Customer Dating Fails

CUSTOMER DATING FAILS - and what you can do about it!

BY PAUL BARRS

It’s all about how people ‘see you’ before they SEE you.

Let me explain... Imagine you’re going on a date. It’s been a while and you’re a little nervous. You spend due time, maybe put on some nice makeup, or for the guys, shave or trim the beard. You tidy up the hair, put on some nice clothes, clean pair of shoes and then hit the town for a great night out (you hope!).

But when you meet your date, something interesting happens; he or she judges you at first glance and makes an assessment, sometimes conscious, sometimes unconscious and in an instant they like you, or they don’t. Yes, it’s true. We do judge and make a physical connection with people whom we find attractive. And it’s incredibly rare that we find ourselves attracted to a person who we think is ugly!

It’s the same in business. It’s rare that we are attracted to a business that we don’t (on the outside) like. Just as we unconsciously make silent judgement of people when we meet them, we do the same in business.

But, is that initial impression of the new person you’ve met honestly true? Not always. I’d even say very rarely. There is ALWAYS more to a person than what you see with your own eyes. The kindness of their character is what’s found ‘behind’ their eyes; their life, their experience, their dreams.

Very rarely is what you see right up front the complete truth about that business. Before you get a chance to talk to that business, read more information about it, dig deeper about that business - you create a ‘snapshot’

view about that business based on your first impressions on what you ‘see’ before you really get to SEE them!

Just like on that first date. So, what should we do then with this information? How can we apply this to the development and growth of our online business? Simply this: as a part of our business makeover, we need to ‘review’ all those places online where a potential customer might ‘see us’ before they actually SEE us. We need to look at those places where a customer might take a glance at us and make an initial impression before they click through to our website to take a second look. The goal online is this - we need to get our customers to that second date! (the second click). Therefore we need to review and ‘make over’ the way we are presented online. So... go looking!

When was the last time you Google’d yourself? When was the last time you searched through the listings through to page five or page 10 and clicked open every link that linked to a reference with your business in it, and then took the time to review (and if possible upgrade) that reference? Probably never.

Here’s the thing; many of us spend so much on advertising and branding, and we work so hard at building a consistent message for our business, IN our business (on our websites, in our brochures, with our business cards), yes, even with our social media posts but we FORGET all those other places where people can see us ‘before’ they actually SEE us.

Check out how you appear online and go do a makeover. It could make a million dollar difference. f

Paul Barrs has been helping local Sunshine Coast Business succeed online since 2002. He has spoken locally, nationally and at international seminars as an authority on internet business strategy. Looking for better results online? Contact Paul by visiting www.PaulBarrs.com/bm