FAQ YOU
How not to talk to your customers
This past week I was discussing the construction of a new office/warehouse with a client. This of course is a major investment. So many options for both direct cost cutting and long term savings were discussed.
I was researching solutions like solar power, increased insulation, alternative construction methods and materials and many other things when it hit me. Almost all of the websites had completely misunderstood what the customer is looking for.
All these companies kept talking about the benefits of their solutions; they had savings over time numbers, and a lot of other data supporting their claims. But the one, simple question that every customer wants answered was missing. - "What is this going to cost me?"
Now, if you put an FAQ up on your site, and don’t include price, I think you’ve mistaken what the customer really wants to know. Even when price varies, include a ballpark estimate or examples. The customer will want to hear all your information, after they have determined this is something they are even interested in. Anything but that and you are wasting time - theirs and yours.
So I did a little calling around to get prices, and I managed to squeeze in a simple question to five suppliers of solar power solutions.
"How many of your calls include a question of price?" The answer was ALL OF THEM.
That in my book makes it a Frequently Asked Question, and one that you should be including the answer to on your website.
The thinking here is naturally that you want the customer to call so that you can put a sales rep on them and try to sell them the product. You know this, your customer knows this. Please do everyone a favor and stop thinking that you are smarter than your customer; it’s not going to make you any friends or sales. Since the customer knows that this is your intention, they will be resisting any sales efforts, and keep after getting the ballpark figure that you could have included on your website to begin with.
If you free up this time, your sales reps will have more time to answer the questions of those customers that can afford your product. Meaning that you will make more and better sales with less effort, this is not a bad equation to follow.
Next time you put up a Frequently Asked Questions page. How about actually making it about the Frequent Questions, and not a camouflaged sales pitch? Every time you insult your customer by thinking they can’t see this. You are simply saying "FAQ You!"
Do you really want to kiss your customer with that mouth?
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May 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Why is it that this fundamental truism has existed for eons, no matter the venue? Little-ticket item, the price is shouted to the rooftops. Big-ticket product or service, the price is stubbornly concealed until the prospect is exposed (or should I say, overexposed) to myriad hard sell pitches, often a real soap box tirade of braggadocio, bluster, and propaganda. Hope your forthcoming book is going to expose some of this nonsense, Erik.
Great site you have here. I am really impressed by your abilities at pin-point communiction, as well as your overall writing skills.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:53 am
First off, AWESOME title. I got a good chuckle out of it.
Moving along, this was a great article and an issue that always drives me insane. Companies believing they are super-secret with their price hoping to lure people into the door is quite frankly, whack.
If almost every call involves price, like you said, that is a Frequently Asked Question. Not only will this save you time from answering that question, but testing feasibility is done immediately.
By listing a ball-park price, like you said, the quality of potential clients will increase because businesses that have absolutely no chance of affording it will not waste your time.
Now, some may say, “well, we don’t want to turn customers off”. HOG-WASH. If they cannot even afford it in the first place, why do you want your salespeople to spend their time selling to a lost cause?
Great article.
~the GURU