Are You Buying Your Own Stuff?

By Janice Bennett

When you create products or programs do you see what your customers see when
they purchase from you?

It often surprises me when I work with a client, or speak with a business owner, who
tells me what their purchasing process is, and I don’t see it myself.

They have created the process but somewhere along the line through either the
implementation or the delegation the steps are not complete.

Because of my computer programming training – I learned that you TEST…TEST…
TEST everything!

Whether it is a teleclass registration, a product in your shopping cart, an email with
a link or a physical customer service phone inquiry – TEST IT! 

Here are the 4 steps to ensure that you see what your customers see… before they
see what you don’t want them to see:

Send a TEST message. Before sending your message to your entire list you should
send a TEST message. Most contact management software has the ability to send
a test message before you schedule your message to be sent to your entire list. If
your’s does not, all you need to do is create a list that is called TEST and your email
address is the only address in this list. It’s one little step and it can save you a lot of
aggravation. How does it look? Are the fonts ok? Is there a glaring typo? Fix them
now and do another test.

Click the links. If there are links in your test message or if your webmaster has
created a special link for your product, click on them. Do they open as they should?

Purchase your product. This also includes signing up for your own free offer,
teleclass, etc. Enter your information as if you were the client or prospect. Do you get
a receipt? Is there an autoresponder message? Is it correct? Are you taken to a Thank
You page? Should you be? Is it correct?

Call customer service. Perhaps your customers are able to purchase or inquire
by a real live person. Call the number. How do they answer the phone? Does it
sound like your business or someone randomly answering a phone? Ask questions –
do you get support? Ask crazy questions – do they try to help or give you the
run-around?

Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos shared in his book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits,
Passion, and Purpose the story of one time where they called the Zappos customer
support to find a local pizza place in the middle of the night. The customer support
associate was able to provide them with a few numbers.

You can delegate this to someone whom you trust in your business, but in the
beginning you will want to do this yourself.

© 2011 Janice Bennett