
You can’t imagine stores wanting to sell online, but they are stunned when told that they have to write at least 300 words on each listing.
Losing sight of your goals
Sometimes when we’re about to make a sale or have a conversation with a potential customer, online or offline, we stray from the end goal and that’s a big mistake. If you are going to an event, conference, or meeting, plan what you are going to say ahead of time and always make sure your message is delivered clearly and straightforwardly. To do this, you need to be very clear about your main goals and fight for them to the end.
Plus, when talking to your potential customers, it’s good to talk about everyday things like family, vacations, hobbies, or culture. Empathizing with the other person will allow you to bond more closely. Confidence is fundamental for the sale to work.
Exaggerate what you offer
That is true. There are times when, in trying to be beautiful and look the best, you say too much. Before proposing a product, therefore, think very carefully about what you are going to say or write. You can’t block the sun with just one finger, so be honest, don’t pretend you’re doing something you can’t afford, and don’t say something that doesn’t fix your product.
Never run promotions that you don’t respect, which can damage the brand’s reputation and lose the loyal customers you already have. If you offer a great price or promotions, make it something that you can respect and offer.
Likewise, when you want to demonstrate your work and your customers’ opinion on the quality of the product or services you offer, encourage honest opinions from your customers, do not post fake testimonials or fake social networks or your site. web, because sooner or later people will find out that it is a lie and it will affect your brand.
Don’t harass the customer
Once the customer has the interest and asks for the information, don’t pressure or harass them the next day, be patient and wait. You can search for it within a reasonable 3-4 days. This can also apply to your email marketing strategy. It is not good to send an email every day but with intervening days, otherwise, you will be classified as spam.
But don’t leave it alone either, which is why a safe day can be 3-4 days for the customer to feel the brand is interested in selling, but we give them the space to decide.
Sell something you haven’t prepared
It happens very often that people come up with a product or a service, but you are afraid that they will steal the idea from you. So you think I should start promoting it? “To collect leads, information, prospects, and customers”. Okay, but what if the customer asks you for dates or directly when they can get it?
How would your customer feel? He may lose interest when you sell him, he may not have the money to buy it, or he may already have someone else offer him.
Talk about controversial topics
You can lose customers by talking about something that affects the mood of your customers and they can be reluctant to buy your products. For example, talking about politics and religion can have a big impact on closing sales.
It can also give you more work if you have to deal with an online reputation crisis, apologize, respond to everyone involved, not to mention the negative effect that being in the spotlight can have. spotlights for an unpleasant case.
Not being prepared for questions
Some clients like to ask EVERYTHING and multiple times if possible, but in reality, this type of client wants you to listen and understand their concerns. You should be prepared to answer any questions and try to answer as naturally as possible. Avoid responding to everything like a robot or automating responses, that’s a big mistake. In return, I recommend giving emails a personal touch by calling people by name and using polite but friendly language.
To prepare for the questions, I recommend that you have a template prepared with the most common questions and answers. So you’ll be ready to deal with these situations and just have to personalize the message in a moment.
On the other hand, there is the time factor. Whenever the customer asks for your attention or has doubts about your product, it is advisable to respond to them as soon as possible. If you establish a routine and force yourself to respond to anything without leaving it hanging for several days, the client will feel cared for, guided, and supported.
Suppose you sometimes have to answer the most urgent questions outside of your working hours. In the online world, most people don’t understand schedules. Social networks, e-mail, your website is available 24 hours a day. We recommend that you specify in your description the opening hours of customer service.
Be patient
You need to be patient with customers, as many of them ask you lots of questions or write to you on weekends or outside of office hours. But be aware that there are times when by answering this question you may close a sale or get a loyal customer who will eventually recommend you to their entire community. Of course, to “take care of yourself in a healthy way” (Venezuelan saying), you can publish in your bio or on the company, the hours of attention to avoid inconvenience with your customers.
Don’t have to follow up on your customers
When you have already served your customer, indeed, you should not harass them, but you should have a follow-up and remind them of the purchase of the product. For this, you can use discount coupons to purchase the product.
For example, if you have offered a trial web video editing program, you can send them a reminder 5 days before the trial days expire and provide them with offers to purchase the product. You need to get and record everyone’s contact details and it would be good if you managed a small database with that.
A great tracking tool is a CRM and if you apply these creative techniques, you will be able to get more and more loyal customers.
9 additional tips for meeting your client in person to get clients
- Know your customer’s profile, before offering them a product or service. Search their LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter profile.
- In a meeting, do not go directly to the point of sale. Talk to the client about other things such as family, work, country trends and if you meet at a restaurant or cafe, talk about the food and then about the business. This will create a climate of trust and a pleasant context to discuss and offer your services.
- Each client has their way of speaking, working, and negotiating. You need to know the difference between the two, it will help you to make deals.
- You cannot make the same offer from a retail customer to a wholesaler. Depending on the case, you should offer better prices or promotions to the customer.
- Trust what you are saying, don’t doubt what you are talking about as it can convey insecurity to the customer and possibly cause a business to lose.
- If the customer asks you for a special condition to close the sale, do NOT agree to it at first, ask them for some time to think it over and think it over before making a decision.
- When you make the deal, look straight into the eyes, it conveys security and confidence.
- There are many customers who, when they close a sale or deal, like to shake hands. When you shake hands, don’t squeeze, sweat, be confident, and show your steadfastness and security when doing so.
- If you are going to meet your client, your appearance is important, this is what I mean by personal hygiene, your mouth breath, your hair, your clothes, your shoes, your nails, everything is taken into account.