“I thought Oz was a great Head,” said Dorothy.
“No, you are all wrong,” said the little man meekly. “I have been making believe.”
“Making believe!” cried Dorothy. “Are you not a Great Wizard?”
“Hush, my dear,” he said. “Don’t speak so loud, or you will be overheard – and I should be ruined. I’m supposed to be a Great Wizard.”
When dealing with websites, it’s not uncommon for people or small companies to try and appear much bigger than they actually are.
One of the supposed advantages of the web, is that, with a professional looking website, even one man operations running out of a broom cupboard can look like a slick multinational corporation. The implication is that the bigger you appear, the more people will trust you and consequently the more money you’ll make.
How often do you see:
or“Our team of highly skilled professionals…”
or“Our network of associates…”
* (no hang on that’s the A Team)“Our crack team of highly trained commandos…” *
on a website, alongside a stock photo of a bunch of immaculately groomed models posing round a computer? And you know it’s just one guy with his laptop in the garden shed! Hell, I’ve built plenty of these in my time!
Recently I’ve been questioning this ethos though, and I’ve started asking clients exactly why their customers come to them, and crucially keep coming back to them. For sure, having the security of working with a large company can be reassuring for some people, especially if you’re dealing with large businesses, but if you’re only a small operation how long do you think you’ll be able to keep up the pretence when you start working with someone? They’re going to find out sooner or later.
More importantly should you be pretending in the first place?
When I asked around I came across the same answer: often people like working with small companies and individuals because it allows for a more personal relationship. You’re dealing with someone one-on-one and not having to go through various departments, switchboards or at worst call centres in order to resolve an issue.
I’m not saying that small one man operations are better than large companies here. That’s not the point I’m trying to make, but why pretend to be something that you’re not, when the one thing that might actually appeal to customers is the personal touch that small operations can offer?
And if you agree, then your website should reflect this. Forget about projecting the image of a huge faceless conglomeration and drop the business jargon bullshit. Be honest about who you are and what you do. Get personal with your audience and you might even start to pick up more business than ever before.
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