How easy is it for a prospect to contact you from your website? I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve visited a website and wanted to ask a question or make a comment and I can’t figure out how to do it. It doesn’t matter if the website is a blog, a store, or even a small business site – they all should have a way for their visitors to leave feedback or ask questions. It’s all about making your organization as easy to do business with as possible.

With technology today there are more ways than ever to stay in touch with your customers and to communicate with your prospects. Some organizations are trying to take advantage of the different methods for communicating online. While technologies offer more media outlets than ever, nothing can replace the personal touch of a face to face meeting or personal phone call. Every interaction is unique and may require its own discretion.

Some popular methods of communicating online today include:

FORMS
The most common method of getting more information about your visitors online is through online forms. Nearly every website has one, and it is used by prospects and customers regularly. Users can choose to contact you or not and give you the information they want to. It is the new standard of online communications for customers and prospects who do not have a known contact with your organization.

• Problems:
  The biggest problems with forms for visitors can be that they are difficult find, hard to use because of placement, or they ask too much information. Sometimes, you have to enter something three times to get it to submit, or worse, if I did something wrong I lose everything I typed in and off I go to another site.
  For business owners, you want to get good information, and you don’t want to have to sort through a bunch of junk to get to a valued customer or prospect.
• Solutions:
  If those building the website put themselves in their visitor’s shoes and get feedback, it can be easy to create the right form, put it in the right place, and ask the right kind of questions. And not every coding method that prevents spammers has to be difficult for the end users. You can learn about different methods for protecting your form from spammers in our article – Who’s Filling Out Your Forms?

BLOGS
Blogs are becoming an increasingly popular way to communicate with and get information to your customers. Blogs allow users to post comments, share thoughts or opinions and discuss various topics in the form of an online journal while other readers can comment on those posts. If you own a business you can make use of blogs to promote your products or services.

• Problems:
  This can be a huge time commitment for the business. Not only does the blog need to be updated regularly but it needs to be updated with great content. If you’re not willing or able to put in the time and effort, it is better not to have a blog than to have a blog that isn’t getting updated. To learn more about blogs you can read our article – Is a Blog Right for Me?
• Solutions:
  Have someone available to manage the process and ensure the blog doesn’t get neglected. This can be done by committing to one post a week (2-3 is better) by someone who has good writing skills and something interesting and relevant to say.

LIVE CHAT
Live chat is the latest and easiest way to get to speak with a REAL Person online! There are paid and free software versions that can be put on your website that allows organizations to have a private chat window with a website visitor and even push them to web pages. This can be a great tool in turning visitors into conversions and thinking of your online store, more like a retail store.

• Problems:
  For many end users, this can be annoying and invasive. I am at your website because I don’t want to be bothered and I want to do things on my time. In addition, it can be difficult to have enough people on call to handle all of the requests.
• Solutions:
  These types of programs can be set up in different ways. Every time I go to a site, I don’t want your pop up asking me if I need help. Have a link there and I’ll click it if I want it, or if you see me having trouble after a while, then maybe ask. And if you are looking for a personal touch, avoid canned responses and questions. The last thing you want to do is make me feel like just another number. It defeats the purpose which is to make a personal interaction.

PHONE CALL
Smart phones are becoming more widely used and if you are a retail store, local shop or sell to consumers, you want to make sure your website is compatible with smart phones. With most phones, if your website has a phone number on it, I can just click call from my phone and I am calling your store. It is easy and efficient for any end user to find you and contact you using the technology they are comfortable with.

• Problems:
  If a website does not think about the end user, it can be difficult or impossible for an end user to find a phone number to contact you or even view your information online.
• Solutions:
  Be aware of how your website looks and interacts on all devices. Find out how many visitors are using a mobile device through your web statistics to see how concerned you should be. Make it easy to be found online and be sure your contact information is easily accessible so you can be contacted with the click of a button.

UNIQUE APPS/ RSS
If your market is large enough, unique applications for mobile devices and PC’s can be an added value to your customer and increase your business. For instance, Starbucks has an application that when using my phone, will tell me where the nearest Starbucks are from my GPS location and even allow me to make my own drink, look up nutritional information, or send my order to a friend.

• Problems:
  Apps can be a costly build and difficult to get out to the public. They also have to be an added value or worthy, which can be challenging in such a competitive market.
• Solutions:
  For the right market and product, this can add buzz, branding, and business for your store or product. It differentiates your company from the pack! They can also be used for advertisements and not just a tool that drives business directly to you.