Checkboxes

Checkboxes are a term that we came up with to describe the various factors that make a potential customer into an actual customer. They are the facets of a business that proves its professional nature and encourage a customers trust. A list of the basic checkboxes customers expect is below:

  • Business name relevant to products/services
  • Business address
  • Telephone number
  • Website
  • Email address that is @website

As you can see, they are pretty basic and as mentioned are now “expected”. These are the “basic” checkboxes that potential customers want to know in order to prove they are dealing with a business. Advanced checkboxes are below, these are the “tippers” that help “tip” the potential customer into an actual customer.

  • Professional website
  • Actual office or workshop
  • Business cards
  • Office stationary (letter head, compliment slips, etc)
  • More than one staff member
  • Telephone attendant “press 1 for x”
  • Custom voicemail “thank you for calling x”
  • Embroidered clothing or office attire
  • Fax number
  • Limited company
  • VAT registration

Now, you can imagine the business that has all of these checkboxes is a “business” in the eyes of the customer and not someone operating out of a spare bedroom or a possible con artist. At this point the customer trusts your business due to all the effort undertaken dictates an organisation that can provide the products or services they require. However, chances the businesses competitors are of a similar setup, so now you need to have “closer” checkboxes which “close” the deal and turn that potential customer into a actual customer.

  • Free advice and recommendations
  • Open and friendly discussions
  • Straight-forward pricing
  • Quick and helpful responses to phone calls and emails
  • Jargon-less discussions (or at least explained Jargon)
  • USP (unique selling points) e.g. free web hosting
  • Aftercare and/or relationship building
  • No quibble refunds or returns

Now you have pretty much all the checkboxes that will turn any potential customer into an actual customer. However, you can provided all of these facets and more and still not get a sale. These tends to happen when the customer is more concerned about price than service or quality. But they still might come back to you once they have experienced the “lowest bid” service.