How is your online business doing? Chances are you are not making money. We estimate less than 20% of e-commerce web sites are making a return at the moment.
Until now almost everyone has been playing the business game by the old rules. Now is the time to break the mold.
The old rules were quite simple.
- Be professional.
- Be non-committal.
- Don't say anything to upset your customer.
- Sell them your product - don't worry about what they do with it - as long as you are legally in the clear.
- Maximize your profits.
So what's changing? Well the biggest change is the net. Deal on the net by the old rules - and unless you are an internationally known brand - you will struggle to begin.
Why? Very simple. Trust. Let me say it again, Trust.
The net is anonymous. The net is remote. You don't know the people you
are dealing with. You often don't know where they are. You have no knowledge or relationship. The only way to gain business under these circumstances is through trust.
Can trust be achieved on the net? Well, yes, it can - but it has to go both ways...
Have you ever tried any of the online chat areas? People get married after meeting on chat sites - Many people develop very trusting relationships in this way. Sometimes your trust is misplaced, and you get hurt - but if you never trust, you will never be
trusted. That is the new business model for the net.
Just for once the poor old consumer is in control. There are an immense number of web sites on the net - it takes seconds to surf away if they don't like something. They can find the lowest price IN THE WORLD for an item. Your only way to sell to them is by becoming a trusted friend.
How do you lose trust?
Well start by promising something unbelievable. Most MLM (Multi-level
Marketing) schemes start this way. Promises of 'Become a millionnaire in 6 months' destroy trust instantly.
Anonymity destroys trust. Avoid publishing an address or contact
information and your visitors trust in you drops close to zero. Even many of the most well known brand names around make this fundamental mistake - and drop in the estimation of many of their visitors as a result.
A poorly designed and executed web site destroys trust. It does not need to be all singing and dancing. It does not need to have the latest plug-ins (in fact better not). It does not even need lots of graphics. It DOES need:
- Good spelling & grammar
- All links to work
- Clean and tidy layout
- Simple colour scheme
- Good HTML coding
- Testing on various browsers
A simple black on white text page with clear navigation and just a few small graphics for interest will bring more trust than the most fantastic design that is full of spelling mistakes!
So if you really want your e-business to work - think about trust. Visit your own site. Read it as if you had never seen it before. Does your site appear to mistrust the visitor? Does it oversell? Do you offer easy contact information?
Look at your web site as if you had never seen it before. Do you trust it? If not - nor will anyone else.
Dave Broadway
January 2000
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