We need to talk about your thank you pages.
They could be working harder for you.
Recently, Hubspot stated that Axis Social has one of the six best thank you page examples of 2021, so we’re confident in giving a little advice.
For most companies, their thank you pages i.e. what someone sees after submitting an enquiry form are an afterthought. Much like this one:
And it’s easy to understand why given that the bandwidth of marketing teams is always limited.
As a result, it’s easy for them to tell themselves, “hey, by the time we’ve got the lead’s details, my job is over, and it’s up to the sales team now”.
Unfortunately, that mentality is leaving sales conversions on the table.
If you want to increase your company’s sales without spending an extra cent on advertising, I suggest you consider any (or all) of the following five thank you page optimisations.
01. Reassure Your Prospects With A Thank You Page Video
We’re funny creatures, us humans.
After making decisions, such as submitting an enquiry form, we experience a phenomenon called Post Decisional Dissonance.
Effectively, this is a form of regret or concern that perhaps we didn’t make the best available choice.
Our prospects are likely asking themselves questions like “did I enquire with the right company?”, “will they be able to provide what I want or need” “are they trustworthy and reliable” and many more.
A short, friendly, and professional video is a fantastic way to address these concerns and allay the prospect’s fears.
This simple video could cover:
- Of course, a quick thank you
- What to expect next
- What your company does well
- The type of customers you best serve
- Anything else that will differentiate you from competitors
Whilst this may seem like a lot of work, you will find it delivers an incredible ROI by delivering prospects to your sales team have been reassured and warmed up by your thank you page.
02. Set Clear Expectations On What Will Happen Next
Another thing that humans dislike is uncertainty. In fact, we are hardwired to hate it.
Too common is the experience of completing a form online, only to be met with anxiety.
“So what happens now?… will I get a call, an email, anything?”
Effectively constructed thank you pages, like this example from Refy below, can put your prospects at ease by clearly setting expectations on what will happen next.
Not only does this visibility increase the probability that the lead will move through outlined steps, but it also positions your company as a professional organisation that follows a consistent, documented process.
03. Improve The Initial Call By Answering FAQs
First impressions last.
Time is money.
The intersection of these two adages means that your sales team must have an effective and efficient initial call with a prospect.
You can make sure these calls are ‘all killer, no filler’ by answering some of the most commonly asked questions ahead of the call.
You can see an example of this below one of our Axis Social thank you pages:
Having these questions answered ahead of the call gives your sales team more time to qualify the lead, understand their unique needs, develop an expert position and deliver value.
04. Increase Buyer Sophistication With Education
I frequently hear salespeople lament that prospects lack the knowledge required to make intelligent buying decisions.
“They don’t get the importance of X…” or “they’ll get stung because they don’t realise Y”.
If that’s a consistent reason your team is losing deals, it’s vitally important to fix it.
As an actionable example, your company could develop a ‘Buyers Guide’ (like the one that we have here) which educates prospects on everything they need to know about purchasing from you (or your competitors).
This guide would be made available as a download from the thank you page.
This education strategy has the dual benefit of positioning your organisation as experts whilst delivering an informed, sophisticated prospect to your sales team.
05. Capture The Next Sales Step Or Additional Qualification Criteria
Immediately after a lead has completed a conversion action is an excellent time to ask them for more.
This honeymoon period is due to a principle known as the ‘Yes Ladder’.
The ‘Yes Ladder’ principle suggests that someone is more likely to say yes to a request if they have just said yes to something else. Science here.
You can take advantage of this by adding an additional conversion action on your thank you page. This could include:
- Ascending users from a marketing qualified lead to a sales qualified lead (by asking for a phone number and more)
- Asking for additional information that allows for lead scoring or qualification
- Locking in time for an initial call on a calendar (through a system like Calendly)
What I love about this approach is that you’re effectively playing with house money. Any ascensions or secondary conversions you get from this page are simply a bonus to the existing lead volume.
In Summary
In summary, the five thank you page optimisations you can make today to increase sales are:
- Reassure your prospects with a simple, friendly and professional thank you page video.
- Reduce your prospect’s uncertainty or anxiety by setting clear expectations on what will happen next.
- Improve the quality of the initial call by answer frequently asked questions ahead of time.
- Increase the sophistication of your buyers through education, for example, a Buyer’s Guide.
- Leverage the ‘yes ladder’ and capture buyers intent or qualification criteria by adding a conversion action to the thank you page.
What Did We Forget?
If you have come across any excellent thank you page optimisations; I’d love to know about them!
Be sure to let us know in the comments below.