This week we bring to you the final chapter in our User Experience for Corporate Websites series. Be sure you're caught up on Part I (Content Structure and Conversions), Part II (Navigation Matters), and Part III (Multiple Media and ROI).

One of the most important--and valuable--aspects of a corporate website is the abiliity to extend and fortify your sales force. When your website is created (and reviewed) with the perspective that it should be in sync with your sales team, the result is a more effective website on the whole. This plays a tremendous role in user experience; by focusing on a consistent user experience between the boardroom and your online presence, you allow your website to take up some of the work for you--all while strengthening your corporate identity and message.

How you approach this aspect of your user experience is largely dependant on your business and sales processes. In general, the following guidelines will help you carry over those processes to your website, even if certain elements aren't applicable (for instance, you might not make use of sales sheets). At any rate, here are four pillars of creating a corporate website that reinforces your sales team.

1. Make sales materials available online

If you hand out sales materials during a meeting, these sales materials should also be made available online. This can include easy-to-download PDF versions of any sales sheets, brochures, flyers or process sheets. Place these in an obvious section, such as a "Resources" section, that will allow your leads and collegues to easily find and email out your sales materials. If necessary, you can restrict access to these by placing a password requirement in front of them.

Oftentimes, after a long day of meetings, papers get lost. Desks are buried in an avalanche of well-meaning sales materials. Make yours the easiest to find.

2. Give supporting information online

When you put away a few hours in the boardroom, what subjects frequently come up? Are there specific aspects of your sales process, products or services that often merit detailed explanation? While you may do an excellent job of explaining the issue during the meeting, memories may fade--and not all interested stakeholders might have been present in that meeting. By placing relevant information in a promeninent place on your website, you allow your sales team to direct repetitive and additional questions to a full and comprehensive answer online. This also allows for stakeholders to share information among each other easier and with the confidence that there's no miscommunication (that can occur in the verbal frenzy of some meetings).

This information can take the role of an FAQ section, or--like ours--a blog. Developing good, comprehensive content that supports your meetings will help make those meetings go further.

3. Focus on consistent tone

Tone is more than a concern for your website's copy: it involves your imagery, your colour palette, your entire design. And the copy. A consistent tone will carry over the impression you made in the boardroom--that message of who your company is and what its purpose is.

Have you ever corresponded with a friendly, respectful associate via email, only to find their response unexpectedly aggressive? Although it was likely unintentional--a by-product of an unfamiliarity with written tone--it does disturb your impression of that associate, doesn't it? Be consistent is all your elements. If you aim for a very strict corporate appearance, your website should follow suit. Similarly, if your sales staff wear jeans to their meetings, you should ensure that your leads have a similar, casual experience on your website. This will help fortify your identity and minimize confusion and doubt.

4. Reproduce a similar conversion path

If your clients are able to make a purchase online, try to replicate the same conversion path that they would experience had they walked into one of your brick-and-mortar stores. If this simply isn't a possibility, address it in an FAQ section and give a clear explanation. Rememeber, one of the primary keys to a good user experience is to make sure that the user's expectations are met.

This can involve a landing page with a gallery of the most popular services or products, just as if the user had walked onto the showroom. Follow this with a similar content structure that will help bring the user to a purchase, as if they had spoken with a sales rep. Lastly, make sure that they have the ability to easily contact one of your actual sales reps.

This closes our series on User Experience for Corporate Websites. Let us know in the comments below how your experience with incorporating sales elements into your website has been. Or, if you have any questions, please feel free to drop us a line!