Building a Professional Online Sales Image

Back in the day, your parents probably told you that image isn’t everything. A great ethos for life in general, but unfortunately one that really doesn’t apply in a business or sales setting.

The simple fact of the matter is that if your business sells anything online, image is everything. Over and above product quality and even lower prices, buyers these days base their decisions on the image of the business selling it.

The question being – what does your sales image say about you?

If you’re not sure, you’re clearly not giving it sufficient thought and attention. If you’d like to steer your online image in the right direction, do so in accordance with the following key pointers:

1.  Focus on benefits, not features 

First up, try to remember that product descriptions don’t have to be exclusively descriptive. Instead of listing the features of whatever you do or sell, try instead to focus on the benefits. Think about how, why and the extent to which the buyer could benefit from the product. Then focus your descriptions accordingly for better engagement.

2.  Minimise jargon

Marketers tend to get carried away with complex jargon for one of two reasons.  One of which being that they don’t understand their target audience, the other being a vain attempt to show off. In both instances, excessive jargon doesn’t do a great deal for your sales image. It’s always better to focus on simplification, where practical.

3. Two-way conversations

These days, successful salespeople don’t simply lecture their prospects and expect to beat them into submission. Instead, they create and encourage the kind of two-way conversation that nurtures a sense of trust and mutual appreciation.  As such, do your best to provide an open platform for interactive engagement and communication with your audience. Listening to them often matters more than having them listen to you.

4. Avoid exaggerations 

Perfection is something that simply doesn’t exist, both in terms of products and service provision alike. As such, if you sing your praises a little too excessively and try to proclaim perfection, you aren’t going to be taken seriously. These days, strategic use of modesty and humbleness can go a long way. It’s not a case of listing your imperfections – more one of building a sense of honesty, transparency and humanity.

5.  Skip the cliché words/phrases

Blue sky thinking. Out of the box. Glass ceilings. Basically, the kinds of cliché words and phrases that make you yourself grimace are never going to work with your target audience, either. For the most part, buzzwords and flavours of the month should be avoided at all costs. Even if they have relevance today, you run the risk of being labelled an amateurish bandwagon jumper a little further down the line.

6.  Show yourself

Last up, if you have nothing whatsoever but good things to say about your business, why do you need to hide away? For obvious reasons, most people find it inherently difficult to trust anyone whose face they’ve never seen. Which means that if you want to build a sense of trust and authority among your audience, you really could do with showing yourself. Even if it means shelling out for professional photography, it’s a small price to pay for such a valuable image boost.