Effective order forms are the key to building trust and selling online
Trust is such an important part of selling printing online. Creating trust is even part of the last step of the digital dialog we’ve been exploring together in the past few articles. Remember the definition of digital dialog: the online version of you that starts conversations, develops relationships, and builds trust so you can sell more printing. It can take years to build trust. It takes just seconds to destroy it.
A simple test of trust
Time for a simple test. Take a look at these real-world order forms found on the websites of real printers. Do they build trust? Or are they too simple? Too cluttered? Too confusing? If you’re convinced your website order forms are doing everything they can to build trust with your customers and prospects, then congratulations, you can skip to the end of this article. However, if you’re seeing some similarities between your order forms and the examples I provided, then keep reading.
Your order form is your interface. Remember, your online order forms are your last opportunity to build or destroy trust. They are the interface between you and your customers who want to buy printing online. If no one is using your order forms, it may be tempting to put the task of reviewing them into the “I’ll get to it later” pile. But perhaps the real reason no one is using your order forms is that you have yet to make them trustworthy.
Make it easy to order printing online
If you are serious about selling print online, here are three idea starters you can use to think about how to best build trust with your order forms.
Choose your words carefully Website visitors will read only 28% of the words on an average web page. With that kind of survival rate for the words you use, you have to make sure they are well chosen and present a clear path for your customer to continue using your order form.
Find the right balance How much information is necessary to lead someone to a sale? If 72% of the order form’s information is destined to get ignored, then present that information with the use of help bubbles. The information is there for customers who want to dig deeper, but it’s only revealed to customers who request it and it’s not cluttering up your order form for everyone else.
Hide unnecessary information How much information can you eliminate so you don’t hinder the sales process? Once you know your customer is ordering full-colour printing, don’t confuse the issue with a question about spot colours.
See this tip in action at youtu.be/NP_1xFwOlIo or on.mi4p.com/3-idea-starters
These changes to your order forms may not be easy, but easy for you isn’t really the concern. Be concerned about making it easy for your customers so they will buy more printing. Get some geeky help to make those changes.
Finish strong and sell more printing. Your website’s order forms are where you make or break the online sale. It may be all too easy to put order form improvements on the someday list, but printers who want to be successful in today’s online world will keep their order forms’ health on today’s to-do list.