Business owners know the importance of customer service. Most of you have likely spent significant resources training employees to be attentive to your customers’ needs.

Unfortunately, many companies forget that their website is the key link to serving their online customers. Even when you’re asleep, your website is at work. It has the ability to connect you with customers, provide them with information and ultimately increase sales.

When those customers visit your website, they expect the same attention to service that they would get if they were to phone you or walk through your door.

Too many businesses, however, are missing this opportunity. They make the mistake of developing their websites with an “inside-out” approach. Put simply, their content and navigation are developed from the perspective of the employees or the owner, not the customer.

As someone on the inside, you think about your products and services much differently than the consumer. Too often we get caught up in what we think our customers want, rather than what they really need.

“What’s in it for me?”

Making your website work for you is simple. Your customers want to know, “What’s in it for me?” Tell them.

Take a quick look at your website. If you are rattling off product features and not highlighting the benefits, there’s a good chance your website isn’t achieving its potential. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t be listing the features. People need the facts, but whether we like it or not, customers are motivated by the personal payoff.

Remember, people are coming to your site with a problem, and your website’s job is to give them the best solution to that problem. Stop and ask yourself, “What are the wants, needs and desires of my customers?”

Your website is your 24/7 sales person (without the overtime or health insurance). When it meets your customer’s needs and puts them on centre stage, you too will benefit. A positive customer experience, online or in your store, is more likely to translate into loyal customers.