You may be thinking that this one doesn't apply to you because your company does not sell products online, however, all companies have a 'sell' to make. Whether you are a consultant, lawyer, doctor, landscaper or any other type of service-oriented business, you must sell potential customers on why they should consider doing business with you. So how does one sell with 'emotion' and justify with 'logic'? Let's first explain why this is important.

When people decide to spend money, they do so based on how they think product or service will make them feel. For example, someone who buys a Volvo automobile likes feeling of safety and security. Safety and security are emotions. You must know which emotions your product or service cater to. When you know which emotions you must cater to, you can then use words and phrases that will resonate with your customer.

So if emotions are why people buy, then what is this other business about 'justifying with logic'? After a person has right 'feelings' about a purchase, a conversation starts to take place in their head. In this conversation, they convince themselves that they are making a good decision. Your job, after catering to right emotions, is to provide enough information so they will 'win' argument. Give benefit-related details about your product or service. Get specific with numbers, ratings, percentages, etc. The Volvo buyer buys because of safety and security but convinces themselves with data about specific safety rating, how many people have survived head-on collisions, number of airbags, etc.

Add a guarantee about your product/service and you will have all right ingredients to sell with pros!

It's cliché and maybe a bit corny, but it's absolutely true. People want to be associated with happy, successful people. Images of business people looking very serious at a meeting table may look professional, but they do not inspire. If you sell products online, show happy people around your product. If you are a consultant, show your customers in front of their businesses or homes, smiling. If you are a landscaper, show your customers and their children enjoying their beautiful yards and gardens.

Some may think that this technique is for smaller businesses and that larger businesses shouldn't use this kind of artwork. Nonsense! Don't ever feel that by showing happy, smiling people somehow diminishes appearance of company size.

Post your contact information prominently on your site. If you can't incorporate contact information into your site's 'look and feel template', make sure link to page that contains this information is prominently displayed. There are too many websites on Internet that seem very anonymous because you don't know where they are or how to get in touch with them. This small bit of information will give potential customers a sense of security, knowing that they can easily get in touch with your company if they need to.

This is a touchy subject. Some people love animated images, Flash, 'roll-over' menus and anything else that they think is 'cutting edge'. Web features such as these have their place, but should be used sparingly. Nobody will ever do business with you because you use these features and your competition doesn't. Nobody. Remember that web is most like experience of reading a magazine and not like watching TV. Keep your website design simple and clean and use these web features sparingly!

If you collect information from people for purpose of selling goods, sending out newsletters, etc., you will want to ease their minds by letting them know that you value their personal information. Post a page on your website called, 'Privacy Policy'. On this page inform visitors that their information will not be shared or sold (if that is case) and that their information is safe. Look at other sites on Internet that have privacy policies and use those as a guideline for yours. According to Customer Respect Group, a large and well-known organization that monitors and reports-on how online businesses treat customers' personal information, a privacy policy is a must-have!

Nothing is more disappointing than completing a 'Contact Us' or 'Request More Information' form and not getting a call back in a timely manner. Worse yet, a large number of business, for whatever reason, completely ignore communication altogether! This negligence can completely undermine your credibility and a customer's confidence in web, in general. Make it a policy to religiously follow-up with visitors who contact you within 48 hours. A reply within 24 hours is recommended and even better. You should also consider employing technology to give an immediate automated response to people who complete these online forms. An automated reply coupled with a 24 hour personal reply will provide a sense of reliability about your company.