No one buys from us because of our website.
Even with referrals, the design of your website impacts sales.
“All of our clients come from referrals.”
“Nobody comes to us through a Google search.”
“Our clients want to know that we have a website but no one cares about what it looks like.”
I hear these things a lot, particularly from leaders of professional services firms. IT support, recruitment and staffing, wealth management, real estate development, consulting of any kind…many potential clients do come from referrals. It’s easy to assume a review from a colleague, combined with price, is all that matters and the website has no impact.

Not so.
According to a study by the Hinge Research Institute, 80% of people shopping for a professional service will go to your firm’s website to evaluate your offering, approach, and get a general sense of the business — even with a referral. In fact, the website is still the #1 resource potential clients use to investigate professional services businesses. (Download the study here.)
“References have always been important, and will remain so,” says the study’s authors. “But they are not enough…Sellers who grow complacent or focus entirely on referrals and references will increasingly lose sales and lose control of their perception in the marketplace.”
4 ways the design of your website impacts your sales
The fundamental reason why every business has a website is because customers expect it. But it’s more than that. The design of your website actually impacts sales — either positively or negatively. Here’s how:
1. We are living in a new era.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that your competition is getting increasingly fierce. Customers expect to get more for less money. We now have an entire generation of potential customers who want immediate access to the right information via the internet. I interviewed the CEO of a management consulting firm who offered this:
“I often use the website of potential suppliers to quickly narrow down my options — the look and feel tells me a lot. For me, a modern, clear, well-designed website is tablestakes. If the website doesn’t meet that minimum standard they’re out.”
2. Clients are using your website to sort the wheat from the chaff.
At Chrome Canyon we focus on businesses up to $20M in revenue. Within any industry, we often find that businesses of that size look and sound very much the same. That is, they get little or no differentiation from the investment in their website.
If your strategy includes growth or increasing revenue, the website presents a key opportunity to position your organization against the competition, explain how it’s different, and make it easy to decide that you are the best choice.
3. Don’t send the wrong message.
Chances are if you’re website is more than 4–6 years old, it looks out of date and gives the impression that you’re not keeping up. Therefore, without intending to, you could be communicating one these messages or something similar:
“We can’t afford a website.”
“We don’t really care.”
But you’d probably prefer people think something more like:
“Wow!”
“Let’s call this company. They seem like the best choice.”
4. Modern vocabulary + outdated website = confusing
If you use any of these words to describe your business…
Innovative
Customer focused
Leading
Progressive
Cutting-edge
Advanced
…and your website is outdated the message and the presentation of that message are not aligned. If you say your business is “leading” or “innovative” that needs to be backed up by your website and other collateral. Otherwise your audience could be confused — or even unsure about your credibility.
One more thing: a well-designed, up-to-date website helps move people along your sales funnel.
A well-designed website does 3 things simultaneously. First, it has strong, compelling sales messages about why you are different. They are rooted in your buyers’ decision making process and delivered in accordance with where they are in your sales funnel.
A well-designed website will be memorable (in a good way!). It will represent the brand you’re proud of and be consistent with the aforementioned sales messages. The aim is to broadcast “We are the best choice for your needs!” in a unified way — both visually and verbally.
Lastly, the way your website is built can make it easier to find when potential clients do conduct a Google search. (Which of course they never will because all of your clients come from referrals and no one cares about your website.)
It may be true that all of your clients come from referrals and don’t buy from you because of your website. But consider how many clients are NOT buying from you because of your website. Take your best guess as to the revenue you’ve lost, just in the last 2 years, because potential clients looked at your website and then bought from your competitor. That number is probably much higher than what it will cost you to design a great website.

