I get it. Big business deals are not closed on a website.
Your website will never be able to close a million rand deal for your business. If anyone tells you it can, they are smoking their socks.
But…
While your website might not make the deal for you, it can most definitely break it.
Give me 5 minutes to explain.
Make or Break #1: When your dream client puts out a RFQ
Imagine that your dream client has to put out a tender, or a RFQ.
Someone in that organization is a decision maker deciding who the RFQ must be sent to.
If you don’t have a website, and the other potential service providers have professional looking websites, where does that leave your business?
Let’s say you have a website, but yours is average, and the other companies have taken the time to build a professional website. What are your odds to be included on the RFQ list?
You didn’t get this far in business to leave it up to chance.
Make or Break #2: After you have submitted your proposal
Ok, so that RFQ from your dream client just landed in your inbox.
You put in the long, hard hours to create your proposal. You cross the t’s and dot the i’s.
You are confident that your product, or service, can solve their problem. You know the competitors who are also quoting can’t compare to your offering.
You can almost smell the ink on the contract.
But, your client must now compare proposals and do their due diligence.
Most likely you don’t know the exact criteria they will use to choose a provider.
During this due diligence process, the decision makers will compare the different proposals. They will also have a look at your track record, your website and social media pages like LinkedIn.
Imagine that the pricing is fairly similar across all the proposals.
Now if only 1 of those 3 companies have a professional website that creates trust in their product, service and expertise, who is going to have the inside track?
Yes, I know. The website is not the silver bullet that will make you magically land every single proposal you send out.
But I 100% believe that your website can lose the deal for you.
Make or Break #3: When your dream client hears about you
Next, imagine one of your happy clients, Sam, tells a friend, Jonny, about your business. That friend is a decision maker at a company you have been trying to get a foot in the door for months now, with no luck.
Sam tells Jonny how your product or service has benefited them. Jonny decides to check out your website to better understand who you are, what you do, who you work with, and what your product/service can do for their business.
Imagine they land on a website that is not secure, or a website that is down because of a technical glitch. Perhaps the design isn’t on point. There could be dozens of reasons for them to lose interest in your product or service.
If Jonny decides to not reach out to you, you have lost out on doing business with your dream client. Your product is great, and your service is excellent.
Shouldn’t your website be on that same level so that Jonny realizes he absolutely must reach out to you?
This is why I call B2B websites ‘conversation starters’. They can help you land the right conversation with the right kind of client.
Final Thoughts
Now, you are most likely reading this article because you are considering working with me on your website project. This article can influence your decision making process, and is part of your due diligence.
This little article of a few hundred words will not close the deal. No one can expect it to do so.
But it can make you trust me a little bit more, and give me a slightly better chance of working with you. Hopefully it gives me a slight edge on those other design agencies that also submitted a proposal to you.
So, think about it. Does it make sense to take shortcuts on your website because deals are done in the boardroom? Or do you think that your website can help you land more meetings in those same boardrooms? And give you a better chance of landing those big deals?
If your website is not a Conversation Starter, it might be a Deal Breaker.
Let’s get you more sales conversations with the right kind of clients.
