Learn About Websites
Your Website – The Front Door to Your Business
Every day it seems we are being made aware that the word of business is changing. We aren’t in the world of our parents anymore. The types of services people are demanding are different from what people wanted even as recently as ten years ago. Many of our clients have said my website is now the front door and lobby of my business. They are realizing that what they present on the web is the first impression of their business.
A friend once told me that perception is 90% of your business. How people think you do business and how you treat them could make or break the deal. With the advent of the internet and cable television people are expecting different a level of service today then they did in 1995. People have come to expect:
- Quick and fast service
- Information that will be available for their needs instantaneously. For funeral homes this means directions, phone numbers, type of services offered and grief support.
- Service or information to be available on the Internet
- That they can order products and have it shipped the next day — all from their desk at home.
- To find social communities and support groups via the Internet when they want it.
- Service that is personalized and customized to their wants and needs. People no longer want to be told that they only have one choice. They want options.
There are steps you can take to help focus your business on these new perceptions. Listed below are ideas we have learned from our clients and our users of the www.beyondindigo.com website.
- Have a website. If you don’t have a website people’s expectations will not be met. Many times I have had funeral directors call me and say I need to get a website because my families are shocked they can’t look up directions, see the obituaries online, view online memorials or watch the online version of the DVD memorial. They also want to order flowers and get grief support.
- Your website should focus on the families and not the business. Most of the websites I see for funeral homes are built backwards. This would be the same as bringing your client in through the back door and not the front. How people flow through your website is important. It should start off with focusing on the family and not the business. For example, buttons that say “About Us, History, Staff, etc.” should be at the bottom of the navigation page for the website, not the beginning.
Your website has four seconds to capture the attention of a user. If they do not see something that is important to them — such as information on their loved one, facts about grief, or a community they can join — they simply click a button and leave. Think of your own surfing habits and what you do when you go to a website. Do you leave as soon as you discover what you want to find isn’t right there to see? Most people leave in four to five seconds.
- Expand horizons. Do not be afraid to offer other services on your website that people are searching for now. This can include veteran’s information, support for pet loss, online memorials for the service across town.
As business owners we need to embrace this new business model. Do not be afraid to take a risk and ask people in your community how they perceive you and what they would want to see you do to improve your ability to serve. It just might surprise you.