Is your website fit for purpose?
Florists understand the importance of keeping their professional tools sharp, but how often do you sharpen your sales tools? Alison Ellis, a leading American florist and educator who we love, explains why your website can be even more important than your social media activity!!
Whether you’re currently “open for business” or just postponed your events until next season, now is the time to drill down on your sales systems.
And of course your website is an essential sales tool. The goal is to invite customers to “learn more” and take a look around your shop, however, the tricky part is that customers only take about 3-5 seconds to decide whether they want to stick around or bounce!
Here’s the truth though. Most florists’ websites don’t do enough to help make a connection and close the sale.
Your website needs to do more than “look good”, it should actually “do work” for you.
A good website serves 3 main purposes:
1. make a great first impression (so folks stick around for longer than 3-5 seconds),
2. tell your brand story (make a connection), and
3. encourage customer engagement (to get more clicks to contact you & buy!).
In addition to being an important sales tool, your website is the only part of your online presence that you actually own. Unlike your space on Facebook, Insta et al which you only borrow and can easily lose your website is totally in your control.
So the question is: do your customers love your website?
I’ll be honest, when I started my business back in 2002, I had no clue how much time I’d spend working on websites.
I absolutely LOVE floral design - I’ve been a florist for over 25 years and I STILL love learning new techniques! - but running a successful design business requires more than design skill and one of the most important things I’ve learned to do for my business is maintain a website that my ideal clients LOVE. (And I know they love it because they tell me all the time!)
An engaging website consistently attracts customers who are eager to work with me.
Establishing trust with clients as you lead them through your customer service experience is crucial to the client’s peace of mind as well as your brand experience. (And your website is the perfect pace to begin to start to establish this trust.)
You may be wondering which comes first, better clients or a better website? Well, that’s not easy to answer, but a great website certainly cannot hurt! As you evaluate where your sales systems may leave “room for improvement”, you can begin by scrolling through your website and asking yourself the following questions…
“Does your website:”
• Lead clients through the pages you most want them to see? (Do customers know where to go?)
• Explain the booking/ordering process? (Do you explain the steps?)
• Represent your brand / company / skills in their best light? (Are you making a connection via your sales copy, blog, about page? Does your website look and sound as professional as you do in real life?)
• Help you pre-screen clients for style and budget? (Note: Pre-qualifying allows you to stop writing proposals for clients who cannot afford you.)
• Fully express what you do and what you sell? (You must be willing to sell on your site!)
If you didn’t reply with a resounding YES to all of the above, it’s the perfect time to take action to improve your website! It can be as simple as picking 3 small website updates to make this week to help attract more clients.
Add new dimensions to your website
I have two resources to help build a better website. You can check out my 6 Free Website Tips here: https://realflowerbusiness.lpages.co/website-tips/
Or you can take advantage of my 3-Day Website Bootcamp and get my best website shortcuts to help you on your way to a more engaging website in 3 days or less here: https://courses.realflowerbusiness.com/product/website-bootcamp
Because, truth is, if you’re relying on the website you updated 3 years ago to keep you moving forward in your business, now is the time for a refresh! Whether you updated 6 months ago or 6 years ago, make the time to add fresh content to your website and speak to the heart of your ideal clients.
Remember: If you want to attract more clients who are eager to work with you, your website is the place to do this.
