Ten points to anyone who can spot what is wrong with this sentence, “We need to sort out our website!” Any guesses? Well if your website needs help, there’s a good chance that your general branding is off, and your business does not have a cohesive voice or, as we like to call it, “business language.”
Custom web design is just a part of a much larger process, all of which is intricately interconnected. Your website is where all parts of your business come together to face your target audience. Custom web design is the culmination of everything else going on under the bonnet, presented in a visually and verbally appealing way. It’s not separate from your business, and, crucially, it cannot be left in the hands of someone who doesn’t intimately understand your business.
The body of your car
At jdp we refer to web design as the body of your vehicle. “A rusted hooptie doesn’t gain any recognition no matter what’s under the hood.” Your website needs to reflect your business and communicate the value that you offer your customers.
The problem is that many companies don’t have a clear vision of their business, far from having created a cohesive language to communicate to their customers. Even those that have made that effort may find that over time their vision no longer fits with the reality of what they offer.
Businesses shapeshift to meet the changing demands of their customers in an ever-changing world. What worked for your business the last time you checked in on your branding might not be relevant anymore. You can fix custom web design, but unless you improve on all the relevant and related elements that need work, you’re not going to be as impactful.
Sales, marketing, and custom web design: what’s the link?
What is it that your customers want, need, and/or expect from you? The answer to this question is key to optimizing your custom web design, sales and marketing strategies. They are all interlinked.
When looking for the answer, your sales team is a great first point of call. They know what works and what doesn’t. One method you can use to understand the reality of your business is to survey your sales team and find what points they have in common. Then find out if your marketing is in line with your sales messaging.
If they align, well, then you have a key cornerstone on which to found your custom web design.
If they don’t align then that urgently needs to be addressed first. You need to agree on a business language that works best for attracting, engaging, and retaining new customers.
Internal operations
Another important factor for developing your business language is checking in on how your employees view your business. Does the messaging from your sales and marketing team align with their lived experience working for your business? For example, if your sales and marketing teams are touting your business as innovative, with a strong investment in research, does that hold true from the perspective of your team internally? Is this what they consider to be the main strength of your business?
Perhaps this was true of your business 5 years ago, but since then reliability has become your strong suit. Or perhaps there isn’t enough space in your organization for innovation these days because things are not running as efficiently as they used to.
If your employees don’t relate to your sales and marketing messaging, there are two ways to handle this issue.
- Work to marry the real strengths and opportunities that your employees have identified with your sales and marketing messages
- Rework your business to fit with what works for your sales and marketing teams.
OR
It’s a simple case of moving a horse to water or moving water to a horse. The easiest option depends entirely on your business. For example, your sales team tends to have a better pulse on the needs and wants of your target customers. If you can easily adapt your operations to align your business with this messaging then that’s definitely the way to go. But that’s not always the case. At jdp, we run a full investigation to identify what would be the best option for your business where your next investment could make the biggest difference.
Once you’ve established the best route for your business, you can then work on creating a business language to inform your custom web design and create a clear, confident, and coherent voice, face, and personality to draw in more customers and give your business a turbo boost.
To find out what your business needs next, get in touch and we’ll fully investigate your business, gain a deep understanding of how you work and handcraft the best solution just for you. Start with your free 15-minute consultation today.
