Margie Dana

Do You Broadcast the Names of Your Customers?

One thing I get fired up about is a printer’s website. Even when I happen upon a site that’s not a client’s, I’m all over it like a cheap suit. There’s a mental checklist I go through to ultimately give it a grade from the perspective of a potential customer.

I was checking out the website of Lithographics Inc. after a couple of their salespeople subscribed to this blog. For whatever reason, I went to the “Our Work” section, where I came upon four different subsections.

It was the first link that caught my attention. It’s called “Clients.” Lo and behold, there I found a page filled with logos of some of their clients.

Though it may seem trivial to you, to me it’s quite significant. Because most printers’ sites that I come across do not share the names of their customers. Maybe they’re afraid that competitors will steal them away. Quite possibly they can’t get permission from clients to use their logos (or even identify them in a list of testimonials).

Seeing this colorful list made quite the good impression on me. It comes from strength – to put these client names out there. It comes from pride – to acknowledge some of their clients on a web page. And frankly, seeing this graphic arrangement of company logos somehow conveys Success.

Back when I bought print for a financial services company here in Boston, whenever a printer dropped the name “Fidelity” to us, we all thought, “Well, if they’re good enough for Fidelity, they must be fantastic!” Worked like a charm.

What do you think? If you’re a printer, are you man enough to post a list of customers on your site (with permission, of course)? And if you’re a print customer, would this influence you?

Goodbye Testimonials, Hello Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are powerful. They can propel a business to the top of its food chain – or sink it to the bottom of the heap. I’m jumping on the customer review bandwagon. So should you.

We customers trust one another’s feedback about a product or service quicker than we trust what a company says about its own products. A great review by a third party is so much more powerful than a company’s review of itself. I’ll believe other customers before I’ll believe what you tell me about your services. Their comments carry more weight.

It’s something called “social proof,” which is the influence caused by others’ reactions. It’s human nature to look around us and see what others are doing, and if enough people are acting or behaving in one way, in many cases, so will you. (Haven’t you jaywalked because people around you are crossing a street when a light’s red?)

I look for customer feedback on lots of things before purchasing them. Appliances, computer equipment, housewares, and clothing come to mind. And in my house, we spend an inordinate amount of time reading reviews on hotels, restaurants and potential vacation spots to help us decide where we’ll go.

Last fall, the Better Business Bureau reprinted a column by Megan Lum in which she states, “According to a 2013 survey by BrightLocal, 85% of consumers say they read online reviews for local businesses; this is up from 76% in 2012. The same survey also found that 73% of consumers say positive reviews make them trust a business more, which is up from 58% just one year prior.”

This makes me think about what more can be done to promote and share customer reviews for certain service providers. Let’s take commercial printers. The traditional approach to customer reviews for a printing company is still alive and kicking today: enter “The Testimonial.” I myself use this term regularly with my printer clients – but I’m starting to think it’s too old, too buttoned up, too hyper-sanitized.

Typically, printers ask for (or receive unsolicited) testimonials from customers, and once permission has been granted, the printer uses these testimonials on the web site and in promotional materials.

All well and good. But isn’t it time to do better? Can’t we have more fun with feedback?

Imagine what it would be like to have a spot on your web site that invites customer comments and reviews. I spent time searching on the Internet for customer reviews of printers and had trouble finding much, but I DID find www.bluebeeprinting.com in San Francisco. Their customer reviews are featured on their home page – top right hand side – and there’s a link to their Customer Lobby as well, in which over 600 reviews can be read. (Customer Lobby is a software app to collect, manage and publish customer reviews, according to their website.)

And imagine how great it would be to have videos featuring customers on your site, in which they share something awesome about working with you. Maybe they want to tell the world about a terrific employee of yours, for all the world to see. Customer videos add personality to your site. They’re more interesting than words on a page. They can paint a truly powerful picture of what it’s like working with you.

You know who does a nice job of this? PFL: www.printingforless.com. They have a ton of customer comments and videos online. In many of the videos, customers hold up samples of the printer’s work, making each video relaxed, casual, and personal. Just fun to watch. Bravo, PFL!

This isn’t a strategy you can simply achieve and implement overnight, but you have to start somewhere. How could you add ongoing customer reviews to your site?

More importantly: Why isn’t this a good idea?

For a terrific post by HubSpot (I’m their biggest fan, when it comes to blogs), read this one about .

Placing customer reviews on your site is recommended and is just step #1. They need to be published in your social media feed and on sites where your prospects might go to check out service providers in your field.

Social media wizard Brian Solis talks a lot about the value of customer experiences. He writes, “Today brands are not created, they’re co-created by the experiences customers share through social media and mobile networks.”

If you agree, then your customers are shaping your brand, as we speak, through what they’re saying about you on social media and in mobile networks.

Getting your customers to share their reviews of your company is a challenge I hope you’re up to. You need to have a plan in place to ask them for reviews, to capture the reviews, to publish them, and to spread them through your own SM networks as well as theirs.

Here’s to retiring the notion of testimonials and embracing the more engaging concept of customer reviews. How might you go about this?

What Does Your Website Say About You?

Let’s play “What does your website say about you?”

I have an idea for a new parlor game. But this one would be for businesses and played in a company’s common area, like a conference room.

It’s called, “What does your website say about you?” And it involves one or two rounds of players. (Don’t mix the two groups; keep them separate.)

Round one: your employees. This includes your sales team, your management team, and your service reps.

Round two: your top prospects. Get 5 people who would make perfect clients for you. They can’t have done any prior business with you.

The game rules couldn’t be simpler.

Rule #1: Every player takes a look at the company’s site for about 5 minutes. They’re encouraged to visit as many pages as possible.

Rule #2: Every player has to answer the following questions:

What does this company do?
What’s their #1 specialty?
What makes them different them from their competition?
What industries do they serve?
Are they strictly local? Regional? National? Global?
How big is this company?
Who’s running the show? Are they accessible? Welcoming?
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being super professional, how professional is this company? Why’d you give it that grade?
How important is quality to this company?
How important is the client to this company?
What sorts of clients do they have now?
Describe the company’s personality.
Is the company in step with the times? Support your answer.
Does it seem like an industry leader? In what way/s?
Is it clear to you where this company can bring value to yours?
Is the site easy to navigate?
Can you easily find the information you’d typically seek on an industry site such as this?
Did you encounter anything that frustrated or bugged you on this site?
How was the overall design? Attractive? Professional or amateurish? Easy on the eyes? Fun?
Was there any one thing missing from this site that you expected to find there, or any one thing you encountered that was a turn off?

That’s it. Just 20 questions for each player after they give your site a “look-see.”

Most prospects check out your web site in a B2B environment to vet your company before they’ll even consider contacting you (or meeting a salesman).

Your site needs to tell your story – very quickly, accurately, visually, clearly, in plain English, and with no technical snafus.

Read through the answers from each group of players. Do they jibe? Do the answers reflect what your company’s all about? If the results point to a major disconnect, you’ll know you have work ahead of you. I suspect that the employee answers will differ quite a bit from those of your prospects.

I use this exercise myself. Every time a prospect reaches out to me – for example, in the printing industry – I go to their site and mentally answer those 20 questions. Then we have a phone conversation, and before we cover any other ground, I share my impressions of their company based on their website.

Sometimes, the stars are truly aligned. If I describe their business pretty accurately, just from my looking at their site, they’re darned near overjoyed.

When I’m studying any site, I look to see if there’s a reason for my return. Is there content that relates to me and/or helps me in any way? Is this site a resource for me? Will I bookmark it?

It’s not easy, this web site business. Getting it right, which includes keeping it current and true to your company, is work. Often, it’s a chore that no one is in charge of – or it’s created, uploaded…and abandoned.

Your company website is worth your attention. Expect that prospects will be stopping by for a “look-see.” Does your site serve you well – or is it hurting your reputation?

Why a Printer’s Blog Is the First Thing I Look for

These days, when I try to find out what makes one printing company different from the rest, I turn to the blog. That’s right, I go to a website and look for “Blog” in the main menu.

Here’s why.

A blog lets you share interesting insights about your company as well as establish your true colors. It’s not about equipment or how old your firm is. It’s about business-related information and opinions. It’s (hopefully) fun and educational.

By its very nature, a company blog is more casual than web site copy. It’s still professional, but it’s not all buttoned-down and polished. A blog is more like business-casual coffee shop conversation. And because a well-done blog is done on a regular schedule, it’s fresh and topical. (I consider this publication my blog, and I wouldn’t think of writing the content too far ahead of the publication date. I want to comment on what’s happening.)

Back to a printer’s blog. If I find such a link on a company’s site, I read a few issues to find out if it’s compelling, well written, and informative. This body of work helps paint a picture of the company. If it’s nothing BUT self-promotional, blog after blog, it gets a thumbs down (and maybe triggers an email from me to the owner with some comments).

I look to see if the blog covers broader topics, like paper, social media, direct mail, the USPS, design trends, industry resources, digital vs. analog communications, file problems, terminology, tips for customers, and so on. Of COURSE it can cover exciting events and accomplishments within your own four walls from time to time – the key phrase being “from time to time.”

The best part may be that as a body of work, a blog keeps going and growing. It’s alive and engaging. It asks for your comments.

A blog begs to be actively shared (if not, why bother just putting it on your site?). I look for the social media links and check them out, too.

A good blog is to your ideal audience what the yellow brick road was to Dorothy and company: the path leading to your own little Oz, or website.

Your blog: the yellow brick road leading to your site.

Your blog should be uploaded to your site (use WordPress or other CMS to make this easy) and then shared in the social channels you habituate. In my case, it’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

People who like what you’re posting will get interested in learning more about you. They’ll follow the link back to your site and check you out. If it’s a really impressive post, they’ll share it. What a bonus.

Aside from giving people a peek under your company’s hood and an obvious link back to your website, here are a few other benefits to publishing a company blog:

– It can expand your reach.

– It can establish you as a subject matter expert.

– It can give you a unique voice.

– It can improve your reputation.

– It can generate leads.

– It can generate referrals.

– It can generate sales.

– It can cost less than other marketing efforts.

– It can introduce you to interesting new contacts.

– It can improve your search rankings.

– It can set you apart from your competition.

A well-done company blog creates a high-quality body of content. You can repurpose it in so many ways. You can email it to customers and others (who may or may not follow you in your social media efforts).

In my opinion, a blog is the cornerstone of a company’s inbound marketing efforts. It’s effective. It’s versatile. And it’s easier to do than you think.

PS: Here are some great tips for increasing social shares on your blog: http://bit.ly/1q0tev2

Category Archives: Web Sites