A couple weeks ago Brian, Joel and I gathered inside a client’s conference room to present a plan for marketing around the launch of their new Website. The wireframes and designs we created had all been approved. Everything was now in the capable hands of the development team.
We settled on a timeline and collectively acknowledged each others’ efforts. A feel good haze.
The meeting was ready to adjourn.
But then the CEO looked at us and with honest intention asked a simple question: “So guys, in your opinion, do you believe the Website we’re about to release is a 10?”
It was an E.F. Hutton moment. Even the buzz of the fluorescents hushed. After all, we had long since put the architecture and design of the site to rest following a lengthy process of trial, error and adjustment. No one in the room wanted to retrace their steps and jeopardize deadlines.
None of that mattered to the CEO. All that mattered to her was that it be the best it could possibly be.
Brian broke the silence. He gave the CEO what she wanted to hear: the truth.
The home page is not a 10
The home page fell short. Why? Because the initial goal for the site – greater conversion – was compromised along the way by a rather crowded and scattered design process. To the CEO’s credit, she allowed everyone to have their say. To her credit, she extended the design phase longer than normal hoping that we could assimilate everybody’s desires. And the final design we delivered was universally agreed upon and pushed forward.
But the home page was just an 8 by Brian’s measure due to the removal of components we originally created with conversion in mind. Perceived visual appeal had pushed them out.
The CEO allowed that voice of doubt to be heard. Because for a good leader, what ultimately matters more than appeasing everyone is making sure the highest arching vision fueling the process is reached.
A day late, a dollar more
Concern from the team ensued. Genuine concern. Would this set us back in time? Would this incur added cost? Would this delay the developer?
The CEO asked us to push for a 10 regardless. Because a day late and a dollar more is all worth it when you present a 10 to the world. This was what every leader ought to be doing. Asking questions. Reminding their team of the ultimate goal. And, if required, taking a step back to go ten steps forward.
She’s not the only CEO I know who does this. We’ve worked with and are working with others who march to the very same beat.
In an industry that gravitates so effortlessly towards mediocrity, that wears imperfection like a badge of honor, that surrenders its greatest possibilities to expediencies, this CEO pushed back.
Going from good to great requires one extra step.
Mute the noise. The static. The distractions.
Remember why you have embarked down the path.
Then follow that light all the way.
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Cool, I bet I might have a good guess who this CEO is and it really shows why she is successful. I like it.
Can you not have both…appealing white spaces and conversion?
It seems every time we think we (me really) have figured out what a website should be, we take another turn.
These are questions us mere mortals ask and face every day. And with limited budgets, typical of the independent Realtor, we don’t have the time or the money to try and figure it out.
So like today’s politics, we are left with extremes. On one end of the spectrum we have the Craig Proctor style landing pages that are played as the conversion king of real-estate web design. Then on the other end of the spectrum we have the beautifully executed “informational” sites that act more like the polite Concierge of a high end hotel rather than the Billy Mays of high pitch conversion.
Personally I don’t like the Craig Proctor approach to web design. I would like to error on the side of elegant design that earns the trust to be asked to assist. But then I’m here writing comments in this blog and helping other more successful agents with their websites. While Craig wraps up more sales.
So which is it…elegant brand that earns the right to “convert” you or right up front in your face “give me your name and number” on the home page style.
I think I know the answer…”It depends”.
I agree with you on the Proctor approach. It’s not much an approach really. It’s all together something else.
And yes, you can have both – components built to convert housed within an elegant design. The thing brokerages need to watch out for however, is playing party to every branch and branch head of their company and knowing what really merits as home page content, primary navigation content and finally worthy content that will entice a user to register for things. Just placing anything on the page with a big call to action button doesn’t guarantee anything will happen. The user has to understand the benefits and believe there is value in them.
Making a home page a ten, especially when there are many in the committee who want center stage is not easy from a design standpoint but certainly, much harder from a leadership point as some egos are going to get hurt as broker sites continue to move closer to the users experience rather than a billboard for every department in the company.
Steven Krug has most excellent books, my favorite of which is “Don’t Make Me Think”
I believe that’s the book where there’s great discussion behind the politics of a home page, which has to accomplish very different objectives than a landing page.
Once again, you have a superb, thoughtful post.
Ira .. who reviewed my web page design books this past weekend.
Ira,
That book has served as one of our many bibles. We featured it in a back issue of Spotlight about a month ago.
Good call.
I’ve had the opportunity to use several sites lately. I was astonished how difficult it was for me to figure out how to do what I wanted to do.
On one hotel site, once I had selected the hotel (they had several in the same city), it never showed me the name of it. I had now idea how to compare it to their others.
Taking Amtrak to Sacramento to give a talk for CAR on the iPad next week. Turns out that amtrak and amtrak rewards both book travel, but require different user registration information. No clue at all on their web sites – I had to call the 800 number and they told me I was the 3rd caller in a row to tell her that.
We call that a clue – something is wrong.
Mind you – I’ve been using computers for 44 years, and, as they say “have a degree in science” and I was baffled. I have an Abby Normal brain when it comes to this – wonder how real people deal with it all.
Good for you for telling the truth. Perhaps the CEO should have set making the site a “10″ as a key requirement.
Aloha,
Keahi
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