How to frustrate the hell out of your prospects and clients

So, here we are in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and we want to go to a rodeo that’s happening this weekend.

There are ads all over the place for this rodeo. In magazines. In newspapers. Billboards. All over the place.

But not one of those ads gives the address for where this rodeo is being held. Oh, they tell you where it is happening but they don’t give the address of this place.

Now that’s probably fine for the locals, but for us tourists, we’d like to know the address and not have to work to find it.

But, because we’re motivated to go, we had to go to three different websites trying to find an address. Even the official rodeo website itself does not include the address. We found it, finally, in very tiny type, on the website of the venue.

Now, nobody should have to work that hard to attend any event, especially an event where we will be not only spending money to get in the gate, but will be spending money once we get inside, too.

I figure I’m not the only tourist in this town who is frustrated about this.

I see this a lot, too, in smaller communities where ads with phone numbers don’t include the area code. The merchants figure the locals know the area code if they need it, but what about us folks visiting from out of town? Or for the folks who are using cell phones where an area code is required even for a local number. If we want to call these places, we have to first figure out what area code they are in.

One point I make with all of my coaching clients is that you have to make it easy for people to do business with you. And it doesn’t matter what you’re selling — products or services. And it doesn’t matter what type of business you’re in.

Never, ever, ever make your prospects and clients work too hard to do business with you.

Even if you think your clients are smart — they are — even if you think they can read between the lines — maybe they can — you have to tell them what to do and how to do it. Every single time.

So if you want them to buy your stuff, you have to tell them: “Go to my website and place your order now. Here’s how you do that.”

You already know that every bit of marketing you do needs to include some kind of call to action. Just make sure your call to action is clear, easy to follow, and that the buyer has all the information they need.

Now, we’re headed out the door to that rodeo now that we finally know exactly where to go.

And when I get back, I’m going to double-check my own stuff to make sure I’m making it easy for my prospects to do business with me.