I conducted a brief survey of several reseller web pages today looking for answers to two specific questions. Did the web site offer some form of interesting information that required the visitor to reveal their contact information? Did the web site immediately capture and hold a user’s attention?

Out of ten web sites viewed only one offered information that required the prospect to reveal their identity and none really captured a user’s attention!

Web sites are absentee sales people. If a prospect happens to visit a web site (organic search, Pay-per-Click or even in response to being given a calling card at some function), keep in mind one very important fact. Most prospects have the attention span of a five year old. If you do not give them a reason to stay within about 10 seconds, they are probably going to leave. Just like in any sales situation your objective is to establish a significant competitive advantage. You want suspects (not prospects yet because they haven’t identified themselves) to voluntarily decide to eliminate your competition for you or at least consider you first among several options.

I am not a big fan of requiring users to identify themselves in order to download a document that “might” be of interest or view a demo. However, that is an expected web norm and most of us are willing to go along. Since I don’t really like this, the article or demo had better be of significant interest. If it’s just general information or worse still blatantly sales oriented, I will leave because I know what’s going to follow. Someone is going to send me an e-mail or call me.

OK. What can you do to attract and hold a suspect’s attention and eventually get them to identify themselves? Give them something other resellers do not. Capture their attention by giving them a path to excellence.

Most users searching for a new accounting/ERP system do not understand fully how to conduct such a strategically important project. All they know is that they need to make a change; change in software and probably change in business processes. The problem is that they do not know how to get to wherever it is that they want to go. They want to ask a question, but do not. “Can you help us move from where we are today to where we need to be tomorrow?” There’s a second question buried in there as well. “Can you help me manage this project?”

Notice that these questions have nothing to do with whatever accounting product or ERP system you support. It’s a lot more personal. People need a white knight to literally take them by the hand and guide them to their destination. Oh, by the way, many users do not have a well defined destination. All they know is that they need to make a change.

If you assume that these are questions you need to answer, how should you structure your Home Page? Forget about products and product attributes. They will become important only after you have answered a user’s more fundamental questions. Respond to the questions by saying “Our primary mission is assisting our business partners achieve their objectives, what ever they may be and this is how we do it.”

Rather than selling products and product attributes, we are now selling the process itself and literally taking a user by the hand and showing them how you are going to help them achieve their objectives. Since you don’t know what these objectives might be, the process shows users that you know how to lead them wherever they want to go. This step-by-step approach will cover all of the basics: understanding the software selection process, understanding what’s possible in today’s business management systems, process improvement, needs definition and everything else that contributes to the creation of a foundation for greater success.

As you might have noticed, this process does not mention specific products and it’s not designed to do so. Users need guidance and that’s what you are going to provide. If can provide this path to excellence and your competition does not even mention it, who is the user going to turn to for assistance? Notice also that you have now invited the user to stop for a moment and consider what you have to say. That’s the underlying objective.

Give users the ability to differentiate you from your competition immediately. If you can get them to stop and consider what you have to offer (the process, not your products), you have created what could prove to be a substantial competitive advantage. If achieving Business Excellence (that’s what I call it) is of interest to your web site visitors, they will be more than willing to identify themselves.