The sales process is changing. Your customers and prospects are increasingly difficult to reach by phone. More and more, people are shopping online, even for technology and industrial products. They don't want to talk to you unless it's absolutely necessary. And if they can't find what they want easily on your website, they click away. 

It's no longer enough to build a website and wait for the phone calls and emails. Your customers want to buy online if they can, or at least get all the information they need to make a decision.

Turning Your Browsers into Buyers

Getting them to your site is more than half the battle, but once they are there, where do they go? What's the next step? How to they buy your product? Like most marketing questions, there's no simple answer. It depends on the product. 

5 steps to an effective website sales strategy for your company:

Step 1 - Deconstructing the sales process

How you sell your product? More importantly, how do your customers buy your product? Is it a straightforward product that can easily be bought online? Or do you require a CAD drawing or other document to provide a quote?

Step 2 - Break your sales process down into steps

Identify the steps of your sales process and think about which parts can be automated and how far you can take them online. If your products are fairly standard and conducive to selling online, build a shopping cart. If you offer a custom service or product, offer a free consultation, demo, or quote. 

Step 3 - Develop a "contact" section of your website

Make it easy for your customers to contact you with a "contact us" section in the same place on each page, preferably on the right side of your website. This encourages visitors to move to the next step in the sales process from anywhere on your site. Offer different methods of contact including email, phone, quote request or other form, join our email list, and social networking icons.