Mint Digital

The Click #005

The week before last Mint Digital went to a pitch meeting.

The prospective client had been operating for 2 years and had built a profitable one-man operation. He was keen to replace his homemade, bug-ridden site with something more professional.

Towards the end of the meeting, he asked:

“Why do I need a website? My business is growing strongly with the current one.”

I mumbled something about web marketing being hard-to-measure but vital*.

In truth, I felt like a shop assistant in M&S being asked, “Why do I need pants?” The answer seems obvious. But it’s hard to explain when you are put on the spot.

If I’d had a week to think about it, here’s what I would have said:

“Evolutionary theorists have long pondered the peacock’s tail. Wouldn’t a peacock better off with something less showy, something that wouldn’t alert predators? The answer, many believe, is that a peacock gets use from its tail because it is a non-fakeable display of health. An unhealthy peacock couldn’t produce such a dazzling display. The tail is a great symbol for peahens looking for a mate.

“At the very least a website is a display of corporate health. (And a good website can be much, much more). It’s non-fakeable and highly visible. If you are selling a service it is often impossible for prospective clients to judge what the quality is like prior to buying. Instead they have to rely on symbols.

“As Harry Beckwith says symbols are incredibly important when you are Selling the Invisible. That’s why lawyers devote intense attention to having the right office
furniture and accountants take care to dress conservatively.

“Compared to office furniture, a website is a symbol on steroids.

“With this in mind, make sure the content of your website is non-fakeable.

“Library photos and empty slogans - like ‘An unrivalled commitment to quality and professional relationships’ - can be used by anyone. Case studies, client lists and detailed points of your methodology can’t be faked by inferior firms. That’s what your site should start with.”

I wonder if that would have closed the deal?

* If websites are clothes for companies, than Miucca Prada is stuck on the same problem. The ex-communist, PhD-holding founder of the self-titled fashion empire says:

“Everyone who is smart says he hates fashion, that it’s such a waste of time. I have asked many super-serious people, ‘Then why is fashion so popular?’ Nobody can answer that question. But somebody must be interested, because when I go to the stores, people are there. Thousands of them.”