Sites that Win

Carl Heyerdahl

I look at Cohen and Wolf today because this firm appears in searches for both Family and Estate practice in Connecticut. Having these two practice areas under the same roof provide significant marketing opportunities.

This a full service firm. The number of attorneys that are listed as practicing in these areas suggest some significant attention is given to these segments.

The Web Site

It sucks, but if you knew me, you knew I'd say that. To be fair, most legal websites do. They follow a very safe formula, and put their visitors to sleep. Here's an example:

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I signed onto the list of Riverhouse in February. This was on a wedding oriented page. Since then, I've received four e-mails: an invite for Easter brunch (February 27), a July/August newsletter (July 30), and an invite to book my holiday parties (August 25). Why would I get these e-mails if I want to get married?

I got to Riverhouse by way of its marketing for Belle Terrace at Avon Old Farms (recently reopened as The Northhouse by it's new proprietors, the Chabot Family, which also owns Farmington Gardens). Neither the website nor the e-mail campaigns are doing all they could to drive business to these companies.

This is what I'd do if I were developing for Riverhouse or Farmington:

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A friend of mine posted something from Hallelu on facebook. I was interested. This is an organization I could work with, but it needs some help, at least from where I am looking.

So, in the hope that I can help more than just the folks at Hallelu, here's what I shared:

I like your mission, but I don't think your website is well designed to support it.

For a bit of background, one of my areas of specialty is conversion rate optimization (which is designing websites that cause your visitor to engage with and takes the actions that would best support your mission).

Some things I'd try if I were you include:

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A person in one of my groups commented:

New biz owner here. How normal is it to send someone a proposal and never hear from them again?

The price is actually low to standard but I've had it happen about 4 times in the last couple months.

Now I want you to think of how many times you ignore e-mail before you open it up, or open it, then say to yourself, “I'll deal with it later,” and then never do. Marketers know this and they send long series, including many on the day of the closing of their offer.

But then you've got to have an offer closing. Building in urgency can make a huge difference.

And be wary of being too cheap. People think they get what they pay for. If you are too cheap relative to the competition, they'll think they are not getting as much, and might actually go with someone who costs more because of the perceived value.

There are a bunch of steps I'd take here.

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As my clients and followers know, my e-mail madness service is about using e-mail to bring in:

• More Loyal Customers
• More Often
• (especially on the “off” days)
• Boosting the Bottom Line

This month, I'm going to look at Maggie McFly's, a Connecticut restaurant with five locations. Maggie McFly's considers its sweet spot to be the family, but does a lot to make itself relevant to anyone who wants a solid American dining experience. It gets mixed reviews on Yelp with an average three star rating at most of its restaurants, and has been doing a nice job, especially recently, in responding to customer comments. This is always done in the name of Ray Harper, the owner, as it ought to be. It looks to have some very loyal fans. That's always a good place to start. It has obviously attained some level of success.

But we know the restaurant industry often runs on tight margins, and when we can bring our loyal customers around even one more time a month, it can have a nice impact on our bottom line. And I think we can do a lot better than that.

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