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Episode 89: How to Fix Money Draining Mistake #5, with Stephen Woessner.

Published: Oct. 14, 2015, 8 a.m.

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media. \xa0

Good Morning Onward Nation \u2013 I am so excited for today\u2019s solocast!

I\u2019m excited because we are going to continue the momentum we have been building over the last several solocasts where we have begun to uncover what I call the Money Draining Mistakes.

These are the mistakes that we all make \u2013 yes, everyone one of us from time to time \u2013 have made these mistakes in our business \u2013 and the net result is that cash has been literally sucked right out of our companies.

Very expensive.

And yes, I know that sounds a bit overly dramatic but when I share today\u2019s Money Draining Mistake with you \u2013 by the end of this episode \u2013 my hope for you is that you will see why I consider this one \u2013 this mistake \u2013 to be one of the most expensive. \xa0

It is a silent killer for most businesses.

But before we jump into this one \u2013 I want to go back to the two biggest challenges that are preventing you from moving your business onward to that next level because those challenges \u2013 those barriers to your success have nothing to do the business climate, the economy, the skill level of your employees, the location of your business, your pricing strategy, your current customer base, the size of your marketing budget, the quality of your products, your distribution channels, or the myriad of other reasons we are given today by the media and government as to why businesses fail at such a staggering rate in this country.

The obstacles in your way have nothing to do with any of those things. \xa0

Your two biggest obstacles are the Fear of Poverty and the Fear of Criticism.

I am not going to dissect both of these Fears here \u2013 instead, I encourage you to go back and re-listen to episode 65 to understand both fears more deeply \u2013 but what I will say is that the Fear of Criticism will directly impact your ability to stay plugged in to this episode and push forward to really want to master the recipe that I share with you during our time together this morning.

I guarantee you...if you are like most business owners\u2026as soon as I say the words \u201cBounce Rate\u201d as part of today\u2019s recipe \u2013 you will begin to tune out and lose interest.

Or, as I share \u201cdata points\u201d...as I discuss things like the \u201cpsychology of your customer\u201d, or need to create \u201cclear calls-to-action.\u201d

It will be real easy for you to say something like, \u201cI have someone on my team who does that, Stephen...I don\u2019t have to know it.\u201d

Why do I think you will say or at least think that?

Because you \u2013 me \u2013 we are all afraid of the unknown. We are uncertain \u2013 we are afraid we might fail to understand the concept \u2013 the lesson. And so the best way for us to defend against that fear \u2013 to protect ourselves \u2013 is for us to say, \u201cOh Stephen, I don\u2019t need to know that because someone on my team gets it...they have it down. I\u2019m all set.\u201d

Do they?

Do they really?

And if you don\u2019t understand it \u2013 how can you possibly hope to measure their success in it?

Discounting the potential knowledge without really understanding the value of the knowledge is sort of like when we were all back in high school and it came time for Algebra or Biology class \u2013 or insert the name of your scary class here \u2013 and we tried to convince ourselves that we would never need to have access to that knowledge in our lifetime. Somehow we felt prepared to make that decision at 16 or 17 years old.

And yet, if you were to sit down with someone like Mark Cuban, one of the acclaimed investors from Shark Tank and ask him what he wishes he would have done a better job of learning along the way\u2026he readily admits\u2026that he would have done a better job studying those things that he quickly discounted \u2013 that he told himself he would never need \u2013 and now he wishes he had mastered those skills early on\u2026things like Algebra, Biology, and so forth.

So this episode \u2013 episode 89 \u2013 you need to know that I am likely going to push you...to push your Fear of Criticism.

But in full transparency \u2013 I think that is part of my job to help you grow \u2013 to help you become more certain \u2013 to help you reach that next level.

And as my drill instructor said to me once \u2013 well, he actually shouted it to me one morning \u2013 I think he just wanted to be sure I heard him and never forgot the message \u2013 he stood over top of me as I was doing sit ups during PT one morning in basic training\u2026it was June of 1990 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas...5:00 in the morning and it was already about 90 degrees \u2013 how was that even possible \u2013 and as I was doing each repetition \u2013 St. Hodge looked down at me and yelled, \u201cAirman Woessner, you are required to perform 25 repetitions of this exercise.

HOWEVER...you are encouraged to do more.\u201d He set the standard of excellent for me that morning. The standard was not the bare minimum of doing what was required \u2013 knowing what you had to know \u2013 or doing the least possible with as little effort as necessary.

No, the standard was more \u2013 a lot more \u2013 and undefined \u2013 my standard \u2013 my bar was to do the most repetitions that I could possibly do \u2013 my personal best \u2013 to pursue excellence \u2013 and I never forgot the message \u2013 and now I pass it on to you.

So to get that next level \u2013 you need to learn things you didn\u2019t think you needed to learn \u2013 to master skills that someone on your team may also know \u2013 and to execute and implement with a standard of excellence \u2013 not the bare minimum.

You Onward Nation are not average.

You Onward Nation have a different standard.

You Onward Nation are moving your business to that next level. And you do that by pushing past the Fear of Criticism \u2013 the fear of failure \u2013 the fear of not thinking you are worthy or smart enough. \xa0

\nBecause you are smart enough \u2013 you can absolute master this...and this...Onward Nation...is Money Draining Mistake #3...High Bounce Rate.\n

Are you ready to move onward with gusto?

Let\u2019s start this off with a scenario that happens every day within a typical business\u2026

Someone visits the website\u2019s home page, a product page, or perhaps a blog post the business owner wrote.

The person quickly scans the page from top to bottom, left to right, and after a second or two, they decide they hate it. They puke in a bucket and then immediately leave.

And they continuing searching...except they continue searching SOMEPLACE ELSE.

That person \u201cbounced\u201d because he or she was not motivated enough to make one single click within the site.

Bounce rate is one of the most powerful metrics we have because it gives us insight into whether or not our customers believe we are delivering the value they want and need.

Most un-optimized websites have a bounce rate between 50 to 60 percent (this represents huge opportunity for you if you apply steps 1-2-3 below).

In other words, after all of the hard work you put toward building traffic through trade shows, advertising, public relations, email campaigns, content development, social media, and search engine optimization, between 50 and 60 percent of the people you attract will immediately leave without making one single click.

And that is why I called this mistake the silent killer way back in my introduction to this episode.

Let\u2019s do a quick test. Pause this episode, open your Google Analytics dashboard, and check your bounce rate.

If it 30 percent or less, give yourself a pat on the back because that is the target you should strive to reach.

But if your bounce rate is above 50 percent, then the rest of this article will provide you with three steps you can apply to drive down bounce rate while converting more of your traffic into leads and sales.

Let\u2019s first calculate the dollar value that bounce rate is currently costing you.

Say your website attracted 12,539 unique visitors during the past 12-months.

And let\u2019s say your website bounce rate is currently right in the middle of the 50 to 60 percent range (54.88 percent to be exact).

That means 6,881 site visitors immediately bounced from your website during those 12-months (12,539 x\xa0.5488 = 6,881).

The remaining 5,659 were the suspects you could attempt to convert into a lead or sale through some form of call-to-action, such as a phone call, visit to your store, etc.

Now, let\u2019s say your call-to-action process has been fine-tuned over the years so 4.77 percent of your suspects are converted into leads (between 2 to 4 percent is the global standard).

This means 270 leads, phone calls, store visits, etc. were generated during the 12-months (5,659 suspects x\xa0.0477 conversion rate = 270).

And lastly, let\u2019s assume you have a history of converting 50 percent of your leads, such as inquiries, phone calls, store visits, etc. into sales, and each sale has an average value of $500.

The revenue generated via your website should have been approximately $67,500 (270 x\xa0.5000 = 135 sales x $500 value = $67,500).

Now, let\u2019s lower bounce rate to the target level of 30 percent.

I first learned about the 30 percent target from my friend and mentor, Avinash Kaushik, digital marketing evangelist for Google and co-founder of Market Motive.

You can learn more about Avinash in episode 40 of Onward Nation.

Now only 3,761 of the visitors bounce during the same 12-month time period (12,539 x\xa0.3000 = 3,761).

You now have 8,778 suspects instead of 5,659. Big difference.

Let\u2019s also assume you maintained your 4.77 percent conversion rate into leads and your average order remained at $500.

Your 8,778 suspects would convert into 418 leads, and those leads would convert into 209 sales, which would result in $104,500 in revenue (418 x\xa0.0477 = 418 x\xa0.5000 = 209 x $500 = $104,500).

This represents a 54.81 percent increase in sales. Awesome.

And the only thing that changed was bounce rate.

Here\u2019s the good news...any business owner can apply three simple steps to reduce bounce rate.

At the bottom of this today\u2019s Show Notes you will find a mini-class I recorded to provide some additional bounce rate insights. Free video training resource \u2013 I hope you find it valuable.

So what is the first step? \xa0

We \u2013 and our business \u2013 must be distinctive.

Now, distinction is not just about being different.

Distinction creates loyal customers who continue coming back to you over and over again.

If you want to learn more about distinction \u2013 go back to episode 1 and listen to the words of wisdom from Scott McKain, the leading authority on the topic of distinction and its importance in your business.

And one of the very best recipes for how to create distinction is one that I learned from Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS Magazine.

Darren calls it the X-Y-Z Exercise and there are 3 simple steps. \xa0

\nStep 1: Complete the X-Y-Z Exercise\n

Just answer three questions and blend the answers into a clear and concise statement. Caution: the questions are simple but they are not easy to answer. It will likely take you and your team about 60 to 90-minutes to complete this exercise with excellence.

We do X (X equals the products and services your business provides to customers)
For Y (Y equals the profile of your typical customer)
So that they can Z (Z equals the result outcomes your customers receive from your products or services)

Then place your X-Y-Z statement on your website above the fold \u2013 meaning \u2013 so the visitors to your website do not need to scroll in order to read it. Why above the fold?

So your visitors will see it right away and they will know they are in the right place.

When that happens, bounce rate goes down. \xa0

\nStep 2: Eliminate Visual Clutter\n

The January-February 2013 issue of the Harvard Business Review reported the results of a study on consumer choice, which confirmed that providing more options did not increase choice. In fact, more options actually decreased choice.

So instead of having 15 options on your website, i.e. photos, copy blocks, or calls-to-action, just have three easy-to-understand options and eliminate all the rest. Your customers see a multitude of options as visual clutter and that encourages bounce. \xa0

\nStep 3: Create Clear Calls-to-Action\n

Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, director of Marketing Experiments once said to me, \u201cClarity always trumps persuasion.\u201d

So are you being clear with customers regarding the steps they need to take along the decision-making path?

Have a clear and concise path to purchase. That\u2019s all you need.

Okay, Onward Nation \u2013 that was Money Draining Mistake #3\u2026High Bounce Rate.

Now, if you if you are hearing those voices in your head \u2013 if you are having thoughts that are even remotely similar to what I described at the beginning of this episode \u2013 don\u2019t run -- let those thoughts be your litmus test \u2013 they are telling you that you are heading in the right direction.

Push forward \u2013 don\u2019t stop \u2013 don\u2019t let your fear hold you back from breaking through to that next level.

And remember, you are the average of the people you spend the most time with\u2026and look who Stacey Alcorn from episode #3 is spending the most time with.

She refers to herself as \u201cA billionaire in the making.\u201d And in order for that vision for her life to become a reality \u2013 she knows that she needs to spend as much time as possible with other billionaires.

Well, I will let you in on a secret she told me during our interview \u2013 Stacey didn\u2019t have those connections several years ago.

But she DECIDED that was going to change and then she took action to make it happen.

I hope that makes sense. \xa0

\xa0

Okay, Onward Nation \u2013 I hope this solocast was valuable to you.

Please drop me a line and let me know what you thought. You can share your comments at the bottom of the show notes for this episode \u2013 or \u2013 you can email me anytime at Stephen @ onwardnation.com and yes \u2013 that is my actual email address \u2013 comes directly to me \u2013 no fancy filter, routing, or sorting\u2026comes right to my Inbox. Feel free to use it anytime.

Let me know\u2026thumbs up or thumbs down?

Drop me a line.

I will be back tomorrow with another amazing interview with one of today\u2019s top business owners.

Until then\u2026onward with gusto! \xa0

Stephen \xa0

\xa0

You can find us at: -----OnwardNation.com------