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Website Critique     
 
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Why Are People Reluctant To Pay For Advice?
Posted By: temafrank* on 12/17/2006 3:10 PM (CST) 250 Points
I'm worried people will think this post is a thinly veiled sales pitch, but it isn't. I'm genuinely perplexed by this and need some marketing advice. So here goes:

Nearly 6 years ago I started a business that uses people we call "Web Mystery Shoppers" to give feedback to clients on their websites. It is basically a blend of a critiquing service and usability testing. People loved the idea from the start, but we've found it very difficult to get companies to actually put down money to get this sort of feedback. I'm trying to figure out why, and would value the feedback of the many people who come here for free website feedback.

(Apparently one of the barriers is convincing people that there is greater value to having a large sample of independent testers matched to the site's target market give feedback than free advice from places like this. I think you can get lots of useful feedback from places like this -- I'm here after all! -- but it is not the same sort of feedback you'd get from a service like ours. Maybe I need to find a way to make the difference clearer?)

Big banks got the concept immediately, and happily pay tens of thousands of dollars for this kind of feedback. So I figured the reluctance of smaller companies and retailers was simply that they couldn't afford tens of thousands of dollars. So we developed a version that is much more automated, and only costs $1499 (or less when it is on sale, like now). For that they get 30 people like their target customers giving detailed, page-by-page feedback as they work through the site. A typical report is about 150 pages long, filled with detailed comments.

But it still isn't selling as well as I think it should be. Why don't companies set aside money for this sort of feedback? What do you think would convince your employers to do so? Do you see the value to having independent, non-technical testers give detailed feedback on your site? What would make it easier to convey the value?

Other thoughts? (If you want to get a clearer idea of what the service itself is, please have a look at our website: www.webmysteryshoppers.com.) Thanks.

Posted by: Inbox_Interactive Accepted Answer
12/17/2006 3:29 PM (CST)
For small businesses, the answer is probably that small-business owners think they know everything. They wear a lot of hats: accounting, finance, marketing, sales, human resources, etc., so they don't think they need that kind of input.
 
Posted by: charles.stannard Accepted Answer
12/17/2006 3:48 PM (CST)
Maybe there are two types of companies (web / bricks&mortar)- one that uses its website as its main fulfillment channel and the other that has one for informational purposes (awareness channel). Those that use it for online orders probably have already figured out their site needs. The other just uses it for branding and information, and does not see the need to invest money into an upgrading process.

Might be a good idea to solicit companies that are in the start-up mode and just opening their businesses.

Also - is there any way to partner with web designers that are creating these sites, to add in a focus group level of feedback, before the site goes live? I know the designer might feel threatened, but there might be a way to incorporate your services into the initial web-site construction costs?
 
Posted by: charles.stannard Member Response
12/17/2006 4:07 PM (CST)
Testimonials from past clients, indicating that they recouped their investment in you, and then some, might also help...
 
Posted by: Marketing-Riot Accepted Answer
12/17/2006 4:15 PM (CST)
I believe a few things about web sites one being some only have a web site to show they are established and somewhat tech-savvy. It's a place to potential clients and potential new employees to go to get a little info about the company. They aren't depending on their sites to sell anything, just to establish their business.

If a certain market isn't willing to purchase a product they are not seeing the value (for themselves) in the product.

I think this is telling you that the smaller markets are not your target markets, no matter how you package your product. With limited budgets, some squeezed dry to get a web presence in the first place, why would they spend those premium dollars for this service when they are so many other places they hope to put those dollars.
 
Posted by: Marketing-Riot Member Response
12/17/2006 4:22 PM (CST)
I guess my bottom line is - you are expending energy to convert a certain group of people rather than aligning all of your efforts to the group of people who already understand and are willing to purchase the value in your service.
 
Posted by: temafrank* Author Response
12/17/2006 4:27 PM (CST)
Thanks all for the comments so far. It may well be that, as marketingriot says, smaller ones won't buy it no matter how it is packaged. On the other hand, we have sold a few to smaller online retailers. Typically they are owner-operated businesses, but that have a serious commitment to selling online. Maybe the trick is to find a better way to identify and reach these companies.

Charles,
You raise a good point about partnering for earlier in the process. We could easily use many of our web-based testers to come in for on-site work. In fact we have done so from time to time. We do find that designers are a tough nut to crack though -- they either think they know it all, or they don't believe clients will pay extra for external input.

We do make some use of testimonials, but have not yet had anyone willing or able to give us the hard, cold stats that would say, "We invested $x in testing, made the changes, and it produced $y in ROI". Part of the problem is that the changes typically get implemented over time rather than all at once, so it is harder to sort out the effects of the redsign work vs other factors.

We have recently done some ROI calculations based on Internet Retailer data and put an ROI calculator on our website. (http://www.webmysteryshoppers.com/usability_resources_tools.html) But, of course, the calulations are based on assumptions about how much the changes will impact sales.

 
Posted by: KSA Accepted Answer
12/17/2006 5:04 PM (CST)
Having looked at how you are marketing the service on your site, here are some thoughts:

You're assuming that your prospects know why they need the evaluation. That's true for the big companies with large sites that require a lot of interaction (like the banks), but a small business owner probably doesn't get it.

Small businesses that don't depend on the Internet for revenue probably don't have a very complicated site, and probably don't think there's a need.

I think you'd be better off selling the service to businesses that depend on the Internet for a fairly large portion of their revenue, and aren't happy with their sales. I'd go after it from the standpoint of: want to increase sales? Internet sales not where you need them to be, etc. Small businesses who are happy with their Internet sales will probably think they shoujld leave well enough alone.

If you're using your site to promote to prospects, I'd suggest setting up a separate area for small business owners. It wouldn't have to be a separate site, but even something on the home page that allows a visitor to click somewhere if they're a small business or large business. The explanation of the QuickTest could come across as patronizing the way it's presented now.

The other thing I'd do is figure out how to summarize the results in a few pages that contain plain English explanations of specific changes that should be made to the site and why. The odds of a small business owner reading through a 150 page report may be low. Market research studies and usability tests make sense to a marketing director, but I think you need to develop a different message for the small business folks, speaking their language.

Hope this helps.

Kathleen
 
Posted by: temafrank* Author Response
12/17/2006 5:13 PM (CST)
Excellent suggestions Kathleen. (One of the ironies of our system is that I can't use it very well to test our own site, since our testers have already seen it! And our service generally more suitable for B2C than for B2B, whereas our own site is B2B)
 
Posted by: peanutpeanut Accepted Answer
12/17/2006 6:42 PM (CST)
well, to be blunt - your website is not compelling enough for most business people to consider your service. it sounds like here we go again: another pitch by someone who can do something for me. be hard hitting along the lines of:
want to find out what people really think of your website, what they like and dislike about it. And let's face it most of us do want to find but we think it's too expensive and how good is it really?
Well we can do it for your cost efficiently and you do really find out what people think. (this is very rought but it gives you an idea).
also you need some testimonials about people who have tried it much to their surprise it has helped them a lot. instead of that you have a bunch of testimonials from people describing the problem. What you need is people describing the solution which is your service. Your whole page looks boring and uninviting. When you put up a webpage try to figure out why people don't want to use your service and that is because they think it is too expensive and they wonder how good you really are. so you must combat that by addressing it directly, perhaps a couple of detailed case studies would help greatly and some pithy comments from totally satisfied customers and make your whole look more contemporary and exciting.
 
Posted by: mgoodman Member Response
12/17/2006 7:23 PM (CST)
Consumers/customers pay for benefits. What's in it for them to use your service?

If you find that they're not buying, it's almost certainly because they can't see how the benefit is worth what you're charging them. Small business owners understand the concept of spending to get a return (greater than the investment). But they may not be getting the message from your website.

The benefit claims on your website are not concrete or compelling. And it may be that the best communication approach for your target audience is NOT the website.

You may need to -- GASP! -- pay for advice from a professional copywriter and/or marketing consultant to make sure your positioning statement and creative direction sheet are truly focused on the benefit that's most important to your target audience, and that your copy effectively communicates the positioning.

What's the most important unmet need among your target audience? Are you addressing that need? If so, you may not be communicating very clearly or impactfully. If not, that may be at the core of your problem.

If you want to talk, feel free to contact me privately. I think you may have a problem with positioning or with how you're communicating the positioning. If I can show you how your investment in a consulting project will make you more money than the cost of the project, would you hire me? What would it be worth to have an answer to your question that actually works, and generates the new business you want?
 
Posted by: telemoxie Member Response
12/17/2006 7:23 PM (CST)
The reason is, "low barriers to entry".

Anyone with an internet connection can offer an opinion on a web site. And I'll bet I can get 10, 100, or 1000 web development companies to give a review of a site for free, in hopes of generating work.

p.s. I think you need to begin by determining whether or not you personally really believe in paying money for website review advice. If you really believe in paying for advice, be sure to send a check to peanutpeanut, ksa, et al. Sorry to be blunt... but if you actually believe that paying for advice is a good thing, then at the minimum, upgrade this question to "urgent" which costs you $5.
 
Posted by: Frank Hurtte Accepted Answer
12/17/2006 8:52 PM (CST)
I have a couple of suggestions...

1) market your services as an independent verification for web developers... Where they can provide comments back to their customers provided by you.

2) If the big companies, banks, insurance companies, etc are willing to fork out big bucks... develop a marketing plan that agressively targets their organizations. Unless you have 100% of that market you are passing up big bucks.

3) I would also suggest tapping into the market of running tests of companies internal systems... ie hr systems, company benefit systems, etc. HR departments are very concerned the feedback they get is biased due to workers being afraid of boss reprisals.
 
Posted by: msumner1* Accepted Answer
12/17/2006 10:20 PM (CST)
i personally wouldn't use your service for several reasons.

the first is that it isn't immediately clear who is doing the reviews. are they stay-at-home mom's who know nothing about web design/development, or the particular industry your potential client's may be in? if you have experts than make it clear. if you don't have experts, you need to lower your prices.

the first thing that comes to mind when i think of your business are those annoying spam emails that offer $2,500 a week to work at home as a mystery shopper. that makes me think the idiots that answer those ads are the ones i'm paying a lot of money to review my site. i don't want to pay idiots, i want expert advice.

the second reason is the bang-for-the-buck factor. a sample population of 30 isn't enough to glean any kind of useful information, and it still costs $1,500. to be honest, 300 people isn't really enough to know if tens or even hundreds of thousands of people will like the site and find it easy to use.

finally, for a company whose bread and butter is telling people what they could improve on their sites, you sure didn't put a lot of money into yours. if i'm going to pay $10k for your expertise, your site better cost more than i'm paying you just to evaluate mine.

in other words, your site doesn't make your business look very credible as an expert on web sites.
 
Posted by: rjohnni Accepted Answer
12/18/2006 2:02 AM (CST)
You are probably doing a very valuable thing for a media like internet. Web 2.0 should actually absorb your services like crazy. And things aren't as easy as it seems. Why?

1. Engage the right Audience: Don't talk to anyone and everyone on the web. When my restaurant offers vintage vine, i won't be fighting with napa, and i won't mind giving away a li'l caviar to engage my customers.

You are into the serious Auditing biz. And SMEs can't understand that. Not that they won't, the limited budgets forces them so they can't. And you are also fighting with the Big Blues out there who are doing similiar things with better disguises, and counting their moolah per hour.

So put your offfering in the right brand unit. Define, derive and decollage. Start talking to your core audience. On request offer them a peripheral study for free / token / return if not satisfied. Give them a personal feel of what you are offering, and once they know what you have found out, they will be terrified. And might engage you for a terrific appraisal!

Also focus on a lot of B2C, retailers et al...so that they can feel the hits and buys change if you can guide them in that level.

2. Engage: Get a study on your website to understand, how much foolsproof you are at you end. If lacking, make it more creative. Engage all who are coming to your site, so that they see the value add you are offering. Do interactive studies free for your visitors so they know they are talking to a problem solver when they never knew a problem existed.

KUDOS
 
Posted by: jerome B.* Member Response
12/18/2006 7:54 AM (CST)
I read the answers with lot of interest as the question is very interesting. But in my opinion you've posted your question in the wrong category " web site Critique ". As you said you are questioning mainly web designer audience that have already turned out reluctant to your service. I think you may get more constructive answers in "Strategy" category.
Your question worth it.
Jerome B.
 
Posted by: MaxReferrals Accepted Answer
12/18/2006 8:45 AM (CST)
They are not willing to pay for advice because they have not found VALUE in paying for the services. In other words, they can not or have not seen where what they will pay out, can easily be made back x-times.

Problem is most biz owners never truly concentrate on marketing. They are preoccupied with distractions that burn time and add no marketing leverage.

Fixing the copier. Hassling with callers. Stocking shelves.

They do eveything ELSE but focus on bringing in the money.

People with a pool store worry about the signs, or the chlorine display, or the types of kiddie rafts.

They should be worrying about creative ideas and marketing that brings people into the store.

Like talking to their high trafficked retail neighbor next door about cross-promoting to each other's foot traffic.

You can attempt to overcome this by giving those people an experience with your work.

They must come to know you, like you and trust you --- BEFORE they'll ever give you a nickel.
 
Posted by: temafrank* Author Response
12/18/2006 10:29 AM (CST)
Wow. I appreciate all the feedback.

re mgoodman comment:
I think you face the same challenge we do. We have spent money on marketing/positioning experts. But you, like us, have the challenge of proving, in advance somehow, that you will deliver something more successful than other consultants. :-)

telemoxie:
I didn't upgrade to "urgent" because there was no need to do so -- it isn't urgent in the sense that I need a response immediately, so why take people's focus of those questions that really do need an immediate answer? Spending money for advice is not the issue, and we have certainly done so. I came to this group now because I wanted a broader range of opinion. I sure seem to be getting it. (BTW, I do intend on awarding points to those who have given useful feedback -- I just haven't done so yet because I'm following the guidelines for posters, which say to wait a few days.)

Frank Hurtte:
Excellent, useful, constructive suggestions. Thank you.

msumner1:
Thanks for making the point that it is apparently not sufficiently clear who the testers are. We can fix that easily. As to numbers, we've chosen 30 as the entry level because that's the minimum number you need for statistical significance. But again, perhaps that is not sufficiently clear. As to the design of our site, I guess that's why we argue one needs lots of opinions: we've had lots of other people (including some from our target market and several "marketing experts") tell us the site is great. But obviously it is not good enough -- or the offer is not compelling enough -- or I wouldn't be seeking more opinions.

rjohnni:
thanks. We do offer a guarantee for the higher-end services. I've thought about doing so for the entry level service too. My advisors have argued against it, feeling that when dealing with the lower end there will be too many people inclined to abuse such an offer. I'm not sure if that's correct. Might be worth trying, and simply absorbing a few losses if they are correct.

jerome B.:
yes, I'd thought of posting it there too, and I may well do so. I wasn't sure what the rules are re cross-posting. I started here because the readers here are people who are choosing to go for free critiques rather than pay, so I wanted to get a better understanding of why.

MaxReferrals:
Yes, I think you are right about the priorities of small business owners (especially retailers). I guess my challenge is how, beyond offering a sample report (to see they types of feedback one can get) and testimonials, I can give them a "taste" without it bankrupting my company -- we pay all of our testers for the time they spend analyzing the sites, so it isn't just a question of spending a bit of my (or my assistants') time. And I've thought about giving them one person's feedback free, but then do you think they'd simply conclude they've learned what they need to from that one person, and not get the value of having a larger sample size?

Thanks again, everyone, for the responses.
 
Posted by: msumner1* Accepted Answer
12/18/2006 11:27 AM (CST)
I really think you're going to have a lot of trouble landing small companies. As mentioned earlier, small business owners are resourceful and wear many hats. How can you convince them to pay $1,500 for your advice, when they could just as easily ask 30 friends and family to give them input? You may be able to, but that's the question you have to answer.

Personally, I'd focus on the big fishes because they have the budget and they see the value of your service. You'll probably get more clients per advertising dollar, and more revenue per client.

Also I wouldn't really recommend focusing on web designers/developers in terms of using your service, but rather as a partner. If you tell someone their Web site is trash, there's a chance they'll ask you to recommend a good designer/developer to fix their problems.

Devs/designers know people who are looking to make changes to their site, and you're the person that can tell them what changes they should make.

You know people who were just told what changes to make to their site, and devs/designers know how to make those changes.

It's a possibility anyway...

You could even branch out and offer design/development services and have package deals when you get an audit done.

If you want to email me to discuss possibilities i'm at:
sales@iDevLabs.com (I do Web development)

Best wishes.
 
Posted by: KathySmithFilms* Accepted Answer
12/18/2006 12:33 PM (CST)
Hi temafrank,

Just to give you a viewpoint from a small business owner. We don't have the same money hose as corporate. I suggest putting in a page just for small business pointing out what the big guys gain from the results of utilizing your services with tips on expansion for the small business owner to apply. This opens the door to areas where the small business owner doesn't know that they don't know and puts a team player there to help guide them. This activity would be more of an entry level service and once the small business owners had success they too could enter the big leagues. Possibly this is just a dream but I want to show you the ceiling we are up against.
Kathy
 
Posted by: alinkfred* Accepted Answer
12/19/2006 2:37 AM (CST)
Hi Tema
When I looked at the site it was not immediately clear to me what you do. You have a 4 or 5 messages but it would be better if you had 1 clear message that immediately hits the visitor and hits him with what you do and the benefits to him.

Get a report done on your own site :-)

Also I see you Google PR is only 4 so yo must not be getting much traffic yet you should be getting loads

What is your own conversion rate. I would estimate that a good conversion for your site would be less than 1% so maybe you are doing better than you think you are.

Obviously you are your not touting for business here but why not many others do.
 
Posted by: temafrank* Author Response
12/19/2006 12:05 PM (CST)
Thank you all for the feedback. It has been very instructive.

And it goes to demonstrate, yet again, that there's no such thing as a website that will make everyone happy!
 
Posted by: barbpf Member Response
1/4/2007 8:02 PM (CST)
I just read this whole string. Very informative.

I just started an online shop (www.annettesangels.net) Since I am curently in the process of upgrading photos, then followed by an initial marketing push, I cannot budget for something like this right now.

However, I would see a lot of value in it down the road relative to testing and improving on the sites "stickiness". I'll be in touch but thought you might find this viewpoint useful too. I know people mentioned budgeting for it up front in terms of the site design but that's tough because you are already committing to paying a designer and photographer, etc. Plus -- that would give me a better design but not necessarily bring me customers. So -- if I couldn't budget for this in the design phase - I would push it out until after I started getting some traffic.

 


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