Does Your Website Smile? Is Your Business Always On?
By :Curt Conrad
President, BrightCite Inc.
Words Say. Pictures Convey.
The words behind the execs in the picture below are vibrant, exciting – preparing us to be wowed. Is this genuine? Not from the looks on the faces of those who are selling them. Sure – this picture may have been taken out of context – before the big show, before the execs needed to be “on”. But if you were about to start what Steve Balmer calls “the biggest product launch in Microsoft’s history” and had a New York Times photographer in front of you snapping photos wouldn’t you be a little more genuinely excited?
From left, Kevin B. Rollins of Dell, Sean Maloney of Intel, Steven A. Ballmer of Microsoft, Hisatsugu Nonaka of Toshiba, Hector Ruiz of Advanced Micro Devices and Todd Bradley of Hewlett-Packard helped kick off the Vista operating system Monday in New York.
Your Website Is Always On. Or Is It?
I can’t help but think of this picture as a website. A website can say the right words, but if you get the sense it doesn’t mean them, it feels wrong. The kicker, your website is literally always on, so it better be “always on”.
Perception Power
We all know a genuine smile makes a powerful first impression. It gives us immediate feedback as to how receptive a person is to us. When someone genuinely smiles at us it’s a universal and non-verbal symbol that communicates – “welcome, I’m glad to see you and am interested in getting to know YOU better”. A genuine smile is personal, validating us and creating instant rapport. It’s about giving, not taking. It mysteriously and magnetically attracts us. What an opportunity…
Fake Is Worse Than Frown
On the other hand, a fake smile can be insulting. It communicates “I’m tolerating you because I have too or I want something from you. It’s worse than a frown because we are being lied to. A fake smile makes us feel less than zero. It’s about taking, not giving. And that repels us. What a shame…
What kind of smile does your website have? Does it welcome, attract, create rapport? Or does it say one thing but do another? Remember – you’re always on…