A customer came to a store. It was only one store in an infinite row of stores, and they could see that the vast majority of the stores were bright and shining with professional polish. Most of the other patrons on the street veered away from this shop, with it’s odd colors and apparently hand drawn sign. The customer decided to head inside though, since things are not always as they seem.
Inside, they saw a man behind a counter. He was giving them a poorly worded sales pitch, and kept mispronouncing words. He led them around the shop, and showed them what the shop had for sale. Some of the shelves that he pointed to while describing their offerings though were empty, but the customer soon found something that looked decent and decided to buy it.
They picked it up and headed for the checkout, but several times the item jumped out of their hands and back onto the shelf. They eventually got their item to the checkout, and took out their card to pay. As they did though, several men in black coats popped up from behind the counter and took pictures of their credit card before running away.
After checking out, the customer leaves the store, but soon realizes that the men from the store are now following him down the street.
I’m sure you can understand why the customer in this situation won’t be returning to the store. Even more, he’s probably going to warn his friends off the store.
It’s a simple lack of professionalism on the part of the owner. They don’t know what they’re doing, and it shows. They’re going to lose business, because what the customer saw is important.
Told as an actual storefront, the situation is laughable. No shop would be that bad. It’s surprising how often perfectly professional companies won’t think through the need for polish online though. A good looking storefront with solid functionality and security is at least as important online as it is in person. And often it’s much more important, since the customer online won’t see your dedicated staff. They won’t see your superior products. All they see is the storefront, the sales copy, and the products on the shelves.
So if you haven’t yet, look at your company website and ask yourself: What will the customer see?