“Let me get this straight,” I said, “You changed only the
home page of your web site and sales stopped instantly.”

“Pretty much like flipping a switch,” Chip said. “Here’s the
control (the original home page) and here’s the one I changed it to.”

I pulled both printouts across the desk and asked, “Did the
target change?”

“No, no way,” he replied. “The target is still the same
small business owner looking for a way to bring some business his way.”

“You’re sure they are guys?”

Chip nodded and stated, “For the most part. It’s probably
and 80/20 thing.”

“So the only thing you changed was this part at the bottom
where you added these icons and service descriptions,” I asked.

“Right.”

“Then what we’ve got heah is (a) failure to communicate” I
said, imitating the warden in the movie Cool Hand Luke. “Go back and look at
the target.

Empathize with them. Get inside their heads.

Figure out:

            What they
Think

            What they
Feel

            What they
Believe

About you, your product or service.

Consider:

            Their
primary concern about the problem it solves

            How they
want to buy it

  The need, use or occasion that
drives the purchase

            How they
want to use it

The cliff your web site sales went off of is one of those…
or a couple. The better you can assume their mindset, the easier it will be for
you to get back on track.

Use the things that changed as clues. You added information
with icons and brief descriptions thinking they would be helpful. They stayed
away in droves. Could that be because what you thought was helpful added to
confusion? Could it be that they think they have to wade through all that to
get to how you’re going to be of help? Is it possible that your intent had the
opposite effect?”

Chip and I worked through a replacement based on greater
empathy. The Click Through Rate (CTR) is up 300% and Closings are up 500% in
the first few days.

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Jerry Fletcher is one of a few experts in Trust-based
Marketing on and off-line.Learn more about his consulting services www.JerryFletcher.com

His linked in description says: Networking Ninja, Marketing
Rainmaker, Contact Relationship Magician and Professional Speaker.

Jerry speaks
on what he delivers and succeeds at communication. www.NetworkingNinja.com