Online Buyers Beware: How to Restore the Trust Factor

I’ve had many tour operators (and hoteliers for that matter) tell me something over and over again:

People who buy online buy less, and often less expensive, products and services than offline customers do.

Does that ring true for you?  Have you ever tried to measure it?  It doesn’t surprise me.  As much as we all rush to take the online world by storm, there are some things that the virtual world just cannot replicate.

A product description will never be as good as the human voice.

A sales page will never replace a handshake.

A website will never make eye-to-eye contact.

All Is Not Lost

This isn’t the point where you start planning your bankruptcy sale.  This is where you fight back and restore the trust factor in your online marketing channel.  How do you do that?  Well, here are a few tips, advice, and recommendation:

• Understand your weaknesses.  If you have a hotel that is not centrally located, you have to work harder to explain the benefits of where you are.  If you sell risky tours or operations, you really have to work those marketing muscles to overcome customer objections.
• Show Off Your Affiliations. If you’re a member of tourism associations or local organisations, show that somewhere, to indicate that you are a real life company who can be trusted with your customer’s money.
• Make it Easy to Go Offline.  Your contact phone number, address, and other pertinent details should be visible on every page.  If someone  has an objection (is this really what I want), give them an outlet to get that question answered without any effort.  If someone can’t get ahold of you easily, they will likely not bother.
• Highlight Customers.  Show off the story of existing customers with testimonials.  With pictures.
• Transparency is Key.  Are their pictures of you and the team?  Does your site tell me your story?  Or is it just another one of those faceless websites – I’ve looked, and there are plenty of them.

Your website isn’t you, but it should be the second best thing.

To Learn More

Is your website driving sales or just driving people away?  We can help you restore the trust factor – our website content & usability resources might just be the thing for you.  Have a look – yes, right now, before you lose another sale.

Photo by Brief Moment