november 2007

This post is from from my other blog here

To Nana, Stacey & Janis ... who said it couldn't happen in 15 minutes. To those who mocked ... Ten minutes flat - job done! Now who's laughing? Ryan PS - Told you I'd blog it!

This post is from from my other blog here

Forgive the title, I've been reading a lot of Vanessa Fox lately. Today's topic deals with how customers feel when interacting with your website. For a moment, try to pretend you've never seen your website before. For some, this is will be quite difficult (I know of one OC florist who probably sees his site behind his eyelids during those precious few ours of sleep). For others it won't me much of a stretch to pretend they haven't seen their site. What is your initial impression? If you didn't know a thing about flowers, would your website help you make an informed purchase? It might help to switch gears a bit. Think of an area of your life where you hate having to make decisions because you feel totally uninformed and are afraid of being taken advantage of. (For me, that would involve any home reno sites! For many of the florists on FC you might be thinking about web design or technology decisions :)) If you knew you had to buy a TV within the next 24 hours, would you be comfortable going to a website that listed 700 options, categorized by price, size and manufacturer? Or would you start asking questions like: "What is the difference between LCD & Plasma?" "Why does model A cost more than model B?" "What's the appropriate size for my livingroom/bedroom/kitchen?" Side note: I'm in reno hell trying to stain some furniture. Big box stores were no help at all! Too many choices, not enough guidance. Let's step into the shoes of a customer who has suddenly been put into the position of having to buy flowers for a funeral. There is pressure: time pressure, social pressure, personal pressure. There is the resistance of being overwhelmed by choices (enjoy filtering through millions of Google results, anyone?) only to be faced with more choices (700 wire service images). How remarkable would it be for a customer to be relieved when they visit your site? How memorable would it be for that customer to feel comfortable selecting an item from your site because they've been given the tools to make an informed choice? How much investment of your time would be required to take the expertise you already have, condense it the way you already do (by phone or in person) and present it to someone who likely doesn't have the time to call or visit you? What would be your reward for making a truly remarkable customer experience on your site?