OMG HELP! Just booked my first offline client presentation and my mind is racing!!

[Dexx]

Hey gang,

I need some help here!

A friend of mine works at an eye doctor's office, and when she heard that I do internet marketing she asked "can you make websites?"

I said I do that and other things to generate money for businesses, and she said that her boss (the doctor) is moving their office to a bigger location and wants to have a website created since the business doesn't have one.

They showed me a flashy website of another surgeon in the city with flash images etc. (but no backlinks or SEO stuff on the site according to SEO Elite)

Here's my dilemna, the doctor wants to meet with me after work on Monday the 11th to discuss setting up a website...and I'm freakin out!

I only just recently purchased the offline marketing WSOs here on WF and still getting my feet with them...

One WSO in particular recommended having the client select a template which was chosen from TemplateMonster.com, then having it customized at RentACoder.com (this would of course be coming out of the couple thousand dollars the customer gives for marketing etc.)

My problems are the following (and I need help!):

A) I can only really take screenshots of the templates since you have to buy to download and show them off. (I could get free templates from HostGator but they are SO TINY that nothing barely fits!!)

B) Most of the templates are flash based (seems like the doctor likes flash-based sites) and I don't know if its possible to put an autoresponder into a site like that (a main selling feature of offline marketing)

C) All the WSOs have different strategies that SEEM like they would work and I *DONT* know which strategy to go with!

Should I give out a free site and charge a MONTHLY fee for marketing and promotion (while maintaining ownership of the domain name which I would register), or should I have them build their own site and charge a ONE TIME fee to setup with an optional monthly fee to maintain it?

I'm currently leaning towards the "free" site with monthly charging since the web designer that did the surgeon's site has contacted this same Doctor offering his services.

I'm thinking I could offer him hosting on my reseller account, with a free customized website from a chosen template (but HTML or FLASH!?!) and also autoresponder setup and maintenance...

D) I don't have a merchant account setup yet for my business, so I could only really accept cash unless I create a paypal link and have him pay through that...but then paypal might freeze my account if I all of a sudden get a lump sum payment of $5,000+???

E) I haven't had a chance to figure out how much I'd charge for certain services or packages (video creation, Web 2.0, bookmarking, backlinks, etc.)

gah, I don't know what to do!

What would you guys do in my situation right now? What would be your strategy / to-do list over the next SIX DAYS!?

PS - Delaying isn't an option since I work shift work I wouldn't have a chance to meet him in person again until the following week...and that other designer might just steal him away if that happens!

[Loren Woirhaye]

Dexx,

calm down. everything will be ok. When you get in there
with the doctor you don't have to give him a bid on the spot.

Find out what the doctor's criteria are. Find out what he
wants the website to do for his business, for his customers.

Then you show him how you can help him achieve that.

A website by itself isn't very useful - so think of yourself
as the person helping a busy professional find a good solution -
I wouldn't recommend shunting your client into buying
a template when you could offer so much more by helping
him understand what a truly effective website can do to
help him connect with his patients and community - which
to my mind has much greater value than it does as a
lead-generation tool.

If you don't know much about selling get some Brian Tracy
material - you can probably get his books and tapes at
your local library. This stuff will help you grasp how the
selling process works so you don't feel like you have to
dump your offer on the table. I have the book "Advanced
Selling Strategies" by Tracy and it is quite good and covers
many aspects of the selling process.

[Bev Clement]

Payment shouldn't be a problem. A cheque is one option, which you can deposit into your account.

The other option which is useful if you are going to charge a monthly payment is a direct debit or whatever they are called over there.

Go to your bank and ask for some of these forms, then you can fill in the blanks, and say this will cost you xxx for maintenance and just complete this and let the bank take care of it.

[JohnMcCabe]

Dexx, take a few deep breaths. It'll be okay.

As Loren mentioned, your first meeting should be for exploration so you know what you're bidding on. You know he's at least a little ambitious, as he's moving to larger quarters.

What does he want the website to accomplish? Leads? Phone calls?

Depending on his practice, he could have very good reasons to want Flash on some of the pages. My eye doctor uses it to provide an animation of some of the procedures he does.

Bottom line, he'll be looking at a website as a way to improve his practice. And there are a lot of ways to do it beyond lead generation.

Would it be useful to him if patients could request appointments by email? And if his staff could schedule a reminder email when the appointment was made?

Would it be useful to him if his patients could download pdf versions of his common forms so they could bring the already-filled forms to their appointments?

How about being able to walk patients and prospects through the most common procedures so they know what to expect? Along with testimonials from happy patients?

Online referral forms?

What else could a website do besides listbuilding that would make for a more efficient and profitable practice?

That's what you want out of your first meeting. Once you have that, figure out if and how you can provide it. Then you can start the bidding process with your eyes wide open.

And you'll probably blow that Flash designer out of the water...

[Ideefixe]

Dexx,

calm down.

hahahahaha omg I about died when I read that.....

Listen man contact me if you are serious about this, I'll help you out if you are in a bind. I expect the project to take 6 hours max.

[Shaun OReilly]

It seems to me that you're worrying too early about the exact
specification of the solution for the prospective client - before
you even know what the problem is.

It's kind of like the eye doctor thinking about what procedure
they're going to use on their patient - before they've even seen
them and given them a thorough examination!

No - they'd do a check-up first, and then prescribe the best way
to solve the condition. You need to do the same.

Diagnose first. Then prescribe.

So, focus your attention on discovering exactly what the
prospect's problems are and what they're looking to achieve
from their web marketing.

Only then will YOU be in a position to give advice on the best
way for the prospective client to achieve what they want.

So, focus on finding out what they want first and then make
your recommendations on how they can achieve it afterwards.

And remember that you have the expertise on Internet marketing
so the prospective client should be listening to and following
your recommendations.

They may think that a flash website is the way to go - and
maybe it is -depending upon their situation.

You wouldn't tell the eye doctor how to fix the eye condition
of their patients as they have way more expertise in that area.

Likewise don't let them sway your recommendations or
devalue your expertise. Demonstrate your expertise and
they'll value you more highly.

Regarding pricing, charge well for the set-up AND the
maintenance too because the eye doctor can afford
high fees and their patients are worth a lot too.

Dedicated to your success,

*Shaun O'Reilly

[Andyhenry]

Hi Dexx,

I with the others.

My first meeting is never about details. You can't even begin to get an idea of what's right without getting the guys mindset and expectations clear.

Just take a chill pill - this stuff's not hard.

There's a good chance that he's more interested in getting a new site done by a new person (or he'd probably just use the existing web guy), and when you hear what he's after and can tell him about other ways that you could help him - he'll probably be amazed at what's possible and love to hear your advice.

Don't get ahead of yourself - you don't really need to do much before you meet him, just think about what type of things you would like to end up doing for him, what the benefits to him are, and what you would like the perfect outcome to be.

You don't have to create some big plan before you meet him so just go there have fun and get to know the guy and what his expectations are. He may have unrealistic expectations of search results and you might need to educate him a little.

Just relax and take it as it comes. Once you know what he would like and how you can help him - the details will be obvious.

Andy

[Mark McClure]

Dexx,

This has worked for me in Japan.

- 80/20 rule - you do 20% of the talking, he does the rest.
If he asks why you're so quiet - say you're thinking about multiple solutions for his requirements ;-) (You are!)

- Have some kind of a 'visual aid' on the desk in front of you or on your lap.
I use a colourful mind map with some keywords branching off about websites, email marketing, USP, MWR. It doesn't have to be a map - could be just a list of points on a pad. Think of it as an enabler or meeting place. For 1-1 or small meetings, works great.

The map acts only as 'stimulation' for primarily visual thinkers - he might be that way. I usually don't teach or present from it - just use it as a talking point to hang ideas around relevant to prospects wants/needs. I will sometimes email this beforehand. Invites curiousity...

mark

[Intrepreneur]

My next client I'm going to charge a base price for website and set-up costs then for the future work $25 per hour. I'm going to be cold calling businesses today. :-)

[FlightGuy]

First things first, you need to realize what your worth is to this business owner. How much value can you bring him and to his business, and what is that worth?

Usually, you're looking at around $1,000-$3,000 for a website with maybe a few months of a marketing plan involved. If you're concerned about giving him something "for free" or "included" then include some email marketing for a couple of months and let him see how it works. Explain it to him, but only AFTER you hear everything he'll tell you about his business.

Find out what a client is worth to him, and find out if he has any way of keeping in contact with his clients. If not - you're set up perfectly. Get your pricing situated and start thinking about ways you can *really* help him out... sometimes this is done after meeting with him and getting the full scoop on what he wants. Don't worry about seeming too professional, but rather more personal and sincere. I pitch monthly plans anywhere from $100 - $250 depending on what they want. Explain to him the importance of SEO by showing him longtail search results for his area (i.e. eye doctors in whateveryourtownis) and why that's so important. Throw statistics his way, explain how many more people search for local business online now rather than using Yellow Pages.

The best way to help a business owner is to really want to help them. Think about that, then start writing stuff down.


Kindest,
John Dennis

[Intrepreneur]

Originally Posted by FlightGuy

I pitch monthly plans anywhere from $100 - $250

Monthly plans, that is on top of the initial set-up costs?

Cheers.

[Richard Tunnah]

Dexx,
I totally agree with others here. Go and ask him how he needs help and what he wants to achieve. Don't go with a pre determined sales plan. I try to act as a consultant to the business rather than a salesperson. Remember once you know the problem then you can offer a solution. If you need to take a step back and say I'll put together a costing then do so.
Good luck!

Rich

[FlightGuy]

Originally Posted by Intrepreneur

Monthly plans, that is on top of the initial set-up costs?

Cheers.

It sure is. Sometimes I give them a couple months free because I know how valuable my services are and I know that once they see this, they'll want to continue.

If they see a return on their investment, they are more than willing to continue paying for your services.

Kindest,
John Dennis

[kosmo101]

Take it slow. YOu are the expert here. I usually ask some basic questions... tell me about your business, what are you looking to get out of your website, who is your competiton, what sort of design/look do you like with examples.

Take it slow... I mean you have to decide to take him on as a client as much as he will take you on.

CONFIDENCE.

Get all the info what he wants, and say..ok I will review all the info and put together a proposal.

Merchant account? How about he writes you a check? You want monthly income too...so that you need like paypal or 2checkout.com.

Forget flashy sites..does he want a billboard or something that works to improve his business. Even a wordpress blog with some PLR or custom written articles works. Ad autoresponder with a free report or coupon discount and build the list. Get it going then do press release, and other marketing things.


Kevin