“To be honest, based on the site design, I am leery of how the program design would be.”
This is a recent quote we received from a prospect as part of their “Thanks, but no thanks” response to a software vendor that was trying to set up a demo. Have you heard this before? Would most prospects even bother to tell you?
How strong do you believe the correlation is between your website design/experience and your product design/experience? More importantly, how strong does a prospective buyer think it is?
We’ve recently been debating this question internally, so we did what we like to do most…we asked some buyers.
In our informal, unscientific “study,” we found that buyers perceive there to be a very strong correlation… if your website is awful, your product – at least your user interface – probably is too.
That’s obviously only part of the story. We concluded the following regarding the correlation between website design and product design…
- A good website doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good product but it’s a good indicator that the vendor values design – we see a lot of cases where the product is working to catch up to the website.
- Typically, a bad website suggests a bad product, unless of course the vendor does not value their website, or marketing and sales for that matter…in which case, there are other, bigger problems.
- As you’d expect, the correlation between website and product is very strong with web-based or SaaS products. If you’re considering a web-based product, check out their main website for an idea of the product’s navigation, ease of use, and interface.
Come on…website design? Really? How big of a deal could this be?
I don’t know. How big of a deal do you think the first impression your sales rep makes is?
It may not make the sale, but it can surely ruin it, right?
So how big of a deal is it? Well, there are 3 “secrets” our most successful vendors know about websites and design:
- Your website is your first, first impression, and it’s becoming the most important impression. It’s the first place your future customers get to know you. (You knew that already, right?)
- Your website can/should be the most effective lead generation channel you have, and it’s growing stronger every day. (Knew that too?)
- Website re-design projects are expensive and take a long, long time…longer than you think. (Not really a secret, huh?)
Seeing as those “secrets” really aren’t so secretive, we’ll let you in on the real secrets of designing a website:
- The real secret is that those of you who need it most can actually have a nice, clean, modern website built for you in about two weeks for under $2000. (Ask us how!)
- The real secret is that you can create a professional looking, highly effective landing page in about two hours, and try it for FREE! (Ask us how!)
- The real secret is that, sooner or later, you’ll have to accept that your website is your single greatest sales and marketing resource…and you’re probably wasting it. (We can help…Ask us how!)
In the same way you wouldn’t let the “early 80’s, cheesy used-car salesman” represent you, you shouldn’t let an outdated, cluttered, ugly website do it. A well designed website represents your brand, your attention to detail, and how much you value delivering a great user experience. As unfair and incorrect as it may be, to your prospective buyer, your awful website means your product is awful too.