- Encourage your existing customers to refer people to your site. By far the best form of advertising is word of mouth. If customers refer others to your site they arrive in a positive frame of mind because someone who's opinion they value has said good things about you.
These "warm" customers always have a higher conversion rate than people who heard about you through an ad or other form of promotion. Be sure to thank customers for any referrals by giving them something for free, offering them a discount or mailing (yes mailing!) them a card. Making them feel special and appreciated will ensure they refer others in the future.One way to encourage customers to tell their friends about your site is to offer them a full rebate on their purchase price if three people they refer buy. The customer will be motivated to find three friends - and you'll turn one sale into three!
- Allow your customers to decide how much they want to pay for your product or service. Although this technique can be risky, if you have a product that isn't selling quickly it can kick start sales and allow you to start building a customer list. Another idea is to offer a trial for a nominal amount (such as $1) and then have customers choose how much they're willing to pay once they've seen exactly what they're getting.
- Offer a "Better Than Risk Free Guarantee". Offering a powerful guarantee that shifts the risk from your customers to you is a great way to encourage people who are "sitting on the fence" to buy. What makes a guarantee "better than risk free" is if you not only guarantee to refund all of their money if they're not completely satisfied, but you'll also give them something just for taking the time to look at your product.
This can be as simple as letting them keep the bonuses or as complex as giving them more than the purchase price back. Of course giving them back more then what they paid is risky, but making a bold guarantee always pays off if your product is one that people rarely return.
- Give customers multiple payment options. Studies show that sites offering many payment options have significantly higher conversion rates. If you're currently only accepting the major credit cards consider also accepting PayPal, online checks and telephone orders. Also make sure you're accepting ALL of the major credit cards, not just VISA and MasterCard.
The key to seeing results is taking action. The sooner you get started working on improving your conversion rate, the sooner you'll be reaping the rewards.
