What’s worse?
Getting the “Evil Eye” from your boss throughout a two-hour-long meeting and not knowing why…
Or…
…knowing why and realizing you’re about to get “bit in the butt” for a bad decision you made six months ago?
Definitely the latter, decided Rachel, company marketing coordinator.
And glares from Beatrice, her boss’s executive secretary, and Albert, her counterpart in Sales, just jacked up her anxiety even higher.
Mercifully, the company quarterly budget meeting ended early. And Rachel, trying to remain unnoticed, rose slowly, turning her body away from her detractors. She was three steps from the conference room door when her boss’s voice stopped her.
“Rachel, I need to see you in my office in 15 minutes—exactly,” George, her boss, said.
“Yes, sir,” replied Rachel.
“And bring all your research on the three-vendor process you went through when you set up the most recent version of our website,” George added.
The usually confident brunette managed a nod. But as Rachel escaped the room, one thought dominated, “I am so-o-o screwed.”
Her sneakiness puts Rachel on the “hot seat”
In the safety of her small comfy office, Rachel lamented to herself, “This could cost me my job.” She then rehashed her decision of six months ago.
George and the marketing director, Susan at the time, had tasked her to hire a vendor to fix their faltering website. Her response? “Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of it.”
Her confidence was easy to explain—at least at that time. Her brother, Pete, had just graduated with a master’s degree in information technology—what could be more perfect?
Of course she’d have to go through the vendor selection process. But if she “nudged” her brother in the right bid direction, he’d get the company contract.
The ethics of the plan bothered her, but Rachel thought:
“It’s the perfect solution, I can give Pete real-world work experience, and I can save the company money.”
What could go wrong?
She found out shortly in her boss’s office.
Too much knowledge can be dangerous—to a marketing website
“Not meeting expectations is about the nicest way I can frame our website’s result,” said George to start the meeting.
A frowning Beatrice droned off the list of problems from a Google Analytics printout. She concluded:
“Basically, our stats in such areas as new and repeat visits, page views, and average time on our site are at least 33% lower than industry standards. And 14% lower than our previous site. The only upwards trends are our page exit and site bounce rates.”
After the meeting, Rachel had one urgent mission: Eliminate all obstacles blocking the website from reaching or exceeding the company’s marketing goals.
The last hours of her work day were spent searching for answers online. First, she looked at many sites that offered free website reviews. But all were rejected—a quick study of their sample questionnaires showed they were nothing but set-ups for a later hard sell.
At 4:15 p.m., she found a promo on http://www.selfhelpmarketcopywriting.com that sounded promising. The headline asked:
Health, Wellness or Fitness Pro: Has Your Website Traffic “Flatlined”…Deadening Sales?
“And my career,” Rachel added.
She sent a short email with her company’s website address to the site’s owner, then with a, “Thank God, this day is over,” to her personal assistant, rushed out of the building.
Early next morning, on the phone with her new consultant, she discovered why the company website had low traffic and produced few sales.
Her brother had included several flash movies—including a loud video intro–and large photo files as part of the new web design. These caused slow loading and viewing time, which chased away most visitors, Rachel learned.
Also, the site was not search-engine-optimized so it didn’t rank high in Google or other search engines, her consultant said. The content also needed a more customer focus, he added.
Rachel would find out more when she got the proposal the next day. At least now she had some firm info to take to her boss, and he’d know she was on her way to solving the company’s biggest challenge in years.
Some harsh news, then…
https://selfhelpmarketcopywriting.com/ won Rachel’s company’s competitive bidding process—with no help from her. The consultant’s business used a proven one-of-a-kind system that sounded effective, efficient, and easy for her and the rest of the staff to understand.
Plus, the consultant’s confidence and competence gave Rachel some much-needed assurance. Of course, the introductory $100 savings discount helped too.
Completed a day before deadline, the e-mailed review detailed the many places their website misfired. “I can’t believe we sent so wrong on this site. In fact, we thought we had the perfect marketing vehicle—until the numbers came in,” Rachel told her consultant by phone.
Her eyes widened as she studied the review’s recommendations for improvement. More benefit-oriented and conversion-optimized copy…remove most of the animated photo files…replace the free site-design template…make customers the star not the company…reorganize cluttered and confusing format…and many others.
“Thinking about all the work this is going to take is making my head spin,” Rachel said.
“Not to worry, you have a lot of options available to make this headache free—and affordable,” he responded.
Rachel’s redemption
Three months later, the looks Rachel received at her company’s third-quarter meeting were much different than the previous one. Big grins, high-fives, and congratulatory handshakes ruled.
“Speech, speech, speech,” several of her friends cried, jabbing their fists in the air.
“Ha, Ha. Actually, the numbers speak for themselves,” said Rachel, now the company’s marketing director.
Indeed they did.
Rachel studied the recent analytics report—for the fifth time—from her chair directly to the right of the boss. Yep, content’s conversion rates were up 95%, landing page conversions had improved 50%, call-to-action success was up 125%, and so on.
“Getting that website review was the smartest thing I’ve done in a long time,” she mentally congratulated herself.
Rachel rose and gave a short “thank you” to her fellow department heads and other members of management. Concluding she said: “Yes, this was a huge challenge for us. But really, all it took was just one email and I was on my way to finding the solution.”
Yes, Rachel turned her career and company’s future around by researching her options then acting. How about you?
Are you despairing because you and your company are missing out on the financial rewards—and personal pride—that comes from owning a successful marketing website?
Then be like Rachel. Do your due diligence and act today.
Who knows? Maybe you’ll become your company’s hero just like her.
Dale L. Sims, Stealth Sales Strategist: Copy, content & business-boosting ideas for self-help marketers. 