Insider Secrets to Killer Website Content: All About Your About Page

As important as good website design is, let’s face it, it’s not what brings visitors to your site. They come for the content, and if that content is sufficiently compelling, then they’ll take the action you desire, whether that’s making a purchase, completing a registration form or even just picking up the phone to contact you for more information. In short, the success of your website begins and ends with quality content.

That’s why in this series of articles – Insider Secrets to Killer Website Content – we’re taking a look at types of content that are common to many websites and exploring ways that they can be redesigned and improved. This second installment addresses a ubiquitous website presence – the “About Us” page.

The ever-present, often-overlooked “About Us” page

You would be hard pressed to find a website that does not have an “About Us” page of some sort. It may be called “Our Company”, “Who We Are” or some other variation on this theme, but in the end, these are all pages focused on telling the visitor about the company to whom the website belongs.

The problem is that these pages are typically as boring as they are commonplace. They generally contain little more than some basic facts about the company – perhaps an abbreviated history of the organization, some details about what the company does or a mission statement.

This information may be necessary – after all, it is your company’s website, so it should contain some high-level, general information about your company. Still, your site – and your “About Us” page – can also contain more than just the facts, ma’am.

A lack of depth

The chief problem with the typical “About Us” page is not that the information it contains is bad in and of itself; it’s that it lacks the depth necessary to play a role in advancing your visitors toward conversion.

Compounding this problem is that “About Us” pages, once written, are rarely ever rewritten. During a redesign process, a website’s content is audited and overhauled, but  if the basic facts about the company haven’t changed significantly, the content of the “About Us” page is usually just moved over to the new site with little to no change made at all. As a result, factually accurate but somewhat boring “About Us” content often persists stubbornly through redesign after redesign.

Your company’s history and the services it offers are certainly important information to share, but there’s so much more that truly defines your company, including its unique personality.

Bringing personality into play

Neither the factual history of your company nor your self-proclaimed statement that you “provide outstanding customer service” will set you apart from your competitors, all of whom are saying exactly the same thing, likely in almost exactly the same words. However, what will set you apart is personality.

Every company has a personality. It is the unique product of your people, your company culture and your interactions with your customers. I often find that a company’s personality is energetic and fun when they engage with customers in the offline world, but their online presence captures none of this energy. Instead, the only cards they show are the typical vanilla facts about the company itself. This is what we can change by bringing that offline personality and the particulars of how your company engages in the physical world into the digital space.

Examples of personality

Let’s take a look at a few great examples of websites that are infused through and through with personality all the way down to the “About Us” page, starting with e-tail giant Zappos.com.

Zappos’ “About” page is all about the company’s culture. Yes, the history of the company and their leadership team are there as well, but the main focus of this section is their culture, including images of holiday celebrations and videos of their people. In perusing this content, you get a much better sense of who they are than you would by reading a a mission statement, a brief company history and a bulleted list of achievements and awards.

Another example of a website permeated with personality is Northfield Savings Bank. The sense of fun that they’ve built into their brand is an unexpected but delightful surprise, since banking isn’t generally synonymous with fun. Still, Northfield pulls it off on their website. Starting with the logo, which features a flying pig, they carry this theme through their entire site, turning the popular phrase “when pigs fly” into a rallying cry for how they go above and beyond in serving their customers. These stories are told on a subpage of their “About” section as part of their “Pig Stories” video series.

It’s not all fun and games

Personality doesn’t have to be all about fun, holiday costumes or flying pigs. For many brands, fun would be an inappropriate trait – but that doesn’t mean you can’t display a personality.

Perhaps you are a not‐for‐profit organization that provides assistance to those in need in your community. Fun may not fit into your brand, but passion likely will. You can show that passion by using your “About Us” page or section to detail the impact your organization has had, profile the lives it has touched and convey the drive that you have to continue to do more.

Instead of simple facts and figures, personality will provide a well‐rounded, distinctive look at who your company or organization really is. That will be what sets you apart from your online competitors and their typical, boring “About Us” pages.

The more the merrier: Adding team bios

If adding unique personality to your company’s “About Us” page can help differentiate your organization, then adding individual bio pages for your employees can take this to the next level.

Granted, this approach is not a fit for everyone. A massive organization with thousands of employees obviously cannot have a page on their website for every individual. In these cases, the bio pages may be limited to board members or senior-level executives. For smaller organizations, however, it is certainly possible to feature each team member individually, and there is real benefit in doing so.

About a year ago, my company redesigned our website. During this process, we made the decision to include a section for “Our People” and give every employee a bio page of their own. We also decided to allow the unique personalities of those individual employees to shine through on their pages. Rather than using the professional headshots you would find on LinkedIn or in press releases, we encouraged our employees to submit photos of themselves that showed them outside the office environment. We received snaps of our team members atop mountains and glaciers, competing in races of one kind or another, enjoying vacations, feeding animals or just being silly and having fun. Taken as a whole, the photos show the variety of personalities and passions that make up our team.

For the bios, we included a short professional history, but we also asked our staff to share their hobbies, talents and an interesting or unusual story about themselves. Like the photos that accompany these bios, the stories and profiles we created reveal an incredible sense of diversity amongst our team.

What our customers are saying

Adding these individual bio pages on our website was a leap of faith for us. We were unsure how our clients and prospective clients would respond to this type of content. However, I am happy to report that our fears were unfounded, as the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

A number of our existing clients have remarked how they enjoy being able to see a picture of a team member before they are scheduled to speak or meet with that person. They also like to know a little something about them outside of their professional work. In more than one case, a customer and one of our team members have discovered shared hobbies or interests thanks to that team member’s bio page. This common interest has allowed them to engage in discussion and begin to foster a relationship that extends beyond the work they are paying us to do for them.

In terms of prospective clients, the feedback has been positive as well. In fact, we recently closed a deal where the client told us they hired us because of our bio pages. That client was wary about hiring a technology firm, fearing that we would only speak in techno‐babble and industry jargon and be on a different wavelength than their company. Seeing our interests outside the office, they immediately felt reassured that they could relate to us – a feeling they didn’t get when they looked at the websites of our competitors.

That’s a big win for personality if you ask me!

The argument against

The argument that I hear most frequently against adding personality to company or team bios is that it may turn some customers off and drive them away from your business. We worried about this ourselves when we decided to add the individual bio pages to our site.

It is true that a unique personality could drive some potential business away. But the better question is: should you really care? If you present your company’s true personality on your website, and that personality turns someone away, would you really have wanted to do business with them in the first place?

Yes, presenting a personality that is more than a safe buttoned-up suit-and-tie approach may turn some business away, but the reverse also holds true. The personality you reveal may very well be the deciding factor that sets your company apart in a  sea of sameness and actually attracts clients that may otherwise have passed you over – exactly as it did in the example I cited above. Had we not put our personality out there, we would not have won that business.

Finding the right fit

No one wants to turn business away, but the reality is that not every potential client will be compatible with the way you operate. Finding the right fit for your company is how you can achieve success in both the short and long term – because even if you do initially win over a company that isn’t truly a good fit for you, they are unlikely to stick around for long.

Finding the right fit allows you to build a relationship that may start with one job but grows stronger and deeper over time to create long‐term engagements and partnerships that can help drive success long after that first project becomes a distant memory. One of the ways to find this right fit is to always remain true to who your company is and not be afraid to let your personality shine through for all the world to see.

You’re not done yet

Finding ways to take “About Us” content from the typical company facts and figures to something that will differentiate your company is just one example of how rethinking content can make your website a more powerful conversion engine. Subsequent entries in this series will explore other common elements of website content that can be improved to bring more value to your visitors and greater returns for your business.

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Six Lessons from the Retail Sales Floor for Delivering Superior Customer Service

Take a moment to reflect on the last time you visited one of your favorite retailers. Did you encounter a friendly, outgoing salesperson? Did he or she help you find exactly what you were looking for by taking the time to get to know you and really understand your needs? If you answered yes to those questions, then you were on the receiving end of excellent customer service. Notice that I didn't ask if you found a good bargain or if you had the chance to negotiate a more favorable price. Providing good customer service means making an authentic connection; it doesn't mean simply reaching an agreeable price, closing the sale and saying goodbye. As one charged with growing and marketing your business, it's your job to ensure that you and every single person you put on the front lines bring authenticity and enthusiasm to every interaction with a customer or prospect. Whether you have a staff of five or 500, the last thing you want is a customer who feels like they and their hard-earned dollars are under-appreciated. I can’t even count the number of times I've come across a customer service rep who sounds bored and apathetic. This not only makes me want to conclude my frustrating encounter with this person as quickly as possible, but it also leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth about the company as a whole, making me highly disinclined to do business with them again in the future. And if I walk away feeling this way as a result of this rep’s apathy, inevitably there will be hundreds or even thousands of others who share my sentiment. Leave enough customers feeling alienated, and eventually you will have the undoing of even the largest, seemingly most untouchable corporation. Through their actions and their attitudes, your customer service representatives and salespeople can make or break the reputation of your brand and, by extension, the health of your bottom line. From my experience as the operations manager for a large retailer, I know first-hand what it takes to deliver world-class customer service. Here are six best practices from the retail sales floor that you can apply in your organization to ensure that every encounter between your company and your customers and clients gets five stars for satisfaction.

1. Set the tone right from the start.

Rule number one of working the sales floor is to greet your customer as soon as they walk in the door to make them feel acknowledged and to let them know that you are at the ready to serve their needs. Whether you’re meeting with your client in person or by phone or even via web conference, set a positive tone right from the start by warmly welcoming them and breaking the ice. And don’t feel compelled to get straight down to business. Beginning the conversation with a bit of casual, non-work-related talk will establish an emotional connection and let them know that you see them as a person first and customer second.

2. Establish the need.

In the store, the first question out of my mouth after greeting the customer is, "What's the occasion that brings you in?" This gives him the opportunity to tell me a little bit about himself and what he’s looking to accomplish from his visit. The same applies to your initial encounter with a new prospect. As soon as you’ve established a comfortable rapport, it’s time to start asking questions that will help you gain a better understanding of their needs and goals. And, remember, while they may have come to you seeking help with a specific problem, if you’re a savvy conversationalist, you may be able to uncover a broader concern or objective that you can partner with them to solve. That’s why it’s important to make sure you pose insightful questions that will paint the full picture of who this person is, what their experience has been to date and how you can play a role in helping them advance their goals.

3. Listen. No – really listen.

In the retail setting, one of the best things you can hope for as a salesperson is a chatty customer. The more information they volunteer, the easier it is for us to provide helpful recommendations. For example, a woman in her 20s walks through the door and mentions that she’s looking for a cocktail dress, so you offer a few nice selections that fit the bill. But after a few minutes pass and some pleasant conversation ensues, she reveals that the dress is actually for her cousin’s wedding. A mediocre salesperson says, “Oh, that’s nice!” and returns to folding shirts. But for the savvy salesperson who really hears what that customer is saying, the wheels of good service are set in motion. Because, of course, a wedding is never just a wedding. It’s merely the highlight of a full weekend of events that include at minimum a bachelorette party and a rehearsal dinner as well as perhaps a girls’ spa day and a day-after brunch. All of those occasions require a specific type of attire, which opens the door to an array of additional wardrobe needs that you might be able to help her with. And, hey – we get it. Between asking the right questions, keeping the conversation flowing and formulating your recommendations, it’s all too easy not to fully absorb everything your client is saying. But the worst possible mistake we can make as business owners, managers, marketers and salespeople is not really listening to our customers. Every word out of their mouth is a little clue – a piece of the puzzle that comes together to reveal what it is they really want. Don’t be too quick to dismiss what may seem on the surface like irrelevant details. Even if they're telling you about their children, their cat Whiskers or even their favorite Madonna song, listen and retain as much as you can. Bring along an associate, if needed. Make it their job to record everything that’s happening as it’s happening. Assimilating all of these finer points into a cohesive whole is what's going to help you establish a deeper connection with that client that will improve your chances not only of securing the sale at hand but also of cultivating a fruitful long-term, mutually beneficial partnership.

4. Be proactive but not pushy.

In a retail store, any salesperson worth their salt would never just point a customer vaguely in the direction of what they’re looking for and then leave them to their own devices to find it. Rather, they’d walk them over to the appropriate section of the store, help them pull the correct size, advise on proper fit, suggest alternative options or complementary accessories, etc. In the corporate setting, this translates to staying sharp, thinking on your feet and being a problem-solver. If you’ve covered the bases in eliciting good insights from your client – both in terms of their explicit needs and those they may not even be fully aware of themselves – now is the time for you to step up to the plate and swing for the fences. Let your expertise and your passion for what you do shine through as you offer intelligent and thoughtful recommendations, making sure always to frame your presentation directly in terms of how what you’re offering benefits your client. Put yourself on their side of the table, and let them know that you’re here as a partner in their success, not just someone looking to seal the deal. And on that note, every good salesperson knows how to read the room. If your client shows signs of being uncomfortable or overwhelmed, slow down and back up. You never want them to feel as though you are forcing something on them that they don’t want or need. The cliché of the pushy salesperson is a cliché for a reason.

5. Make the sale that makes sense.

Is there anything worse than walking down a mall corridor and being assaulted from every angle by the employees of those stand-alone kiosks who are trying to lure you over to see their wares? If you were interested in their products, you’d make a point to visit them of your own volition, right? Also, what’s with the aggressive heckling? Has that ever really worked? By contrast, when a customer comes into our store, we make recommendations based on what makes sense for their lifestyle and their needs, not what will fulfill our sales quota for the day. Many of them actually thank us for taking the time to show them products that are genuinely a good fit. When you present your client with a service or product that clearly clicks with them, they'll give you as much time as you need to explain the benefits. Better yet, if you can catch them by surprise with an unexpectedly innovative solution to their needs, they’ll be grateful for your insight and excited to move forward. Worst-case scenario? They’ll say no in the moment, but even then, if you’ve done the job well, given time to reflect and reconsider, they might ring you up again in the future. A word of caution, while you want to hear the cash register ring as much and as often as possible (or to see the signature on the dotted line, as it were), selling your products or services to a customer when you know they’re not actually a good fit for their specific needs is like playing Russian roulette. If the product isn’t really the right solution, your customer is going to be unhappy, and they’re going to point the finger at you. They’ll either assume that your product is subpar or, far worse, that your company is dishonest in its claims. That is one sale that will end up costing your company and your brand’s reputation dearly, as they complain vociferously to anyone who will listen.

6. Commit beyond the sale.

I'm not asking that you wine and dine your client every Friday night, unless you actually want to – in which case, I’m not hating. What I am asking, however, is that you dedicate yourself to ensuring their satisfaction. A smart salesperson recognizes that there’s no such thing as “closing.” After all, when a customer makes the choice to do business with you, you’re not closing anything. You’re only beginning the process of cultivating a relationship with someone whom you hope will be a lifelong client. For example, in my line of business I frequently work with clients who spend upwards of $1,000 or more with the company, and they sign contracts that span six months or longer. When someone is spending that kind of money and time with me, I want to make sure they feel comfortable and informed at every step along the way until our obligation has been fulfilled to their greatest satisfaction. Think of every interaction you have as an opportunity to cement your customer’s continued loyalty. Pay attention, nurture the relationship and earn the right to continue serving that customer’s needs. Don’t simply meet their expectations; exceed them at every turn.

Are you sold yet?

So as you can see, whether it’s on the retail sales floor or in a corporate boardroom, the basic principles of superior customer service are universal. By translating these six best practices to the specific products or services that your company offers, you’ll inevitably reap the benefits of customer relationships that are defined by authenticity, enthusiasm and a deep level of engagement. After all, traditional word-of-mouth isn't dead; today’s savvy customers just demand that you work a lot harder to earn it.

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