I want to share with you something that I see as common sense but in reality is not so common…

Two days ago, I found out that one of my favorite  motivational speakers was coming to town and I immediatly went to his website to buy tickets. To my Surprise the sales process of his website was ridiculously complex, in fact there was an option for you to download a 3 page .pdf document explaining the paying process.

What NONSENSE (I’ll love to share this document with you to show how bad this was but I’ll feel bad to embarrass a guy that despite his bad web skills I admire tremendously)

Now, this is not an isolated case… I see literally hundreds of websites that have crappy sales processes.

You name it: Cinema websites, Airlines, Book stores, etc.

How is this possible?

Let me tell you a REAL story and a great metaphor so you will keep it in Mind when designing your sales process:

I don’t know about you but I hate coins!

Every night after I come back home I have in my pocket a number of coins, What I do is, unconciously put them inside a big jar I have in my home office (a.k.a my cave). Interestinly I’ve got also a piggy bank that I got as a present some years ago but that Piggy Bank is almost empty.

The other day I was reflecting WHY I never use the piggy bank and I suddenly came to a powerful realization that hopefully will teach you also a BIG lesson in Making Money Online!

Have a look at these 2 pictures:

The Jar has a Wide opening at the top making it BY FAR easier to put my coins in…

in the other hand the small slot on the top of the piggy bank is quite narrow taking me 5 times longer to put the 4 Euro 45 cents I had left over from today!

So what was my realization…

If you want to make more money on line MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO PAY YOU!

According to some of the top ecommerce experts the maximum should be 5 clicks to a sale. I actually use this ‘measure stick’ every time i purchase something and it is quite accurate, after five clicks I know someone is not doing their job properly.

The wider ‘the hole’ in your jar the easier will be for people to give you money!

So here are my recommendations:

1) Take payments via Paypal, 2co.com, Google Checkout ( Besides your regular shopping cart)

2) Accept as many credit cards as possible (VISA, MC, AMEX, Discover and JCB)

3) Add a Fax form to accept payments (YES A FAX)

4) Accept payments by Phone

And here goes my unconventional suggestion: FORGET ABOUT DAMN CREDIT CARD FRAUD!

Look, I’ve been doing business online for 5 years and I’ve received about 7 fraudulent transactions per year! Truth is I believe that people are good in nature and indeed there are a few wackos out there but I think it is ridiculous to punish the honest people for the deeds of a handful of wackos!

I suggest you set up your shopping cart onthe  ‘low’ security option if you’re selling digital goods online, truth is if someone manages to get a free download of your product will not really hurt you.  If you’re selling physical products my suggestion is simply to keep the seciurity oprions in low but add the CVV (Credit card Security Code) option! In My eyes That is enough (Disclaimer: You’re the best suited person to decide how you setup your sales process just keep my advice in mind).

I wish you the very best of luck making money online and I hope this short reflection will help you increase sales.

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