My last post discussed that creating awareness isn’t enough. You want to focus on moving people to action. That post also asked you to think about a recent purchase you’d made, how the business helped you move from awareness to action and what you could learn for your work.

Now let’s push on that more by looking at an offer that’s come your way that didn’t inspire you to act. Think about either a business or personal product or service that you didn’t pursue.

• Was it simply that you weren’t interested?
• Were you interested, but ultimately decided not to pursue it? Why?
• Maybe you actually decided to go for it, but you actually haven’t done it. What happened? Fallout at this stage is more common than you might imagine. It often comes from unanticipated barriers such as a complex or confusing ordering process.

I bet you’ll find you didn’t take action because at some point in the process the barriers were greater than what you perceived as the benefits. Could the business have done something different that would have made the difference?

I hope this example helps you understand more about the decision-making process your clients undergo. And more important, I hope it gives you some ideas of how you can manage your business to help people move from awareness to action.

Because yes, you must make potential clients aware of you. But you also have to help them through every part of the decision-making process in order to get the sale.

Inspired Action
Use the following three-point diagnostic to take a hard look at the customer experience you provide and how it does or does not move people to action.

1. Do your communications feature compelling benefits that interest people in doing business with you?
2. Do you provide enough information for them to feel confident deciding to take the next step?
3. Do you make it easy for people to act? Does your Website provide simple, clear ordering? Do you return phone calls quickly, enthusiastically and professionally?

Set some time aside to do this. Consider evaluating just one point per day, so you can give it some deep thought. You can discover easy-to-implement ideas that will make an amazing difference for your business!

Are your results as inspired as your raw lifestyle? Maybe the problem is with your Website (or lack thereof). You can win a free Website analysis or concept design, each valued at $599. Visit http://tinyurl.com/winrawweb to learn more and enter. (Sorry to my international friends, but this one’s US residents / businesses only due to legal issues).

Are you spending too much time making new prospects aware of you?

That may seem like an odd question. Isn’t getting out there to let people know about you with your blog, Website, Twitter, Facebook, advertising, speaking and so forth crucial for your success?

Of course visibility is important. But hits and retweets aren’t sales. So are you focusing enough on moving people to action? Let’s look at the process and how a three-point diagnostic can help you fine-tune your business for better results.

My recent two-part blog article, Are You Marketing to People Where They Are? (part 1), (part2 ), presented the stages in the decision-making process that people experience when adopting a behavior. They go through the following steps when trying something new, such as changing how they eat, undertaking a new natural health therapy or adopting a more environmentally friendly practice.

The same process applies when people look to do business with you. They move through these stages. Or they don’t. So you want to focus on how you can help as many potential clients as possible get through this process. Because your efforts to make prospects aware of you aren’t much help if you’ll most likely lose them along the way to results.

To see this more clearly, think about a business you’ve recently begun working with such as the provider of a training program, a web host or an insurance company. Or you can consider a product you’ve recently purchased, professionally or personally.

• How did you become aware of this opportunity?
• What interested you in moving forward?
• How did you decide whether to take action or not?
• Now that you have done so, how do you evaluate whether to stick with the business, program or product?

Did you immediately make your purchase as soon as you became aware of the opportunity? Why or why not?

Inspired Action
Think about what the business did to help you move from awareness to action. Then look at your work. What processes and communications to do you have to move people form prospects to repeat clients? Based on the positive experience you had with the other business, see if there are ideas you’d like to implement for your own.

Your Website is a big part of inspiring people to take action with your business! Don’t miss my Teleseminar “3 Must-Do Steps for Websites that Get Results: How to get MORE CLIENTS, achieve MORE IMPACT and earn MORE MONEY with Your Raw-Inspired Business.” There’s still time to register to join us on Tuesday, September 29th at 5 pm. And if you sign-up by noon on September 24th, you can submit YOUR SITE to be considered for a live review on the call (all times US eastern). Go to http://www.tinyurl.com/rawweb to reserve your place on the call.

My last post discussed a young energetic, theater group that missed the mark on target marketing. Their Broadway review with songs from more recent musicals probably didn’t score a hit with an older audience nostalgic for tunes from decades long past.

I’ve been talking about design as a critical investment in your business success. My last post told the sad story of a humane organization that “saved” $500 on design, but will likely miss out on thousands of dollars in donations.

But People Don’t Give Money Based on My Communications.
Au contraire. Sure, they don’t hand you donations just from talking with you and reading your information. But every piece you put out directly impacts whether people get excited about what you offer and choose to do business with you.

Consider just two examples –

Your Website Invites People to Respond.
When you go into a store, you immediately get a sense of the quality of the merchandise and the buying experience. Is the store bright, nicely furnished and well laid-out? Or is it dark, dingy and disorganized? How does that affect your willingness to shop there and the amount you’d pay?

You’re asking your potential clients to make an investment in what you have to offer. So when they come to your web site, they’re going to evaluate how likely they are to get their money’s worth. Does the site convey quality? Is it clearly laid out? Does it excite them with the benefits they’ll get from working with you? Or do they do the online version of turning around and walking out that front door?

Design can help your site be a place people want to visit, stay and shop.

Continue reading What’s it Worth to Get the Results You Want? (part 3)