It has been my experience that 80% of my customers do not sign-up on the first browse of my site. Most come back 2-4 hours later, and no small number 2-4 months later. I track when and how they first reached me with cookies. Obviously I loose track of those that reject cookies or clean their cookie bin, most don't.

My larger concern is that the client can find their way back to me. Consider the players in my niche market.

xyzhosting.com 1
hostingxyz.com 2
xyzwebhosting.com 3
xyzwebhostingservices.com 4 . . .

I'm number on obviously, :D but the point is we all have very similar names, rate plans....

I don't mind the potential client shopping around before or after coming to me, as I would rather have a customer that "picked" me after giving the market a look-over. What I don't like is a potential client signing up with someone else "thinking" they were me, or because the couldn't find me on the second/third look.

Here is what I'm contemplating (but I see some problems with my idea, and am interested in opinions).

My sign-up process looks like this.

1) Client browses and selects a hosting package.
2) Client enters domain name into search box (or transfer)
3) Client is presented with billing cycle options (mo, qtr, annual) and a sign-up form on the same screen.

Step three is where most clients bail and check out the market. This I don't mind. What I want to do at this step it to collect their e-mail address. At this point I know how they got to me, how long they have been on my site, their ip, what domain names they have looked for (including those available and those already registered), but I don't know their e-mail address to do any followup.

What I'm "thinking" of doing is this.

Offering an option to e-mail the potential client all the plan and billing information so they can have it for future reference. This accomplishes two things; one I get their e-mail address for follow-up, two they have all my information with them after they leave so they can easily find their way back. They also have a nice description of services they can show their decision makers.

The only thing I "don't" like about the idea, is it lessens the impuse buy. One of the things I do, is to tell a person how many times an "available" domain name has been looked up. The higher the number, the less likey the domain name will last. (No I don't cheat and artifically inflate the number, but I have been tempted).

I guess if I was "really" confident I had the best game in town, and the person would come to me after looking the entire field over I wouldn't have any hesitations.

Anyway, a long post, I welcome any and all comments pro or con.

Bob

i would think a live support/sales chat program will work... i am using this for my company... it shows u when people view ure site and u can bring up a chat window right to their screen and talk with them one on one and see what they are feeling and answer questions.... it also works great for support instead of phone support.... i use Kayako.com becuase they charge once instead of once a year or month

i personally am very annoyed by those web-based chats. i can imagine most people are as well.

I think offering a live chat on your site for customer support is great. However, I'm not so sure annoying them, by initiating that contact, is the way to go. Most people don't know this can be done....so it frightens them off. Or...they just think it's a popup ad, and they close it. lol

I'm not gonna sit and say anything bad about your business. This is a legit question. However this is honestly something that should have been thought about...before opening, and registering your name etc..... It's called a sound business plan.

1. Develop a name, and a brand that is unique, and memorable
xyzhosting, to me, is almost the same as "acme" It's a very generalized name. I'm not saying it's bad, just generalized, and common.

2. Amaze them with your design. People WILL remember the site that amazed them the other day, if not bookmark it.

3. Create a hard sales tactic. For example, if you know they generally leave on step 3, then thwart that off, by placing a small section that says, "Need to think it over? Click here." On the resulting page, give your last, greatest sales pitch, that tells them how different you are from your competitor, and if you can, offer them a reward (extra space, bw, etc) for ordering now, rather than later. and of course, include a link back to step 3's page.

The step above will let them know, that you're aware of their concerns, and what they may be feeling. Customers like being related to. :) Plus it give you the opportunity to make one last hard sales pitch to them, before they leave. The biggest asset of all is rewarding them for "acting now." Why do you think infomercials, and Home Shopping Networks do so well? They make the people watching at home, feel like they'll miss out if they don't order right this second.

Of course, the viewer then picks up the phone and purchases their Tiger Woods Autographed Nose Hair Trimmer :D

If you use this, please keep in touch and let me know how many sales this increased for ya. (The advise not the nose hair trimmer I mean. lol)

I notice that too, I have alot of people that look at about 15 pages of my site everyday, Weird huh? I remember visiting rs and drooling over their dual xeons everyday for about a week though, so who knows? :D

I'll probably never do the "push" live chat option. Like rusko I'm put off by those.

Because I do encourage folks to shop around, and "think it over" I'll probably try the "think it over" link, with the option to have an e-mail sent with all the account details.

I don't like the last ditch sales effort of lowering prices.... My rates are where I want them to be already. Given so many folks will likely press the "think it over link" I would have to raise my initial prices to provide the wiggle room. This would make me look uncompetitive on the surface.

I average 1 sign-up a day, so while I want 10, I'm not hungry enough to discount any further.

It will take a few weeks to move this project into the queue, but when I do I'll report back.

Bob

Bob, I think it is a great idea to get their email address early on in the process, and then send them an email with the package they were working on, pricing, contact details, etc... This ia very non-intrusive way to get that customer to come back. Impulse buys are great, but most serious customers shop around, think things over, crunch the numbers, etc... for days or weeks before selecting a service such as web hosting. And email is the number one used tool by most computer users, and the most likely of all mediums to be saved (not favorites, not addresses, not phone numbers).

- John C.

I agree! That's a great idea. Maybe have an option on the page that says "not ready to signup yet? Click here to remember this package". Then cookie them with the package info and send them an email with it also.