Increasing sales with a forum?

How can a "forum" help me sell more? -Houston

Do you mean like a customer support forum? -Newbie

I've seen a ton of forums where you can ask "Pre-Sales" and "Support" questions.

Also, I've noticed that a lot of clients come back and post "Testimonials."

These types of communication surely would help to increase sales. No? -Calvin

Based on personal experience, in particular when I am buying software, I always look for a support forum that is open to view ahead of time.

I bought a piece of software once and found out later (on a competing product's forum) that it was a piece of s^*&. No support forum was available for me to peruse, so I had no idea how many bugs are around, how quickly the seller responds to requests, etc.

Now I won't buy software unless I can see the support forum first! -Terri Zwierzynski

Those are great uses of forum software. As Terri points out, with some products, customers expect to see a support forum. IMO, for many products/services a forum is a smart choice. -VB-Hack

Thanks for the input everyone. :) -Houston

Support Forums are effective if managed well. You want to be transparent to your online visitors and achieve the goal of "gaining trust".

Important feature of forums is interactivity, bi directional communication. -cs_obd

I just found out today that DELL has a community support forum. Movers and Shakers! ;) -SEO-LAD

how can a forum help sales? unless you are Selling Products like for a big Company that needs support forums. But for a small Bussnies can it help? -Sanddollar

I think it depends on your product. Half my customers don't even use email :rolleyes: -RainMaker

The one thing about forums is that the only validation of the information comes from the administrators.


For example: I could type in the forum....This is the worst product I have seen, ever.

But, if edited by the administrator in a forum format that does not show editing, it could be changed to this:

This is the Best product I have ever seen, ever.

One word change. Then the original author could be banned from the forum to rebut the edit. You could also have ghost users from the host company tooting it's own horn.

Forums, though a great tool, can be dangerous as well.


Ed Callais -Ed Callais

One more quick word on forums. Forums, if used properly, can be very effective for brand recognition.

If you build the reputation of your forum, it will build your reputation as a "goto" site.

Also, the mere mention of your company name will eventually show up in searches, hence the reason I use my name in forums on occasion. -Ed Callais

I think you'd be able to tell if the forums are doctored. For instance if there were no complaints or bad things, that would make it obvious that the admin is editing. Most (if not all) product support forums that I've seen, show the good, bad, and ugly. You get to see how they respond to negative feedback -- and that in itself is an indication of quality.

My guess is that rather than sanitize their forums, those with poor products wouldn't have forums at all. -Terri Zwierzynski