Securing Web Design Orders through existing portfolio of customers
- by Ralph Ramah
- Published on 3/19/07
- Article views: 286
Anybody who has advertised on Google Ad words or Overture knows what it costs to generate leads, build a sales pipeline and convert the orders. The cost per click for the keyword web design can be as high as £2 per click. Try to generate enough good leads and your pay per click budget could run into the thousands. Obviously getting the leads is not enough to secure web design orders. A lot of time and money can go into following up on the leads and converting these to web design orders. There is no doubt about it : securing first time customers is hard work and expensive. A viable business option is to generate web design orders through word of mouth. Whilst anybody would probably with this statement, the question remains how do we sell web design effectively through word of mouth?
The obvious answer is by getting yourself known within the web design industry and by your potential customers. There are a number of ways of achieving this objective. Your existing satisfied web design customers are an excellent starting point. Notice I say satisfied customers. Although it is our aim to have satisfied customers, it is not always possible to keep all our customers always happy. Lets face it, there are some web design customers out there that you just cannot please, no matter how hard you try. Yet, every web design company should strive very hard to keep excellent relationships with existing customers because there is no better reference for your web design business than your happy clients.
Assuming you do have a reasonably good web design customer base, use it. From time to time call these customers and ask them how they are doing with their web sites. You will often find that a past customer needs some kind of web design updates and additional work done to their web site. What's more, by keeping in touch with your clients, you are reminding them that you are here if ever they need web design work. People in business talk and anybody searching for a web design company will more than likely talk to a friend or partner before starting to search for some anonymous web design company on search engines. Somebody who has heard good things about your web design services will find it compelling to get in touch and at least find out about your web design offer. People instinctively trust their friends if the later are genuinely happy with your web design services.
The bottom line is, your existing happy web design customers are your best references and your word of mouth source of web design business. Whilst we do need to spend resources and time into advertising for new web design business, let us not lose sight of our portfolio of clients and the potential web design business that they can bring us.
Web Design for Corporate Companies. One of the basic principles of marketing is market segmentation. Matching the right product and services to the right market is critical. This certainly applies to the web design business and industry. There are obviously several market segments in the web design business, let alone the IT business in general. There is on the one hand the lower hand of the market i.e. the discount web design market. This web design market consists primarily of small businesses and one man bands who have either just started their business. We are here talking of companies or individuals who have a limited budget to spend on their web design, so price is definitely an issue. On the other end of the market there are the corporate companies who have the budget but have very different needs in terms of web design. Trying to sell to each one of these web design markets requires a different approach. How do we then sell to corporate companies?
A large and medium business looking for a web design company will probably use similar keywords if they are using search engines. Web design and web site design are the most popular keywords, so go for these in your adwords campaign and search engine optimisation. Corporate web design customers will however expect to find a potential web design supplier whose web site design projects a corporate and professional look.
The suppliers web design look and feel is therefore a key factor. After all and like it or not, first impressions count. What is this corporate web design look and feel? If you are not sure, look at some of the corporate web sites. Look at Nokia's web site for instance. Professionalism is obvious. Well groomed design, a bit of flash animation, not many colours. Certainly no spelling or design mistakes. The corporate web design requires particular attention to details.
Obviously the products or services on offer through the web design will to a large extent determine this look and feel. Corporate identity and the companys voice needs to come across loud and clear through the web design. Use of colours, logos, trademarks, corporate figures on the web design will usually achieve this corporate look.
Whilst budget and discount web design companies would show their prices on the web site, corporate web sites need not show your web design prices. Remember we are not necessarily selling to a price sensitive audience here. Showing your price on the web site might actually put potential corporate customers off your web design services. Price it too low and your potential corporate customers might think that your web design services are not good enough. You would be surprised by what some companies are wiling to pay or have been charged for web design work. Although your potential customers will want to have an idea of cost from the outset, I would not actually show my price list on my corporate web site.
Once the customer goes past your web site and decides to enquire about your web design services they would expect to be greeted by a professional team. Make sure your sales team, even if its just you, come across as being professional. Corporate customers expect to treat with corporate web design companies. These might not necessarily be large companies but professionalism and track record is a must. Telephone manners, the quality, value and timelines of your quotes are crucial. You have no room for error when you are dealing with people who expect to pay for an excellent web design product and service.
The corporate web design market is certainly a lucrative one. If you are used to servicing the discount web design market, you need to think twice and prepare for a different web design package offer. You will need to invest into designing your own web site for a more corporate look and feel. You will also have to look into training your sales staff and your internal communication processes so that you come across as a corporate web design company yourself.
Ralph Ramah is the webmaster of Discount Web Design, one of the leading web design company in the UK offering quality web site design and SEO services
Ralph Ramah is the webmaster of Discount Web Design, one of the leading web design company in the UK offering quality web site design services
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