Ever stop to notice how simple it’s become to do so many tech things that were once so complex? Like pairing two devices, for example… remember when you had to download drivers and perform all kinds of digital gymnastics just to hook a printer to a PC? Now, it’s pretty much plug and play with every device imaginable. No muss, no fuss. In today’s world, with a thumb press or two, you can instantly hook your phone up to a Bluetooth speaker and play virtually every song ever made. That would have been unimaginable even five years ago.
Perhaps, the greatest advances have been made in the world of software, particularly the dreaded “user interface,” which is the environment in which you navigate software programs and the internet.
Let’s take a look at two areas where these developments have been key: websites and customer relationship management systems (CRMs).
Website Navigation
Website navigation has become much simpler and more intuitive over the years — not just on your computer, but especially on your phone. Website development technology has advanced to the point that a site automatically optimizes itself to whatever device or browser you are using. However, you’re accessing a website, it’s hopefully going to be as easy as possible to navigate it on that device.
Website design has become cleaner too, with an emphasis on less text, more video and visuals, and especially, more easily understandable navigation options.
Think of your users: What are they expecting to, or looking to, find when they get to your site? How easy is it to for them to find that information? What are the most important messages you’d like to deliver to the user to when he or she visits your site? Those three questions should guide your website development.
Site navigation is priority number one after you get those other two answers nailed down. If you have great content, you need to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to find it on your site.
If your site is an old-school, text-heavy one that’s been added to over the years, there’s also a chance that your site navigation tools for users are a total mess. There should never be menus inside of menus inside of menus, and the menu items should be as clean as possible.
Think of website navigation like a pyramid. At the pointy top — your home page — should be the most vital information about your organization. Below that, on the pyramid, is your navigation menu, which should highlight the site’s three to six most important pages (or sections, if it’s a one-page site). From those pages, users should be able to drill down as far as they want into deeper and deeper information — all the way to the bottom of the pyramid.
Your home page and your menu should NOT be intimidating or confusing. Think of them as a concierge who points you in the right direction when you enter the store. The concierge will tell you where to go for deeper information about what you looking for.
People have less patience than ever in the digital world. If they don’t feel comfortable on a site immediately, they will move on and likely never return. Use better navigation to get them to dive in deep!
CRM Navigation
First thing’s first: Your organization has one or more constituencies — customers, donors, partners, volunteers. To communicate with and track these people, you should be using a CRM. If you aren’t, your tracking and courting of these constituents is way more complicated than it should be. Every piece of information about each of these people shouldn’t be spread across multiple software platforms. It should all be in one program, all the data should be related, and all of it should be in one easily accessible screen.
How much do your employees like “navigating” multiple software programs, and their own unique user interfaces, just to try to put a full picture of an individual customer together? We’d be willing to bet, not very much.
A CRM removes all of that hassle. One user interface — and the user interfaces on CRMs like Salesforce and Zoho are quite intuitive — means less room for error moving data around, no need to toggle among multiple programs, and the ability to perform deeper analysis on the data since it’s all contained in one platform. The cool thing about these platforms is that their navigation can be customized to fit your users’ exact needs. Different people in your company, in fact, could have different interfaces depending on their roles. They’re all ultimately using the same system.
“Ease of use” — it might be a cliche, but it holds true now more than ever. If your website or your CRM — or what passes for a CRM — are too confusing to use effectively, you’re losing potential customers, frustrating employees, or both.
We’ve helped hundreds of organizations — especially small businesses and nonprofits — navigate their ways out of the navigation mess. Let us help yours! Contact us today and let’s get started!