The last part of the session has been spent thinking about user profiling. Once the site owners saw the potential beyond the online brochure, they identified 3 main customer types:
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| The Homeowner | The Interior Designer | The Property Developer |
The idea of running through a full persona study seemed a bit daunting for the site owners, wondering how they could run the study and keep up with day-to-day jobs too. As they’ve not done this before, it’s hard for them to see the benefit.
And I agree it is a lot of work doing personas and profiling 
, but if you want a real litmus test about what content and features are missing from your site, it’s unbeatable as a technique for most website projects.
We discussed the idea of the sales staff role-playing and filling in the persona forms. They have years of experience talking to prospects and customers on the telephone. This gives them a lot of insight into how a visitor might think and what new information needed to be added to the website. I think this is a viable alternative in their circumstances.
Some content that the site owner quickly identified that needed to be added was how the installation process works and how the Chiswick Fireplace Company remove a lot of hassle and stress, and often further expense if incorrect choices are made early on in the job. From their point of view, this should be an essential part of the site when showing how their experience adds a lot of value to the buying process. People only buy from companies they know like and trust – this sort of information helps build that relationship.
I have asked them to think about these three types of visitor and the information that will help them turn from visiting prospects into paying customers, and have offered to see how they’re doing with that next week. 
OK, better get onto rejigging this brochure!
