While big business has happily embraced the web, small-to-medium sized businesses often have their owners wondering why they should bother. The truth is, the Internet is a great tool now and is only going to become more powerful as time goes on.
A Business Coach is ideally placed to explain the advantages to ’maybe’ or ‘wannabe’ users, and ActionCOACH, the world’s number one business coaching firm, is well equipped to implement the systems and training they need.
Founder and CEO of ActionCOACH, Brad Sugars, says that the Internet offers the real advantage of increasing leads, alerting customers to what you are offering and tracking when, how and what they buy – valuable information that links directly to potential sales and profit margins.
“A well-designed website is another facet of business advertising, and including a website address in marketing material will encourage customers to visit your site,” Sugars said. “If you can capture the details of people visiting your website, you have an immediate list of people interested in what you offer – if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be there. Everyone who visits your site is a potential customer!”
So how do you persuade site visitors to part with their email addresses?
Providing an incentive is one method. For example, earlier this year QANTAS offered visitors to its website a chance to win a free business class flight if they provided email addresses and agreed to receive travel information.
Many small-to-medium sized businesses can use similar electronic methods, such as sending e-zines, special offers or other promotions at set intervals. Once they have details of name, address and phone number, they can add this information to their customer database and begin the process of converting leads into customers. In this manner, they can create a powerful sales tool at little, or no, cost!
“Details of every subsequent sale can be used to refine your information, which boosts the power of your website and increases the value of your database,” Sugars said.
“Advertising your products and services on the web is too good an opportunity to miss,” Sugars said. “It’s easy, convenient, and statistically accurate, so it’s easy to track offers and results. Best of all, once you have your website in place and operating, it is quick and cheap to operate. And, if you need advice setting up your campaign, ask for help from a Business Coach.”
A recent survey by ActionCOACH revealed that one in eight business owners would consider using the services of a Business Coach. Business coaching is an industry that continues to grow. Today, it is the second fastest growing industry, next only to IT and ActionCOACH is leading the way in this category.
