Websites are a sales crutch

One sales person recently told me that he viewed websites, meant to qualify traffic and generate leads, as a sales crutch.  Used in a derogatory manner, he was trying to say that letting a website do this work is not as effective and handicaps the sales people.  I was shocked that he felt this way and my own emotions prevented me from having a solid response.

I have a couple of heroes in the world of sales, namely Zig Ziglar and Ron Popeil.  As you may have heard, Mr. Ziglar passed away yesterday.  His passing has inspired me to look back through some of his material and reminded me of why we sell.

As a website conversion rate optimization consultant, my job is basically digital sales (why I group myself in with sales people.)  Great sales people aren't great because they can sell anything to anyone.  Great sales people are great because they know how to find a customer's weaknesses and strengthen them with the right solution.

If you're optimizing your website so that people don't read the fine print and end up buying something they don't want, you're on the wrong side.

Optimizing your website to help your customers understand their needs and find the right solution isn't a crutch for your sales people, its a service to your customers.