I came across a company today that I really liked. They had some great products, a clean and refreshing look to their website, and they looked like a group that I would want to work with. I was further intrigued when I went to go pay and their default payment currency was the same as mine. Living in Canada, most purchases I make come out of Europe, the United States, or Australia, so this was neat. So I immediately set out to find out where they are from. This is where my happiness ended.
Nowhere on their website, invoice, policies, blog, Facebook page, etc., was any reference to their business location, who they are, or any non-product sales information, what so ever. It was a completely faceless experience.
To me that immediately sends the message,
We are not interested in getting to know you, don’t contact us.
I am a firm believer in building face to face relationships with your customers on your website. Read that again, but a little slower, on… your… website. I’m also a firm believer that social media channels alone don’t cut it. Yes you can use these channels to enhance your user experience, but they should get the real you on your website as well.
Do you want real, face to face, long term, customers? Then check off these 5 ways to show your customers the real you and share a couple more below that you use.
Is your contact information complete and available?
This may seem like a no brainer, but sometimes we forget how important our contact information is. You should never have a customer phone you saying, “I was on your website, but I couldn’t find your address”.
Ensure that your contact information is available across your website, preferably at the bottom of every single page, including how to find you. This is exemplified in businesses that provide unique products.
One of my favorite stores is Starbucks or Baked Expectations. I will go out of my way to go to these places, and when I tell my friends about them, they land of the website and can easily find the location.
This does not mean that you cannot add your contact info elsewhere, but it provides consistency, and availability. Don’t make your customer search for this information.
What is on your “About Us” page?
I have read some posts that say about us pages are obsolete. I would challenge that thought.
You must have a page that talks about who you are, where you have come from, where you are going, and even through in a little bit about yourself. It does not have to be called, “About Us” and it doesn’t have to have the bio of every single employee and their dog.
For each business this page, or pages, will look different, and it should.
The goal is simply to provide your customer with a brief snapshot of who they are buying from and why in the world they should trust you. I put this information right on my homepage. I want people to immediately be talking with me.
What do you look like?
Believe it or not your customers are real people, and they want to deal with real people. Ensuring that you have a proper image of yourself, or your staff, is huge.
The biggest reason as that your customers are more likely to trust what you are saying if there is an image associated with the post.
On a personal note, I will often look on a website or social media channel to find out what a person looks like before I call them, or email them back.
Why is that? I just want to know who you are, and yes I will make judgement calls based on your picture. So don’t put on the one with the lamp shade on your head.
What do you blog, post, tweet about?
Do you let yourself be known through what you write? Is it a conversation or a sales pitch?
I, for example, love to golf and do not get to go enough. This is demonstrated in my play as I’m far from perfect at it. I hit the odd ball into the river (yet for some reason that is half the highlights from the PGA tour these days), and enjoy to drink Brisk Lemonade while driving my golf cart.
What did that information cost me? Nothing, but by opening up and sharing about myself we now have a stronger connection then we did before.
It’s not a matter of laying out all the details of your life, but be real.
Do you care?
If you have read this far I’m going to step out and say that, yes you do. However this is an honest question. There are many businesses who do not care about their customers, who want to keep them at arm’s length, who would rather assign them a number than a name, and who really don’t want to talk to them, or be known by them.
Does it does take effort to build relationships from your website? Absolutely, but you will never get to meet anyone amazing if you simply hide behind your computer screen 
What would you add to this list, let me know below!