Securing a good first impression with prospective customers hinges almost entirely on the strength of your online presence. And a meaningful online presence in the world of software starts with a strong product profile on Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice.
Product profile content is often the only resource customers have to learn more about a company and product before deciding to reach out. Our customer service team considers a profile to be strong when it can answer common customer questions and includes complete company information — especially pricing details — and quality reviews.
Answer common customer questions through profile content
A value-add product profile benefits customers throughout their research process and has a direct effect on the quality of the leads you collect. Customers use complete product profiles on our sites to evaluate product offerings and determine whether a particular product can solve their specific business challenges. For suppliers, a complete product profile acts as a top-line filter to qualify leads for pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
Providing enough information on your profile enables you to better reach your target customers. It also enables buyers to filter themselves based on common nonnegotiables such as price range, product features and integrations. That filtering process will naturally increase the quality of your traffic and customer satisfaction by helping buyers identify themselves as a good fit.
Don't avoid the tough questions
Buyers have access to more information online than ever before, and that access has changed the purchase process and customer needs. Customers now expect to readily find more information about products when conducting their initial research. Don't avoid answering tough customer questions, such as pricing details, on your product profile. We've found that pricing information consistently ranks as the most-clicked aspect across our product profiles.
We know that a product's price is the most common question for customers and an important factor in the buying process, but we've found that not all suppliers are comfortable with publishing pricing information online. By omitting pricing details, you could turn away a potential customer who may assume your product is out of their budget. It's not always necessary to include specific product pricing. Instead, answer common pricing questions by adding language such as "Starting at $399/month," which still helps customers while also acting as a prequalifier for leads.
Customers continue to look to reviews for answers
Show off customer reviews to round out your profile information, and boost site visibility and conversion rates. Customer reviews only continue to gain importance, as today's buyers reference at least 10 reviews before making a purchase decision. It's not enough to simply have 10 reviews on your profile. Collect recent reviews — written within the past six months — to attract and retain buyer attention and answer common customer questions in an unbiased manner.
The software buying process includes narrowing down options and answering customer questions on functionality and feature fit, pricing and user reviews. And with 70% of the purchase process completed before you make a connection, it's vital to maintain an online presence and continue to answer your potential customers' questions in the form of a complete product profile.
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