It takes just 0.05 seconds for the average person to form an opinion about your website. That's breathtakingly quick, even in the break neck digital world in which we live.
If a visitor decides to stay on your site to learn more, you've passed the first test with flying colours. If they've stuck around for long enough to seek and find the information they need, you've definitely piqued their interest.
But if they're keen to learn more about your product or service beyond the carefully crafted content you've presented, you're WELL on your way to nurturing your loyal brand advocates or converting your curious visitors to satisfied customers. And isn't that just a little bit brilliant?
Which brings me to the point of this blog: when was the last time you took a fine-tooth comb to your website and tested ALL of your links?
How healthy is your contact form or the process through which customers are responded to via your form? Where do your customers' questions or comments go? Who's responsible for managing and responding to the messages? Are the messages received automatically sent to more than one team member's email address, to ensure they're responded to in a timely, informative and effective manner?
Radio silence echoes VERY loudly in the mind of a customer.
Your customers - prospective and existing are your brand's lifeblood - ignore them and you'll lose them in far less time than it took to gain them in the first place.
In the past fortnight alone, I've reached out to three nationally-renowned brands via their online contact form:
- 1 x boutique beauty brand. To provide positive feedback and to thank them for their outstanding product. Two weeks later, and I'm unsure if they've received my praise. Your guess is as good as mine.
- 1 x eCommerce site that sells books. Reached out twice re: a book that hadn't yet arrived. Zero response. White noise. But I DID receive an automatically triggered eDM asking me to provide a written review for the book that I hadn't yet received. You've got to laugh. If you don't laugh, you'll...
- 1 x brick manufacturing brand. I reached out to let them know that their (clever, aesthetically pleasing and valuable) online quiz to determine my 'ideal bricks' froze during the final question. Twice. It was a friendly nudge to let them know, just in case they were missing out on capturing invaluable leads. The front-end is so beautifully done and well communicated via their socials. It's such a shame that the functionality at the business end is letting them down. I reached out one week ago. Zero response. I can actually hear crickets.
On the flip side, I've had wonderful service and follow-up from equally renowned and loved brands; from the boutique (Lou Lou Lips) to the grand (Myer, Mecca Cosmetica and Kmart). The care for their customer and respect for robust infrastructure and processes is so clearly in tune with the brand values they've worked so hard to build and maintain.
Testing matters. But manners matter even more. Especially when a current or prospective customer takes the time to communicate with you. Competition for loyalty has never been more fierce. And more often than not, a brand will get just one opportunity to keep the relationship alive. It'd be a damned shame to lose a customer at the pointy end of the funnel on account of a glitch in the code, an unmanned contact form inbox - or worse, an apathetic member of the team, who has simply ignored the inbound communication.
Ignore the art of actual two-way conversation between your brand and your customer and it'll be virtually impossible to win them back.
[Ahem...rant over....] As you were ;).
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