Honest or Too Honest?

[Wildcat]

Thank you to everyone for your excellent advice.

John & Chris: I will definitely look again at my content to ensure I am highlighting the benefits of being a solo business.

Terry: Thank you for your very practical advice regarding my home page content and suggestion to sack the "third person". I will definitely make the changes you suggest in the short term and I have corrected the link (thanks).

Silvergirl: I appreciate your comments regarding, the use contractors or adding team members and your use of the "royal we". I haven't read Gerber's E-myth revisited but I will add it to the top of my reading list, thanks.

[SteveDavidson]

It really does depend on the business and the customer base.

"I" is accurate in that you'll be doing the work yourself, and it's good for customers who prefer to speak to someone high up the chain instead of a faceless bureacracy.

"We" can be accurate if you may take on staff in future, or if you have subcontractors or cross-referrals, or make regular use of additional businesses such as virtual assistants, couriers, out-of-hours call centres etc. In other words, if there's a chance that a customer may be speaking to someone other than you for any reason associated with your business. In addition, if you're part of a franchise, larger brand name, or local group, "we" can be more accurate to describe the fact that you are backed up by others even if you're the solo face of your particular area.

[onsiteTECHS]

I just found this post.

I'm not sure whether "I" or "We" is a better option, but in regards to your lack of calls since making the change - is it possible that when you updated your content you were dropped from Google or you changed a link which a form of advertising (i.e adwords etc) relies on?

I'd suggest you check your analytics or page stats to see whether there has been a sharp drop in visitors to your website since making the change - if people aren't landing on your page, then the use of "I" instead of "we" can't be the cause of your sudden drop of customers. If you are getting the same amount of visitors to your site, but they're not calling, then I guess it's possible they don't like to deal with a solo operator (I doubt it would be that dramatic a change though).

Interesting problem! I'd love to know the answer if you ever find out.

I hope business picks up, even if it means you have to employ all those "We's" again!

Cheers,
John