Andy Sernovitz's Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!

#5.19: The "Steal From The Best" Issue

You don't need to reinvent everything. Take the best ecommerce techniques from great companies that have figured it out.

1> Copy Page Designs
2> Steal Security Systems
3> Loot Their Law Firm
4> Check It Out: Plagiarism or Inspiration?

1> Copy Page Designs

"User Interface Design" is the science of understanding how consumers interact with a web page and learning to make that interaction easier. And it's muy expensivo. But you don't need to do it. Amazon, Yahoo, and Staples already have. They have spend millions researching how to optimize web pages and close more sales. And millions of customers use those web sites and learn how things are arranged. Think of it this way: Amazon has trained us to look for tabs on the top, search on the left, and how their shopping cart works. You should design your site pretty much the same way. Remember, your goal isn't to be original, it's to sell products. So make it easy for customers to buy by laying out your web page in the way they were trained to use it.

The Lesson: Originality is less important than familiarity. Stick with what works.

2> Steal Security Systems

Want to annoy your customers? Create some complicated login procedure, set weird requirements for passwords, or use some "check your email to get your password" rigmarole. It's just not necessary. Amazon, eBay, and your bank don't need it. They secure billions of online transactions with just an email address and a password. You can trust that they've done plenty of research on the topic. If it's safe enough for them, it's safe enough for you.

The Lesson: Overly complicated security wastes your customers' time, and it doesn't protect them. And it makes you look small-time.

3> Loot Their Law Firm

Need a privacy policy, terms of service, or copyright language for your site? Are you worried about the rules for doing business with kids online? Want to learn the requirements and legal language for parental permission? Just copy Disney's legal pages. They've got armies of lawyers, corporate red tape, public-company scrutiny, and every other reason to be careful. Plus, if the government or a customer is suing someone, it'll be a big corporation. So...whatever legal language they have is well-done, well-reviewed, and good enough for you. Just do what they do.

The Lesson: Use the rich guys' lawyers instead of your own. They know what they are doing.

4> Check It Out: Plagiarism or Inspiration?

Sometimes, designs get a little too close for comfort. Check out Pirated Sites and decide.

Check it out:
http://archive.pirated-sites.com

#5.18: The "Connect With Communities" Issue

Online communities are an easy-to-implement way to connect with customers, lower costs, and build loyalty.

1> Communities Save Support Costs
2> Cultivate Customer Heroes
3> Sell Tastefully
4> Start Today - It's Easy

1> Communities Save Support Costs

Want to cut your support costs in half? Let your customers find answers to their problems on your message board. Every time they take care of themselves, you save the cost of a support call. To make this work, you need to make sure that there are real answers posted. Put all of your internal support documents on the message board. Encourage your staff to log in and provide answers to questions. Take the time to sort and edit posts so that answers to common questions can be easily found. Invest a little work and you'll be building an asset that is a non-stop satisfaction machine.

The Lesson: What would it do to your bottom line if 1,000 people never called for tech support?

2> Cultivate Customer Heroes

The real energy of an active discussion comes from self-appointed customers who volunteer their time. True enthusiasts will answer other customers' questions, maintain a civil conversation, and spend hours each week doing the work of your paid staff. You need to encourage and motivate these people. Don't offer money -- it usually backfires. True enthusiasts will be insulted. They are doing it for love of your product -- and for the recognition. Reward them with status. Make them official moderators, put a special logo next to their name, and shower them with t-shirts and free samples. These people rise from occasional chatterers to become your best support staff.

The Lesson: Volunteers shine when you shower them with praise and recognition.

3> Sell Tastefully

To be clear: You'll screw up your customer relationships if you sell aggressively in an online community. With that said, there are tasteful ways to connect your online discussion with your online store. You can create topics specifically about product lines, where discussion of the product is expected and accepted. You can tastefully post links to products that solve a problem being discussed. MusicToyz.com has discussion forums for guitar fans, which often discuss how a particular sound effect is created. Readers appreciate specific recommendations for necessary gear, and follow up on the links.

The Lesson: Context counts. You'll drive sales if you can include links that make sense in a discussion.

4> Start Today - It's Easy

Don't let your I.T. department lie to you -- setting up an online discussion forum is easy, fast, and often free. Dozens of high-quality, well-tested shareware programs can be downloaded for free. You can use a pre-existing community (like SoFlow.com) that will host your discussions -- and give you a pre-existing network of users. Or you can use a low-cost, fully hosted service (like Invision Power Board). You'll be surprised at how many big-name software companies are running their entire knowledge base off of a hosted $10/month service.

The Lesson: Just do it. It's no big deal.

#5.17: The "What You Don't Need" Issue

Simplify everything for increased sales. Lose the excess baggage that weighs down your business.

1> Google Keeps It Clean
2> Too Many Answers To A Simple Question
3> Lose The Links
4> Check It Out: "Call To Action"

1> Google Keeps It Clean

Did you ever think how amazing it is that Google has kept their home page clean and simple all these years? They've built an empire around resisting pressure to clutter up the page. Why does it work? Because the simple page draws immediate attention to where they want you. Everyone notices, immediately, the rare occasions when they add a new link. Which makes each new product launch a big hit. Everyone is overloaded with clutter. When you strip the distractions, you get customers to focus. And it's not a fluke for Google -- their text-only AdWords ads on other sites frequently beat the competing ultra-fancy animated banners.

The Lesson: Get rid of the distractions to drive customers to where you want them.

2> Too Many Answers To A Simple Question

Jewelry site Ice.com learned an interesting lesson when they started testing the search feature on their web sites. Get this: Customer actually buy MORE when they are shown FEWER options after a search. Ice.com realized that they could close significantly more sales by focusing on a few simple suggestions. Results were even better when they highlighted the most popular product and gave it a double-size listing. It makes perfect sense -- when we search, we're often looking for recommendations instead of more options. Give the seeker too much, and they freeze up. Give them strong suggestions, and they move to a purchase.

The Lesson: Start thinking of your site search tool as an answer-finder and product-recommender.

3> Lose The Links

You've probably got too many choices on your web site. Extra links don't always help. Instead, they may be taking people away from your primary sales goal. Start looking at your site traffic patterns. It's more than just which links get clicked on. It's the links that drive people where you want them -- to information that leads to purchases. Don't get fooled by your web site statistics -- a popular link isn't necessarily a good one. Are people leaving the shopping cart because you've made an unrelated offer during checkout? Do you have a link that everyone clicks -- but doesn't turn into a sale? Strip out all unrelated links.

The Lesson: Focus your visitors -- get rid of links that distract and divert.

4> Check It Out: "Call To Action"

Creating a simple web site that closes sales isn't easy. Check out the new book from the masters at FutureNow. They'll help you keep it clean and focused.

Check it out here

#5.16: The "Help New Customers Switch" Issue

You spend a fortune trying to reach new customers -- but are you blocking them and preventing a sale?

1> Setup Fees Are Silly
2> Absorb Your Competitors
3> Turn Tryers into Buyers
4> Check It Out: Word of Mouth Marketing Association

1> Setup Fees Are Silly

Why are you charging a setup fee to a new customer? Is there are real strategic reason (like screening out non-serious leads)? Or are you just looking for the money? Setup fees are an obstacle to new sales. Why should someone pay you for the privilege of doing business with you? Would anyone shop at Wal-Mart if there was a cover charge at the door? For many buyers, a setup fee is an insult and a waste of time, and most salespeople will waive it anyway. So stop messing around, charge enough for your service to cover your costs, and remove this barrier to getting a new customer.

The Lesson: Stop stopping people who want to buy from you.

2> Absorb Your Competitors

Quark was once the king of graphic design programs, but now Adobe InDesign is eating them for lunch. Why? Because you can open a Quark file in Adobe and start working within minutes. Adobe made switching easy because designers don't have to redo all their past work.

If you want to steal market share, you need to make sure that your customers can move their data to you seamlessly and easily. Don't skimp on this feature, and don't charge an extra fee for migration services. Migration hassles scare away customers and inflate your support costs. Fix it once and for all.

(Hey, Salesforce.com -- when are you going to offer one-click imports of ACT databases? A million new customers are waiting.)

The Lesson: Start thinking of easy migration as a sales tool instead of a hassle for your support staff.

3> Turn Tryers into Buyers

Drug dealers have been doing it for years: Use a free trial of your product to get people addicted. Put an almost full-featured product on the street, and use it to sell upgrades from within the program. The secret is to build the purchase process right into the usage patterns.

Apple gives away iTunes music-management software for free, teases you with great music, and turns you into a paying customer without leaving the program. Quickbooks offers new products as you need them, with tasteful teasers. For example, when you're typing an invoice, they mention a time-saving service that will let you email invoices (for a slight fee).

Best of all, this kind of selling ensures that you are the only merchant making an offer at the critical moment of need.

The Lesson: Give away software that sells product right when it's needed most.

4> Check It Out: Word of Mouth Marketing Association

Word of mouth marketing is fundamentally changing the relationship between marketers and consumers. Learn to do it the right way. GasPedal's CEO Andy Sernovitz is now the CEO of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. More than 125 companies are already members of this important nonprofit organization.

Learn more: http://www.womma.org