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Clayton Makepeace of The Total Package posted about something that’s been on my mind lately. Do clever and creative TV commercials - the ones that get people’s attention and keep them talking for years - actually increase sales of the product they are promoting? In other words, do “good” commercials sell?

According to Clayton, the answer is no. And he backs up his claim by giving a real-life example of a Nissan commercial from the late ’90’s. You may remember it: The dashing action figure, GI Joe, escapes from the jaws of a dinosaur and rescues Barbie from a dull date with Ken by enticing her with his sporty Nissan. (You can watch the Nissan commercial here).

Entertaining? Yes. Memorable? Yes. But did it sell Nissans? Nope. In fact, Nissan sales plummeted. Their rival, Toyota, however, stuck with boring, customer benefit-focused commercials and their sales thrived. It wasn’t until Nissan pulled the commercial several months later that they were able to see their sales rebound.

And so Clayton says croaking frogs don’t sell beer (Budweiser) and Chihuahuas with a Mexican accent don’t sell tacos (Taco Bell). And I have one to add. Dancing lizards don’t sell vitamin water (SoBe).

I like lizards. And I grew up in the ’80’s, the era of Michael Jackson and “Thriller.” So the SoBe Life Water commercial that ran during the 2008 Super Bowl featuring lizards dancing to “Thriller” has been a recent favorite of mine. (You can watch the SoBe commercial here).

But when my 16-year old son picked up a SoBe drink at the supermarket the other day, I got to thinking. And I realized that as entertaining as that commercial was, it didn’t persuade me to buy SoBe. I didn’t drink SoBe before I saw the commercial and I never thought to try it after I saw the commercial, even after watching it numerous times.

So I headed over to the SoBe web site to see what they do - if anything - to convince people to try their products. Their web site consists of an opening Flash movie that’s cute and entertaining and fun. But where is the persuasion? The convincing? The benefits? Why should you or I or anyone else buy SoBe?

And so here lies the problem that plagues so many web sites: Like “good” commercials, they entertain, but they don’t sell.

Clayton Makepeace states that every ad (and yes, that includes web sites) should accomplish 4 essential missions:

1. It must create a desire for your product by presenting the benefits it will bring into your customer’s life.
2. It must convince your customer that the benefits obtained from your product are unique and not obtainable from competing products.
3. It must leave your customer feeling that it is urgent to buy your product as soon as possible.
4. It must compel your customer to action to purchase your product at the earliest opportunity.

Is your web site accomplishing these missions? If not, you’re probably losing sales.

Remember - it’s always about the customer.

Related Links:

Clayton Makepeace

The Nissan Commercial

The SoBe Commercial

The SoBe Web Site

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At some point, almost every small business will be faced with the task of hiring a web designer, either to get their business online, or to update their existing web site. But finding a good web designer isn’t easy. After all, anyone who knows how to get a basic web site up and running online can call themselves a web designer.

Obviously, web designers should have certain skills. And whether they are self-taught or the result of a college degree really isn’t an issue, in my opinion.

However, there is one very crucial skill that most designers don’t have that can make all the difference in whether your site brings in sales or not. Strangely enough, most small businesses don’t even think to ask about it when hiring a web designer.

That skill is knowledge of the customer - their online buying behavior, their various personalities, what triggers a buying response from them and how it all applies to web site design.

Web sites, after all, are a method of advertising and a point of sale for businesses. Yet most web designers fail to create web sites that are designed to convert visitors to customers, simply because they don’t know how. Their design skills and knowledge of technology might be top-notch, but too often their focus is on their creativity, not the customer.

The next time you are shopping for a web designer, take the time to ask them about their design philosophy. Do they design web sites based on the latest trends and technology? Or do they base their designs to focus on the web site’s target customers?

Remember - it’s always about the customer.

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Mario Sanchez-Carrion of Shoestring Branding has posted an excellent story on his blog on How to Handle Customer Email.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mario’s post. It’s not only well-written, but entertaining. In essence, it details Mario’s experience in contacting, via email, four car dealerships with a simple request. He asked each of them whether they: 1. Had the base (no options) car model of his choice in a specific color in stock, and 2. If so, what was their asking price.

One dealership never replied. Another emailed with hype and spam and never said whether they had a car meeting the specs on their lot or not. The third emailed him with a quote that included options and a dealership fee. Mario responded to them asking - again - for a base price without a dealership fee, but in the process, they made a big mistake. They took two days to get back to him. During that time, he was already well into the buying process with the only dealership that promptly and accurately answered his email.

I once had a client tell me she didn’t want to communicate with her web site visitors by email. She was used to doing business by phone and that’s what she was comfortable with. I told her she needed to learn to effectively communicate by email or she would lose business. She was so set in her way of doing things, however, that she ultimately decided a web site was not for her.

Another client insisted on providing only his phone number as a contact method on his web site. Interestingly, he was out of business within a year. Whether his failure to provide an alternative to a phone number as a contact method contributed to that, I don’t know. But it does make you wonder.

Many web site visitors prefer the convenience and anonymity of email over the telephone. The problem is, just as many online companies don’t want to be bogged down with answering emails. Neither do they want to invest the time and money in training staff to do the job. As a result, they neglect emails or do a poor job of answering them and their sales suffer.

What these businesses seem to miss is that the Internet is accessible to almost everyone, and people are no longer limited in who they can buy from. To top it off, it’s easier than ever for folks to shop around and compare prices. However, it’s not always the lowest price that wins the sale, but often, the business that responds timely, accurately, and respectfully to any inquiries the customer makes.

There’s a sense of peace that comes with knowing that someone who cares (or at least appears to) is on the other side of the web site. And, truth be told, some customers are willing to pay more for that assurance. Some won’t buy without it.

Remember - it’s always about the customer.

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