In the fall of 2015, I was in the market to purchase a new car. I spent a few hours researching online and ended up going to three different car dealerships. What quickly intrigued me were the strategies used by each of the sales representatives. The reps from the first two dealerships bombarded me reasons why their dealership was better than any other. They claimed to be the best, most highly certified, fastest, lowest priced (whether AutoTrader.com agreed or not) and have the someone’s-name-advantage. They also were insistent that the car they were showing was the perfect one for me. The sales representatives in these first two locations told me it was exactly what I needed and listed out all of the features their respective “dream car” had. (Ironically,  I didn’t want most of the features being listed, and several from my priority list were missing.)

The third dealership was different. When I walked in, they asked me about my needs. They wanted to find a good fit for the issues I was trying to solve. They got to know me and what I was looking for before showing me a car that would be a good fit.

The same happens with your website.

Make your website customer focused.

When someone lands on your site, they want to know if you can solve their pains and problems. Your visitor wants to know if you can solve their needs first, then want to know about all the reasons why.

I’ve come across so many website home pages that say “we’re the best at our services” and show a magnificent photo of their office building.

When you’re searching for a plumber online (for example), you are probably thinking something along the lines of, “Can he get my hot water back on by tonight?”. If this website proclaims that they have the most advanced tools, coolest trucks, biggest building and most awards, you’ll probably leave the website quickly. Why? You are not sure if he can solve your pains and problems.

Your website is for your customers.

The whole point of having a website is to generate more customers online. Make your website aimed towards your customers and their needs. Show them that you can solve their problems, quickly and easily.

And kudos to you, Fletcher Jones VW, for understanding your customers – you won me over for the car sale.