Do your companies online and offline messages have integrity?
Does your company’s online presence match with its interactions with clients in the ‘real world’?
Does a new visitor to your website get a realistic impression of who you are and what you can do for them?
Some companies who’ve been in business for years seem to see their website or social media accounts as peripheral. They see them in the same way that we might see a side project, somehow separate from everyday business.
In the company head office, the carpets will get vacuumed, the walls neatly painted, and the staff well-dressed. Online, the company website might be old-fashioned, out of date, and with inaccurate or incomplete information. In many cases, sites will malfunction, and be on display, for the world to see.
Is your website even more important than your office?
When someone’s inside your office, there’s a high possibility of them already being customers, or having been referred to you by an existing customer. They’re sold on your product or service already!
Someone coming to your website is less likely to know who you are, so the first impression will be crucial.
Someone browsing online for a company that offers your product or service will click away from a tired, out of date or poor quality site. They’ll keep searching until they find what they want.
They’ll see a competitor who presents themselves online in a professional manner that you display in person. This competitor will get a new client.
It could be that you can offer better value than the competitor. The competitor that you lose business to might even be terrible! They might also be a new start-up company that has no idea and that is destined to fail?
It could be pure luck that they found a good web developer who was able to make them appear more professional and dedicated than you.
The difference in real terms?
- A trail of lost opportunities for new clients, because of the impression your website gave them.
- A portrayal of being second best, in full view of the world.
- A demonstration of a lack of integrity on your part.
- A few thousand pounds or dollars that you could have invested to update your website.
… This trail of lost clients doesn’t just follow behind you on the path that you’ve already walked. It stretches in front of you as far as the eye can see. It continues as long as you stay on this same path.
… The portrayal of being second best, or even being last, would mortify you in ‘real life’. Imagine attending a trade show or presentation and receiving an award for being last. You’d do everything in your power to make sure that it didn’t happen again. Well, I have news for you, the internet IS part of ‘real-life’.
… What’s integrity? Some people think that integrity is doing the right thing or telling the truth. Honesty and morality are friends of integrity, but they are not the same thing. Integrity is where everything pieces together in the best way it can, with no gaps.
Structural integrity does not leak or rattle, and human integrity is where your actions match your values. Business integrity involves you delivering on your value proposition. It also means that your business messages are in sync. You cannot say that you offer the best product or service then have a website that says that you don’t care about your reputation.
… Lastly, modern web design and creating an active online presence doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. If you’re in a competitive market and you want to be number one, then that’s expensive. You might need to spend five or even six figures per month on advertising, SEO, social media management, and so on.
If you’re small to medium-sized established business, and your website is lacking, just spending a few thousand will make a big difference.
It doesn’t have to have custom patented features. It just has to be attractive and informative enough to get your message across to your next client who might not know what you can do for them.
It certainly has to be welcoming enough so that you don’t scare customers away, or demonstrate a lack of business integrity.
If this post resonates with you, and you want to turn away from the path with the trail of lost opportunities, drop us a message, and we’ll see if we can help.
