Is your FAQ a sales pitch or a customer service?

Answer the client’s questions, not yours.

One of the best things I did to lead myself this year was to stop doing it alone. I joined a small group sales coaching team led by Bill Caskey a couple months ago. Over the summer we’re talking through a list of specific things we can do to improve ourselves and our business.

I recently picked one to work on for the next session. Updating the FAQ on our website seemed like an easy thing to do. The trick is to look at this helpful tool from the user’s point of view… not mine. And in the end, do more than answer process questions or turn each answer into a sales pitch.

Easy, right? Nuts. This isn’t a clean up job. It’s an extreme makeover.

When we wrote this a few years ago, we fell into the “curse of knowledge” and “all answers lead to a sale.” So now we’re starting our new FAQs from scratch.

This time I started with real problems customers are facing, written from their view, and in their language.

It’s amazing how much easier it to write the question when it addresses a real problem. Now the other trick is to write the answer in a helpful, objective way that fills a need without feeling like a sales pitch.

In this exercise, I’m learning that FAQs can do different things. Maybe you already know this and I’m just late to the party. I now realize that my library of FAQs should be be formatted and organized by areas of need — for the user, not me.

Yes, some FAQs can and should be focused on how to do something in a process. Others should sit as a top-of-funnel resource on the website for those exploring who we are. While a separate set should support those in the decision process and then for on-boarding.

The new FAQs for the website will go live in August but for now, I’m enjoying a fresh look at solving real problems from a client’s view.

Life is a team sport. Help your team answer questions clients are asking.

What’s your most helpful FAQ?