Some websites are all about an immediate sale. You’ll see the “Buy Now” button dominating the page in a special contrasting color.

Those websites are usually targeting people with an immediate need or people who’ve already made a purchase decision. Amazon, for instance, knows that you’re ready to buy when you search for deodorant on its site. It wants to use every tool in its toolbox to get you to order the product right now.

In a “buy now” situation, companies like Amazon hit you with the special button, discounts, sale prices, and scarcity tactics like “only three left.” They hit you and hit you hard. They don’t want you to leave the page without buying that deodorant. They know that if you leave, you’ll likely buy the product elsewhere. They give it everything they’ve got to lock you down immediately. In fact, some sites make it hard for you to leave the page with pop-ups asking whether “you’re sure” you want to leave.

Other websites are about sales taking place later. You’ll notice when you visit an automaker site, as just one of thousands of examples, that it isn’t hitting you with a “buy now” button. In fact, automakers rarely push the sale at all. They understand that you’re there to learn, to dream, and to try out the thought of moving forward.

Use a Different Strategy to Sell Legal Services

There are lots of products and services that are a “buy later” kind of thing. Most of us spend considerable time contemplating vacations—especially expensive trips—before we make a purchase. We learn, we dream, and we play with the idea. We aren’t ready to make the purchase just yet. We need to imagine the warm sun on the beach and arrange our schedules and our lives before we move forward.

That’s the same way most people think of most legal services decisions. They need to learn, dream, and play with the idea. Getting a divorce, for instance, typically isn’t an impulse decision. We need some time to contemplate our future before making a commitment.

Of course, some legal services are purchased quickly. They’re different. They are “buy now” kinds of decisions. I suppose a recently arrested guy sitting in jail is in “buy now” mode when it comes to hiring counsel. I imagine small legal purchases, like traffic ticket representation, may also fall into the quick decision category.

But most legal services purchases take time. They require a bunch of thinking, exploring, and contemplating before moving forward. These are usually expensive decisions with significant consequences. They aren’t decisions made lightly.

How to Focus on the Long Game

What’s the impact of the fact that we sell “buy later” stuff instead of “buy now” stuff? You need to build your website with a buy later flavor. The buy now stuff is distracting and disconcerting, and it doesn’t resonate with visitors who are still thinking, learning, and dreaming.

As a practical matter, it means:

• We don’t need flashing orange buttons encouraging the purchase.
• We don’t need a “sale price.”
• We don’t need our phone number in a big font and a special color.
• We don’t need “online specials” and other banners on our sites.
• “Find a location” buttons aren’t critical.
• Payment buttons don’t need a central position.
• Etc.

You can save the space you’re now using for “calls to action” and devote them to building a relationship with your site visitors. You can give them what they’re looking for, which is the content they need to learn, dream, think, and explore what it might mean for their lives to decide to work with you. They’re not ready to buy, so you don’t need to sell them. Let them go at their own pace and do what they need to do in order to be comfortable making a decision.

What you’re doing—when you back away from selling so hard—is building trust. That’s what you get when you replace the “buy now” button with the “here’s the help you need” pages of information. Trust is the key ingredient for your website.

Trust is where it starts. Some sites have already earned trust. That’s why you’re willing to click “Buy Now” when you visit Amazon and why you won’t click on the same button when visiting “Bob’s House of Crap.”

The primary goal of your site should be building trust instead of making sales. That should be the focus of every page and every link. You should be thinking about a longer sales cycle and giving your visitors the time and information they need to move forward. Don’t worry about the quick sale. Keep your focus on trust and, eventually, they’ll “call now.”