Don’t Just Build a Website – Build a Relationship

I recently attended Sales GPS, an event co-hosted by Modern Distribution Management (MDM) and Indian River Consulting Group. The event’s goal: to get its attendees to rethink their approaches to sales. Thanks to a big shift in how customers shop and buy, distributors must redefine the role of field sales and invest in other channels to serve customers more efficiently – lest customers go elsewhere.

Many of the speakers encouraged the distribution executives in attendance to also up their game in digital marketing to support this need and complement their sales remodels. It was in this context that Tom Gale, publisher of MDM, shared this insight:

“You need to translate your relationship with your customers to your website.”

What a great way to put it.

Regardless of the industry you serve, your website should reflect the kind of relationship you have or want to build with your customers.

If you want to be seen as a resource for your customers, make sure your website reflects this.

If your relationship is transactional, make sure it’s as easy as possible to do business with you online. Remember, customers have high expectations online these days, and if they just want to get in and get out quickly, don’t give them a reason, however small, to leave your website without buying something.

If you want to be the place your customers turn to with technical questions, make your expertise clear as day. And not just by saying you’re an expert. Include videos, blogs, downloads – anything that will show, and not just tell, customers about your status as an expert.

If you claim to be an expert in a particular industry, it should be obvious when someone browses your website.

If you do this, you will differentiate your company from the hundreds out there that are still featuring a picture of their headquarters and a static list of their products or services.