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How to Turn “Just Looking” Prospects into Sales in 2 Simple Steps

There are two simple tools missing from most websites that drastically impact your ability to connect to customers. Find out how adding direct and transitional calls-to-action can make all the difference.

Author: Jeremy Harrison

September 15, 2021

How can you get more sales without spending any more than you already do on your current marketing efforts? After researching hundreds of small businesses in Ohio, there is a common mistake most are making that is a major hindrance to growth. There’s a good chance what I’m about to show you will drastically improve your results – with just two simple steps.

But before I get into the details, check out this guy in the picture below. We’ll call him Fred.

 

Fred loves photography. He’s drooling over some really nice camera lenses he knows will improve his photography. At this point, he’s just checking things out and he’s not ready to drop a load of cash right now.

I can relate to Fred. Oftentimes, when I’m out shopping with my wife I’ll make it a point to stop by a store with camera gear. I’ll go in and check out the latest camera bodies and lenses and dream of what my pictures could be with an upgraded system. Even if I have already done plenty of research about the products online, it’s still nice to go in and see the products firsthand.

It’s a lot of fun! But, there’s no way I’m actually going to buy that day, because it would be quite a long ride home in a car with an upset wife.

I know I’ll end up buying new equipment SOMEDAY – just not today. 

You know this situation all too well. It is exactly the same mindset of most of your prospects – whether they’re looking at you online or physically in your store. They’re checking things out, knowing full well they’re planning on buying someday. But more likely than not, they’re not going to buy TODAY.

Turn Your “Someday” Buyers into Sales

Your website likely has people passing through already. Most of these visitors are completely invisible to you – no name, no face – nothing more than a “session” in your analytics platform. We need to turn those invisible visitors into someone likely to buy from you. Not that they’ll buy from you right away – it usually takes 3+ interactions (some would even say 7+) before someone is ready to think about a purchase. But you need to turn them into a lead you can follow up with and build trust with over time.

Fixing Your Call-to-Action

To do this, take a look at the Call-to-Action (CTA) on your website, and fix it with the following two steps.

1. Have a Direct CTA for People Ready to Buy

A direct CTA could be a purchase function, quote request, or some other purchase intent option. Essentially, it’s the thing that helps you get paid.

A direct CTA should be prevalent on all “product” pages, but you’d be surprised at how many people we see miss this step.

You can also place a direct CTA in the header area on your website. This is often a “request a quote” or “get started” button, a shopping cart link, or a phone number with clear instructions (call for a quote, purchase hotline, etc.).

2. Add a Transitional CTA for the 97% of People Who Are NOT Buying Today

Think of this as a bridge between a faceless visitor and a buying customer. Give the visitor a few smaller action steps they can take without actually purchasing anything. The goal here is to turn that visitor into a recognizable lead so you can follow up, build trust, and eventually earn a sale. This could be a whole topic on its own, so I’ll just give you a few pointers to get you started.

A Transitional CTA should be:

  • SPECIFIC to an individual pain point your customer is feeling
  • PROVIDING VALUE so your prospect feels they need to have it
  • INCREASING TRUST instincts with your prospect
  • EASY to understand and consume
  • SIMPLE to acquire with a name and email address

Transitional CTAs often come in the form of:

    • Guides to fix specific problems
    • Worksheet Templates to make a job easier
    • Catalog Requests
    • Checklists used to increase productivity or start in the right direction
    • Coupons or Vouchers
    • Quizzes or Surveys
    • Newsletter Subscriptions

… just to name a few.

 You can put your Transitional CTA as next steps in helpful articles – as long as it fits with the content of the article.

For example, I wrote a post to help people understand how to write content for SEO purposes:

Copywriting for SEO, transitional cta blog  

Included in the post is a link to an SEO cheat sheet designed to help businesses implement SEO and rank better in search engines on their own:

transitional cta link in blog

This single article and lead-builder combination contributes to countless online leads. It’s super helpful for those who want to do a better job of ranking in search engines (Google), so people eat it up!

Direct and Transitional CTAs Get You Ahead of Your Competition

By adding in these two calls-to-action, you’ll be way ahead of many of your competitors. Instead of being frustrated that people aren’t buying from your website, you’ll have a planned mechanism in place to get the leads you need to keep your business thriving.

In fact, you should be able to land more sales from the traffic that’s already visiting your website, simply because you can follow up with way more leads than before. To see where you may need to focus efforts on your marketing, we’d recommend filling out a brief small business marketing assessment.

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