Business owners are blessed with having an unwritten code of camaraderie with other business owners. Many of us can relate and feel the pain(s) that other business owners are experiencing. And we’re not afraid to share our observations, solicited or not solicited, when we see other business owners losing touch with their own businesses. That’s exactly what happened to me, owner of On Hold Marketing, last week.
Jodie owns a small business in Texas. He called our company early in February to ask us about our On Hold Messaging service. He searched for us on Google, and we ranked favorably per the term he used in his search to find us. Great! We attracted a prospective client! Before he picked up the phone and called us, he combed through a few of our web pages, and eventually he landed on our FAQ page. As he was asking me about our services, I answered him with the details we currently offer in terms of price, contract term, and a few other elements of our service. He liked ALL of my answers, but sounded surprised by my answers. He immediately asked for me to send an agreement to him, as he found our offer aligning with his needs. Great! We win the new client! But the most valuable aspect of the call was his advice. He asked, “when was the last time you scrubbed your website?” My immediate response was that we manage our website very closely. I probably even sounded defensive. We do all the ‘right’ things to allow us to be found. He then replied, “but all the important and favorable answers you gave me verbally on your service differ from what you have posted in your FAQ page”.
Jodie was right. The incorrect information on our FAQ page was simply outdated, and our better, more flexible options we had developed over the past 3-5 years simply never were reflected on the FAQ page. I would like to think we are all extremely diligent with our content, but the lesson and takeaway for us was that we must regularly schedule time to scour EVERY PAGE on our website (we have nearly 40 pages) and ensure its accuracy. I wonder how many clients we may have missed out on winning by NOT telling them that we no longer require long term contracts. Or, how many prospective clients did not know that we will LOAN them equipment when they sign up for service instead of forcing them to buy a $200 piece of equipment.
Perhaps you are very in tune with every page on your website, but per my experience, I find this is not the case with small business owners. After my aforementioned experience, I started to dig a little deeper into a few sites of other small businesses that are locally owned. It doesn’t take long to poke around and find some seriously archaic info collecting in the corners and crevasses of a website. Heck, start with your CONTACT US page, and there’s a good chance…….something has changed and not been managed.
PS: We re-wrote the FAQ page within a day and sent it to our new client and friend in Texas for his review. Thanks Jodie!
Rich Moncure
Rich is the President of On Hold Marketing, a marketing focused audio studio helping businesses and practices take advantage of their telephone system’s On Hold capabilities. Prior to On Hold Marketing, Rich spent 20 years in telecommunications working for such giants as Williams Communications, NextiraOne, Bell Atlantic and Nortel Networks.