If you have a Web site where attention to detail is lacking, potential customers will probably choose a company that portrays their products/services in a quality, professional manner.

Don’t pay attention to details and that detail will be a glaring red flag to those who may have considered doing business with you.

Things like:

1. An unprofessional design or free WordPress theme with non-related affiliate links in the footer.
   The cost of a premium WordPress theme in $30-$100 — minimal cost for the impact provided and the support you will need moving forward.
2. More advertising than actionable content.
   Too many affiliate links or advertising plugins that interfere with your content makes your site not user-friendly. Be very selective and prudent as to what ads you have on your site, how many and where they are inserted.
3. Typos and poor grammar.
   Be sure to use the WordPress spell check on everything you add to your site. Read your posts out loud and be committed to continually improving your writings skills.
4. Lack of Social Media options.
   All business sites should minimally connect with Twitter, LinkedIn and have a Facebook business page. It doesn’t matter what you think of Social Media, your customers are using these sites and you need to be there!
5. Low quality or improperly sized photos and graphics.
   This is a visual medium. Photos and graphics enhance your message, but only when properly formatted and relative to the topic of the content they are embedded within.
6. Lack of easily found contact information or contact form.
   “Contact” should be a visible easy to find tab/link that contains all your contact information and your contact form.
7. Lack of the basic, standard and customary information site visitors want to know.
   You know the info you get asked for by prospective customers — have it on your site. Don’t make them have to e-mail you for the very basics. If you don’t have a FAQ that covers the questions you get asked most — add the creation of a FAQ to your To Do list right now!
8. Lack of or slow responsiveness to visitor comments.
   Speed matters! In a world where customer service is anemic at best you can stand out from the crowd and your perceived competitors by offering prompt and detailed responses to visitor inquiries.
9. Stale or rarely updated content.
   Brochureware is dead. Sites without recent and regularly updated content look neglected and cause site visitors to wonder if anyone is home. Try to post at least once every week — more if possible.
10. Focus on promotional content instead of providing helpful content that your visitors desire.
    Contrary to popular belief your site isn’t all about you. It should be about you offering the content your visitors seek while soft-selling your expertise and knowledge. Too much of a hard sell is a turn off.

The above are just a few of the issues I see on a regular basis that many WordPress site owners disregard or overlook. All of which will contribute to how your business is perceived.

To think you can do what you want or are only willing to do on the issues mentioned here, will speak volumes about your business and what it will be like to work with you. And, I don’t think you’ll like what it’s saying…

At your service,
Judith
Your WordPress Consultant

Your WordPress Site IS Your Face to the World! is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

I’ve championed the topic of e-mail etiquette for over 15 years with six sites and four books that cover this important topic. Both from an every day perspective with my site NetManners.com and from a purely business point of view with BusinessEmailEtiquette.com.

My involvement started when working with PhD’s, professionals and those that excel in their fields. To my surprise, I noticed that they communicated as though the didn’t make it out of the 6th grade. Educated people communicate in an educated manner, right? Wrong!

Every day e-mails come in from what I know are otherwise educated and college degree holding individuals typing in all lower case, typos, no greetings or closings. Terse, blunt and sometimes rude communications from otherwise nice folks. Are they uneducated? No. Are they lazy? Maybe. Are they underestimating the power of perception with electronic communications. Definitely!

If you don’t know by now that everything online, including how you choose to use e-mail, is all about perception, you’ve missed the boat. What do you think when you receive a business e-mail:

• …where the Sender doesn’t capitalize their name.
• …that has typos.
• …where the author doesn’t use proper sentence structure.
• …where there is no friendly greeting; just a request/demand.
• …when the Sender doesn’t close with a Thank You or Appreciate your help, when e-mailing for assistance.
• …when an e-mail reply only has a comment at the top (top posting) instead of addressing the issues point by point thereby avoiding unnecessary back and forths and potential misunderstandings.
• …when sentences are ended in ?????????????? or !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

The above are just a few of the things I experienced today in the business e-mail requests I have received through my various sites or directly from established contacts. Not personal e-mails — business e-mail!

Now, one could say the above doesn’t matter. But I have found that train of thought is held by wishful lazy thinkers who do not want to put the minuscule effort into communicating with the written word in such a way as to be taken seriously. And in doing so they can forget about the “taken seriously” part.

If you want to succeed online, whether you have a WordPress site or Blog, a Blogger site, a plain old HTML static site — you will have to communicate with potential customers or contacts by e-mail or site comment areas. Communicate with them without any sense of courtesy or reflection of the education you received in grade school and the fact is you won’t impress.

That’s called lost opportunity!

Know for a fact that your competitors who “get” the importance of communicating with clarity and courtesy by presenting themselves as educated professionals will rule the day.

So, are you one of those that still underestimates the importance of e-mail etiquette? If so, get on board and read, absorb and apply my Business E-mail Etiquette Basics before more opportunity passes you by. That train has left the station!

At your service,
Judith

Do You Underestimate E-mail Etiquette? is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

• Answering inquiries when you get around to it — if at all.
• Shipping at your convenience.
• Not paying attention to details.
• Not ensuring customers have the resources and info available to them to make doing business with you easier.
• Communicating as though you didn’t make it out of the sixth grade.

By operating in the above manner, you are nothing special and viewed in the same league as the majority. You need to be extreme and offer extreme customer service!

To stand out online you need to have
Extreme Customer Service and prove it!

Courtesy, professionalism, honesty and integrity are key. Now, I’m not going to blow smoke and tell you that by being honest and having integrity that’s all that is required. It isn’t. I can tell you from experience there will always be those customers where honesty or integrity are of no interest in lieu of just doing what you are told simply because you are being paid or offering the lowest price (regardless of quality).

In any business one has to realize that you can’t be everything to everyone. So don’t try! That’s part of offering Extreme Customer Service! Catering to your target market knowing what they want and giving it to them X10! Over over deliver!

Don’t dilute your efforts by trying to cater to the masses. Realize that those who do not value honesty and great customer service in lieu of cheaper prices and/or lack of quality or professionalism are those customers who most likely will not be profitable customers anyway.

A few examples of Extreme Customer Service …

• That you answer e-mails within an hour.
• You have your terms, conditions, FAQs and policy information front and center and available on your site.
• You have your products in stock and you ship that day if possible.
• You say what you’ll do and you do what you’ll say — without fail!
• If you make mistakes, you apologize; make things right and don’t make any excuses.
• You communicate is such a manner that your customers trust in your experience and knowledge — and desire to have them as a customer.
• You include an extra little freebie in with their order that is clearly packaged with care.
• You follow up to get their opinion about doing business with you so you can learn from their input and improve future experiences.

You get the idea…

If you are e-mailed about an order or receive a new inquiry, you jump on it with a professional and courteous response that addresses their inquiry — specifically. Templated generic responses won’t do here.

You make sure your customers know they are valued and appreciated by thanking them and using the epitome of professionalism and courtesy in your communications.

You take the extra steps and make the extra efforts to be THE company they want to do business with again in the future.

Online, more times than not, customer service levels are inadequate, sludge slow or plain old non-existent. Use that to your advantage to stick out like a sore thumb and reap the rewards — more business!

At your service,
Judith

Extreme Customer Service is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...