In a recent Sales Caffeine email newsletter from Jeffrey Gitomer, there is an article by Michelle Joyce on Making Transactions Memorable. She had a pleasant experience at the McDonald’s drive thru in Huntersville, North Carolina, and summarized what made the transaction memorable.
These three simple steps can be considered website redesign tips to improve user experience at your eCommerce websites and in all your interactive marketing efforts.
1. Start with a smile and engage your prospect in a friendly manner. Would you do business with someone you didn’t like? Well, neither would your prospect. This guy made me like him – immediately. When he made that connection, the transaction became enjoyable and personal. It was all about me, not just my order.
2. Offer alternative solutions. People want choices. Don't assume that your customer is aware of them. Uncover their needs and help them make a choice. McDonald's already mastered the upsell technique with their famous line, “Do you want fries with that?” What kind of additional features and services can you upsell? What kind of additional revenue are you leaving on the table at every sale?
3. End the transaction with something memorable. When is the last time that a fast food worker told you to “drive safely”? Usually, it is the perfunctory "thank you” and “have a nice day”; but this guy made me feel like he was genuinely concerned about my personal safety. What are you saying to your customers that make them remember you personally?
Michelle ends by saying: The reality is that people are still buying products and services in this economy. The only question is "Will they buy them from you?"
Definition 6 is an interactive marketing agency that can help you make a connection to your users, whether customers or prospective ones. We are experts in website development and custom application development. Even though we are an Atlanta Ad Agency, we have clients across the US that we help differentiate themselves from their competition.
The day has been spent tweating, status updating and talking about everything but email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization or Web Design. So it has been interesting. Basically Social Media is about connecting with consumers during the buying cycle, but most importantly in the post purchase usage cycle. It can be for solve a customers product problem or more importantly allowing buyers to connect with each other and making it a manner that allows them to get more value out of your product or service. I think that social media marketing will continue to be a good strategic topic this year, but 2009 will still be about trial and error. As I typed that last comment, I think believe that is the point of social media marketing, try something, monitor it, get feed back and make changes. Good luck!
By Ethiopia Hewitt, Definition 6 Web Production Specialist
Today, there are several popular browsers available. Currently, it is impossible to know which browser a person will use. I know many web designers will concur with the hope that their personal favorite browser will crush the others, but the sometimes aggravating reality is that each browser continues to hold their own loyal fan base - similar to the ongoing war between PC and Mac. However, that conflict doesn’t affect me personally, as I have already chosen my side and pity those on the other. The Browser war is a different story. As a part of Definition 6 Interactive Media and Web Design family, browser compatibility affects me and our clients every day.
I currently work on enhancements and updates to websites previously completed and launched. The number one issue that I see is that the site doesn’t look or behave correctly in all browsers. The site looks and functions beautifully in the browser of the original designer’s choice but the others . . . not so much. It usually requires CSS patchwork skills and (gasp!) a couple of hacks to get the offending page to behave in all browsers. This work can sometimes take hours of work to pinpoint the CSS style that is being interpreted differently and still more time to develop a style that all browsers can agree on. This then brings up a question: When is it okay for the site to be different on different browsers?
As the designer, a line, albeit a tenuous one, could be drawn as to what are acceptable browser differences and what are not. For example, if a Javascript powered drop down menu is working only in IE7, the hours needed to make it cross browser compatible, are more than necessary. But if on Firefox 2 there is more space between the lines then on Safari, how much time should be spent to correct it? It becomes the responsibility of the designer to advise the clients to the facts of different browsers and educate them on this blurry line of acceptable and unacceptable different browser interpretations.
Each release of a new version of a browser leaves the design community searching for the end of the browser war, but really can it ever end without one browser triumphing over the others and becoming the one and only browser used? And speaking of new versions of browsers, if you are an Internet Explorer user, why not upgrade to the latest version? How is it that IE 6 stays around? Oh well, that is a discussion for another time and place.
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