Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Avoiding Assumptions about Your Customers

You have to make plenty of decisions every day, and you can easily fall into the trap that you have to know everything to make your business work. You don't have to know everything, although you do have to know whom to ask or where to look.

When you're wondering whether the actions you're taking in your business are truly converting browsers to buyers, step back a moment to see what's going on. Pull up your Web site and click through the pages yourself. Just because the pages and offers grab you doesn't necessarily mean that customers will react the same way. It's a good start, though. In this section, we show you ways to see your site from the customers' perspective so that you can provide them with exactly what they need.

Asking customers for feedback

Many times, your buyers know what they want — sometimes before you do. They're the ones using your products, talking to each other on your discussion board, and looking for the next great product. You should always provide a way for your customers to give you general or specific feedback using a feedback form.

One of the best ways to encourage regular, ongoing feedback is to participate in social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Encourage customers to become followers so they can share experiences, ask questions, or learn more about your business.

Most Web sites incorporate some ...