Are You Making It Hard To Do Business With You?

Many small businesses ?inadvertently put up roadblocks to allowing their customers to do business with them.

Here are a few of these roadblocks, and how you can correct them.

Update Google MyBusiness

One way you may be hurting yourself is not updating your Google MyBusiness profile.?This one little profile controls so much of your destiny, you best?get it right.

This profile allows people to accurately find you on Google Maps, and having the correct hours of operation in there can make or break a sale. For example, if you changed your business hours to be open on Sunday, but haven’t updated your MyBusiness profile, when people search for you on Google, it will say you’re “closed right now”! Make sure you’re profile is accurate and up-to-date.

Website Lacks Detail

The number one place consumers go before making a purchase, visiting a cafe, eating at a restaurant or buying in to a brand is the internet.?They google it. If your website doesn’t have any details or offer the true experience of your brand, consumers are likely to look at you as an unknown.

Picture this: you want to visit a craft brewer today. You google for local establishments. One business page is just the logo, hours and maybe a picture of the bottling area.

The other business page?shows you the menu, talks about the experience (you can sit on the terrace OR take your drinks to the picnic area), there’s a story behind the brand, the hours are listed, live music on Friday nights, plenty of pictures are available so you know exactly what the place looks like, and there is even an Instagram feed that shows people enjoying their experience there today!

Which would you rather visit? The first business is an unknown. Can you eat there? Is there a comfy seating area? What’s the atmosphere like?

The truth is that the first business can be twice as good as the second, but because it’s an “unknown”, people will choose the second as they KNOW what they’re getting into. They know what to expect. There are no surprises.

What does your website tell people they’ll expect from your business?

Being Inaccessible

Business too often treat social media like a free advertising channel. Yes, it does that, but it also allows people to connect with you.

For example, if they have a question, the first place their likely to ask it is on social media. Go to any Facebook business page and you’ll see tons of questions about products and services. Much like the last point, if they can’t get an answer, they’ll move on to a service where they can get an answer to avoid an unknown.

Make it as easy as possible for a potential customer to connect with you, and they will. The more comfortable you can make them feel about their purchase, the more likely they are to do business with you.

Furthermore, by being on social media, it’s the first place someone will talk about a bad experience. It’s much better they post on your Facebook wall so you can address it, rather than having them leave crappy reviews on google or Yelp. You can’t remove those.

The same is true about the contact info on your website. Make sure there are multiple ways to connect. Don’t put up obstacles just because “you don’t want phone calls” or you “hate email”. Your clients are diverse – and want options. If?your competition is easier to connect with, you’ve already lost.

These are just a few ways?small businesses are making it hard to transact with.?Most of these require little-to-no effort once up and running. If you’re not sure what you’re doing wrong, ask.?We’re more than happy to take a quick peak and let you know of any adjustments we think need to be made.