Perhaps the most undervalued page of your Web site is the “Contact Us” page.
Here’s a story from my friend, Jon Websurfer. Jon was assigned the task of finding a supplier to make customized edible treats to use as corporate gifts for his company. He typed some keywords into his search engine, including his location. Out of thousands of bakeries in the U.S., a lucky eight showed up on the first page of results (the rest of the results weren’t bakers). Jon clicked on the results for five or six of these and looked over their websites, taking a maximum of two minutes on each page (for some it was more like 10 seconds). He evaluated them for:
- Presentation (if the site looks good, chances are they’ll do good product presentation)
- Ease of navigation (if he’s frustrated with your site, he may be frustrated with your service as well)
- Best looking (and best variety of) product photos
- How well they explained their ordering procedure, packaging, delivery and lead time.
Hoping to patronize a local supplier, he was frustrated at how hard it was to find out their locations.
One thing none of the pretty pictures could tell him was the taste of the goodies, so he decided to ask for samples from two sites. That’s when he found that neither listed a phone number. They only gave email addresses. Already fearing what would come next, Joe emailed both companies with his questions and a request for samples. As you might expect, 24 hours later, Joe had heard nothing. Next step: he found a local baker in the Yellow Pages who could provide a solution.
Both these companies’ websites performed their function excellently: they went out into the world (through search engines) and brought in customers who might be interested in their product. They provided enough information to qualify customers who were really interested and ready to buy. And then human beings bungled the sale.
Here’s some lessons we can take home about ‘Contact Us’ pages:
- If you ask people to contact you, make sure you have a plan on how you will respond. Not doing that is like launching an ad campaign when there is no product on the shelves.
- Offer customers many ways to reach you. Research shows that individuals have different preferences for “communication channel,” whether it’s phone, email, IM, text, Facebook, Twitter or even US mail. Don’t lose customers by trying to force them to use your preferred channel.
- Tell people where you are. If you have a product they want, people won’t mind if you are far away. On the other hand, if the search terms include a location, the searcher is looking for a local company - why pass up an opportunity?
- Respond as quickly as humanly possible. Consumers are looking for immediate answers when they use the Internet. Most consumers feel 6 hours is the maximum acceptable time to respond to their request for information. Remember: they are most likely to purchase from the supplier who can answer their questions. Don’t miss the opportunity to be that supplier.
- If you can’t do one of these things, explain why. For example, the message, “We’re bakers, not marketers. We answer phone calls and emails once a day, usually between 9 and 11am,” might have coaxed Jon to wait another day before calling a local supplier.
Tags: brand experience, communication, contact forms, contact page, customer response, customer service, usability, user engagement, user experience, user friendly design, user interface, website design
