Using Web Design to Make Your Brand More Accessible
Customers find a lack of contact with businesses frustrating. It’s why so many people hate calling their cable company. They know from experience that they’re going to spend 15 or 20 minutes interacting with an automated answering machine before they can even be put on hold to speak with a real person.
It’s also why people despise going to the DMV. They know they’ll wait in line for an hour, only to get the opportunity to speak to a rude employee who cares very little about the situation at hand.
For online businesses, being accessible can be a point of differentiation. It gives you the chance to wow customers and make them feel like you care about their situation/needs/pain points and genuinely want to help.
However, before you can do anything else, you need to make your brand accessible.
4 Ways to Increase Contact Rates
Believe it or not, you can make your brand more accessible by paying attention to Website Design Templates and optimization. Exactly how you do this is up to you, but here are four suggestions that will lead to greater contact rates and stronger customer satisfaction.
Offer Lots of Options
Some people like talking on the phone, while others would prefer email. Some folks like the convenience of online chat, while others want the chance to meet in person. The more contact options you provide your website visitors, the more likely that they’ll actually follow through.
Davis, Saperstein & Saloman, a personal injury law firm based out of New Jersey, is a good example. As you’ll see on this page, they offer lots of contact options – and clearly display them in multiple areas of the page. They can be reached via phone, chat, email, or at the physical office locations. There’s no doubt this has a positive impact on their contact rates.
Develop a Killer Contact Us Page
The contact us page is often overlooked by brands. It’s one of the last pages they develop and usually contains little more than a phone number and email. Unfortunately, this is a huge missed opportunity.
Your contact us page doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, the more interesting it is, the more likely that you’ll actually have people reach out. This contact us page from Choice Screening, a background screening company based out of Colorado, is a nice example.
Make Your CEO Accessible
While not every business is bold enough to do it, making your CEO accessible to your customers is a sure-fire way to increase contact rates. Research shows this increases your perceived transparency and builds a greater sense of trust.
You might not want to give out your CEO’s cell phone number, but providing an email address – even if it’s a secondary email address that gets screened by a secretary – can pay dividends.
Give Reasons for Contact
If you want people to contact your company, you need to give them reasons to do so. (Otherwise, all of your contact will consist of complaints and service issues.) Some companies find it helpful to offer complimentary 10-minute coaching calls, while others promise to provide a quote or estimate. Find something that works for you.
Meaningful Engagement
You might think you’re doing a pretty decent job of connecting with your audience, but try to look beneath the surface when evaluating how you’re doing. You might be interacting with your audience, but is there any meaningful engagement?
Meaningful engagement happens when you meet a client in person, have a phone call, or offer a one-on-one video chat. The more meaningful engagement you offer, the more you increase customer loyalty and enhance the bottom line. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to leverage your website as a tool for facilitating meaningful interactions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
