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Company Websites in a Down Economy: What can T&T Businesses Do?
If your Trini website was an employee, you would have already told him to buss it by now. If your employee takes ten seconds to greet a customer hello, has no idea what you sell, can’t answer a simple question about pricing, and never once asks the customer to buy anything, you would have chased him out the door with a broom. Yet that’s exactly the “employee” most T&T businesses have in the form of their website today. In a down economy such as ours, getting downer by the minute, T&T business owners have to stop… and start… evaluating this ’employee’.
The Mindset Gap
Ask any business owner in Trinidad and Tobago if their website matters, and every man Jack will say yes, It’s one of those things everyone vigorously nods their heads yes to… yeah bai! It’s right up there with “customer service is important” and “quality matters”, like the hollow mission and vision statements we proudly post in our About pages. There should be a warning that any similarity between actual actions and these statements are purely coincidental… but we digress…
There is a problem with that casual nod: nobody, especially a Trini, would extend the same casual attitude to an actual salesperson— he would have done buss two cuss at him. If you were hiring such a salesperson to greet every customer, answer their questions, and close the sale, you’d interview them carefully. You’d check how they present themselves. You’d want to know they actually understand what you sell and can explain it clearly. You’d expect them to follow up, not just smile and wave when the customer says ‘ah go check back”.
Your website is doing that exact job, every single day, for every person who visits you online. Most Trini business owners today are not paying enough attention how well that job is being executed.
Trinis Are Browsing and You Treating Them Bad
This was a future trend more than a decade ago that is a reality today. Customers are on phones and other devices across Trinidad and Tobago searching for you, or visiting your site directly. They are comparing prices before committing to a purchase. Someone searching “hardware store arima/arouca/point fortin/princes town”, or searching a business by name, or for a particular item: “baby clothes for boys”, “blood pressure tester”, “cream for the rash on mih bam-bam…”, before they leave their house. Someone always googling a bookstore, a clothes store, a contractor… for heaven’s sake, Trinis googling, and more recently, AI-Searching, first… period!
In a down economy like ours, this behavior intensifies. Money gone, Cepep gone, WASA rates up, businesses closing left and right, and the light at the end of the tunnel is dark… somebody tief the light during the SOE. People have less to spend, so they spend more time deciding. They compare more options before choosing. They look you up before they commit, and if your competitor’s website answers the question faster and more clearly than yours does, that’s often where the sale goes, quietly, and you non the wiser, scratching your head: “wey dem peeple dem?”.
But many T&T business owners have their website like a brochure sitting in a drawer waiting to be handed out, i.e. passive and low-key. It should be on the floor actively selling, right now, whether you’re paying attention to it or not.
What a Real Salesperson Does That Most Websites Don't
A good salesperson does a few things instinctively:
They show up when the customer is looking for them. A salesperson who’s never in the room can’t close anything. If your website doesn’t show up in local searches, then you’ve got a true Trini salesperson who’s always ‘in de back’.
They introduce the business clearly, fast. Within the first few seconds. A customer should know who you are and what you do. Salesperson is looking friendly, wearing a smile, wearing a vest or uniform in company colors with logo etc., clearly identifiable. Similar to you homepage where even in a quick scan a customer can size you up and be instilled with confidence.
They answer the obvious questions immediately. Prices, specifications, availability, hours, locations. How to order, or avail themselves of your services. Trinis like when their assumptions are confirmed, no matter how obvious. A good salesperson doesn’t make a customer dig for basic information, and neither should your website.
They make the next step obvious. A real salesperson doesn’t let a conversation trail off. They ask for the sale, or at least point to what happens next. Call now, WhatsApp us, fill out the form, Get a Quote, Add to cart. Get familiar with the term CTA- ‘Call to Action’. If your website leaves visitors wondering what to do next, that’s a sale walking away.
What a Bad Website 'Salesperson' Looks Like
If your website were a person, here’s how some of its bad habits would translate:
- Slow to load = showing up late to work (or wuk like a typical Trini) every time
- Outdated pricing or info = giving customers wrong answers with total confidence, you know, wrong and strong
- No clear call to action = never once asking for the sale… well buy if yuh want
- Not mobile-friendly = can’t even take the call when the customer reaches out… busy doing something else
- No WhatsApp or click-to-call = making the customer work to reach you, in an economy where they’ll just move on to whoever’s easier
None of these are small, cosmetic issues that sometimes visitors can forgive Each one is a moment where a real customer, who was already comparing options, decided somewhere else was easier to deal with.
Review Your Website's Performance
Before throwing your already limited USD on Facebook, IG ads and boosts, do yourself a favor and do a performance review on the employee you already have. A real performance review isn’t how it feel in your belly; it’s specific, measurable, and leads to action. Here’s how to run one on your website, broken down by what a salesperson actually needs to do their job.
Many of these are the job of your web designer, but informed and online-savvy business owners do exist. Your web designer (or agency) should be proactive and always reviewing your site. This doesn’t always happen as most websites in T&T are left alone after launch without proactive maintenance; however, the fault can go both ways.
Forward Multimedia provides ongoing maintenance via annual maintenance plans after launch that cover continuous refinement. However, some clients prefer only technical updates that keep the site running only because of the cost factor, which the consequences are felt like now in our down economy. It’s of course not optimal, as online presence only can’t cut it.
1. First Impression (The First 5 Seconds)
A salesperson who can’t explain what they sell in the first few seconds loses the customer before the conversation starts. Your homepage has the same window.
Check:
- Load your homepage on your phone using regular mobile data, not wifi. Time it. Anything past 3 seconds and you’start losing people.
- Without scrolling, can a stranger tell what your business does and who it’s for?
- Is there a clear headline, not just a logo and a pretty photo (and usually stock)?
Do this week:
- Run your homepage through Google PageSpeed Insights (free) and note the mobile score. Anything under 50 needs attention.
- Rewrite your headline if it doesn’t say plainly what you do (e.g. “Custom Signs for T&T Businesses” beats “Welcome to T&T Sign Company”).
- Compress large images. Oversized photos are the single most common cause of a slow homepage. Trini business owners don’t seem to get this, uploading megabyte sized images to their site, even our clients are guilty of this.
2. Answering the Obvious Questions
A salesperson who can’t answer basic questions loses trust fast because it looks like he ent know nutten. Customers shouldn’t have to play hide and seek for basic information.
Check:
- Can a visitor find your prices (or at least a starting range) without emailing you first?
- Are your hours, location, and contact number visible without scrolling to the footer?
- Is your service or product list current, not missing anything you now offer or still listing things you’ve discontinued or out of stock?
Do this week:
- Add a visible “How Much Does It Cost” or pricing guide page, even if it’s ranges rather than exact figures.
- Put your phone number and WhatsApp link in the header, as well as the bottom.
- Go through every service/product page and confirm the info is accurate as of today, not from whenever the site was built.
3. Making the Next Step Obvious
A salesperson who never asks for the sale doesn’t close deals, no matter how good the pitch was. Every page needs a next step.
Check:
- Does every page have a clear call to action, call now, WhatsApp us, book a visit, add to cart?
- Is that action one tap away on mobile, not requiring a scroll or a hunt?
- Are your contact methods the ones customers actually use? In T&T, that usually means WhatsApp and phone, not just a contact form nobody fills out.
Do this week:
- Add a sticky WhatsApp or call button that stays visible as visitors scroll on mobile.
- Replace generic buttons like “Learn More” with specific and actionable ones like “Get a Quote” or “Order Now.”
- If you’re relying on a contact form, add a direct WhatsApp link too. Sometimes forms get ignored, WhatsApp might be more attractive.
4. Showing Up When Customers Are Looking
A salesperson who’s never in the room can’t sell anything. If you’re not appearing when people search, you’re invisible to the exact customers actively looking for businesses like yours. Some of our clients have reported doing their own research on Google and AI search, which is good. You might be able to give a different perspective to your web designer or agency.
Check:
- Search your own business name plus your service or area (e.g. “electrician San Fernando”) in an incognito browser. Do you appear on the first page?
- Is your Google Business Profile claimed, complete, and showing accurate hours, photos, and reviews? Google Profiles are making a resurgence as a key element for AI search. Whether it is or not, it’s always best to cover all bases, as this certainly won’t hurt.
- Do you have recent reviews, or none at all? Trinis will trust real reviews.
Do this week:
- Claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile if you haven’t already, it’s free and often outranks the website itself in local searches.
- Ask your last five satisfied customers directly for a Google review. Most won’t do it unprompted, but will if asked. Most Trini businesses have good customers who will indulge them the favor.
- Add your service area and specific services as actual text on your website, not just in your head. Write as you would explain to a customer in person. Google can’t read what isn’t written down.
5. Following Up (Not Just Waiting)
A salesperson who makes contact once and never follows up leaves money on the table. Most T&T business websites have zero mechanism for following up with someone who didn’t buy immediately.
Check:
- If someone visits your site but doesn’t contact you, is there any way to reach them again? Have you asked your web designer?
- Do you collect emails, phone numbers, or WhatsApp contacts from website visitors at all? Do you even collect them in your physical store? Many T&T businesses still don’t.
- Is there a reason for a browsing customer to give you their contact info (a discount, a catalogue, a callback request)? A ‘sign up for our newsletter’ is not a compelling reason for a Trini to give up their email!
Do this week:
- Add a simple “Request a Callback” option that captures a name and number, lower friction than a full contact form.
- If you already collect contacts, actually follow up within 24 hours. A fast follow-up often beats a cheaper competitor.
- Consider a small incentive (first-order discount, free consultation) in exchange for a visitor’s WhatsApp number or email. Yes this is hard, giving away something, but try it even on a limited basis.
Tracking the Results
A performance review is only useful if you check back on it. Pick two or three numbers to watch over the coming weeks:
- Mobile PageSpeed score or Pingdom — should trend upward as you fix load times
- WhatsApp or call clicks from the website — most website platforms and Google Analytics can track this
- Google Business Profile views and calls — visible directly in your profile dashboard, free
- Google search ranking for your name plus your service — check monthly using an incognito search
You don’t need expensive tools to start. You need to actually look at what your website is doing, the same way you’d check in on any employee’s performance, and fix what isn’t working.
If the answer to any of the checks above is no or “not sure,” you don’t have time to postpone as a future project. Our own T&T government is already warning us that 2027 is going to be another terrible year. Even if it isn’t (probability is low but never zero), you’ll have an advantage if you act now… or you can pay no never mind and relax in your hammeck…
Conclusion
In a good economy, a mediocre website gets forgiven, and heaven knows T&T has plenty. Customers have money to spend and patience to burn, so a slow, unclear, outdated site might still get the sale eventually. In a down economy like ours today (and tomorrow and next year unfortunately) that patience disappears. Every weak link in your sales process, online included, costs you a customer who was already hesitating and looking for a reason to choose someone else.
Your website is either working like your best salesperson right now, open around the clock, answering questions, closing sales while you sleep, or it’s costing you business every day you don’t look at it. In this economy, T&T businesses can’t afford to have an employee who isn’t performing.
