When SEO Clients Say "Explain to Me Exactly What You Are Going to Do"

13 years ago

I'm confused or maybe I'm missing something. I'm assuming he wants a break down so he can justify hiring someone but I may be completely off the mark here. Is it a bullet point list or break down how-to he's asking for?

V

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redlegrich 13 years ago

They are asking what you are going to do not how you do it. I give fairly general answers, it's easy to make even a minimum amount of work sound like a lot!
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MsMotivation1

13 years ago

He just wants to know what I'm going to do in his SEO campaign... that's all he asked for. So I was trying to figure out how far I should go with the details that I give him - keep it general, or just break it all down... was wondering how others do it.

Originally Posted by ITS-V

I'm confused or maybe I'm missing something. I'm assuming he wants a break down so he can justify hiring someone but I may be completely off the mark here. Is it a bullet point list or break down how-to he's asking for?

V

Thanks
2 replies

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tryinhere

13 years ago

Originally Posted by MsMotivation1

He just wants to know what I'm going to do in his SEO campaign... that's all he asked for. So I was trying to figure out how far I should go with the details that I give him - keep it general, or just break it all down... was wondering how others do it.

So what your saying to guy is something like,

"if you imagine two web sites were candidates in an election, and (you / I) were / was the campaign manager for one of those candidates you / I would go out and meet the people / listen to what they were saying and from that information gained promote your candidate / you / your site and in addition with that information run marketing and promotional information to gain your candidate / you more votes than the opposition candidate, and as such when people searched for a solution ./ and now having more votes you are more popular" / or the short version is we build votes for business on line through many varied sources / edit or extend the story to suit / thats a start

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Rus Sells

13 years ago

If you drew an analogy like that I would be like, huh? really! lol

Originally Posted by tryinhere

So what your saying to guy is something like,

"if you imagine two web sites were candidates in an election, and (you / I) were / was the campaign manager for one of those candidates you / I would go out and meet the people / listen to what they were saying and from that information gained promote your candidate / you / your site and in addition with that information run marketing and promotional information to gain your candidate / you more votes than the opposition candidate, and as such when people searched for a solution ./ and now having more votes you are more popular" / or the short version is we build votes for business on line through many varied sources / edit or extend the story to suit / thats a start

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tryinhere

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Rus Sells

If you drew an analogy like that I would be like, huh? really! lol

well it was before coffee, and maybe not the best on reflection, so maybe we don't vote for that answer

Hey Pete
Maybe we wouldn't ahve had the "hung" parliament situation in Oz if you were in chagre of the voting system...LOL
Great analogy though.

Regards
Bronwyn and Keith

lmoa politics maybe not my best option, ;-)

can i use my donald duck story instead ?

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Bronwyn and Keith

13 years ago

Hi Pete

Our vote is for the Donald Duck story - let's hope it doesn't "quack" too many people up...LOL

Sorry, couldn't help it

Regards

Bronwyn and Keith

Originally Posted by tryinhere

well it was before coffee, and maybe not the best on reflection, so maybe we don't vote for that answer

lmoa politics maybe not my best option, ;-)

can i use my donald duck story instead ?

Thanks
1 reply

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Atyro

13 years ago

If you went to a carpenter and asked for a table, you wouldn't ask him to explain exactly how he intended to make the table.

That would be a different service then, since you would be asking for a table, and a lesson in how to make a table.

If you asked the Carpenter "Exactly what are you going to do?"

He would reply

"I'm going to make you a table"

-------------------

When the client says:

."..exactly...do?"

Ask him EXACTLY what h expects from you. What is the end product he expects?

How you achieve the end product is supremely irrelevant, provided you are not doing anything shady, or likely to cause him any longer term problems.

Just delivering the goods is the main thing.

He obviously has some concern , so you need to get him to tell you what his concern is.

It might be that he thinks you will take 10 minutes to do this, or it might be something else. Maybe he has heard a 'horror story' of someone doing something Black Panama, or shady...

Maybe he thinks you are outsourcing the job, and that you are just a middleman.

Ultimately as long as he gets his 'goods', without any form of collateral damage, what is he worried about?

Spending $X to get result Y, or maybe he would prefer to spend

$X - 1000 to get result Y - 1000 ?

----

Or am I missing something.....what have you told him so far that you are going to deliver?

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Atyro 13 years ago

Without knowing more about the client, and your previous discussions, it is hard to comment, but Personally I would turn it around.

Presumably you have already agreed a target for certain keyword placings,
so I would just say, I am going to achieve all that we have agreed, and you will also get the benefit of some online publishing/free publicity from directories/ etc etc in addition to what we have already discussed.
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keliix06

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Atyro

If you went to a carpenter and asked for a table, you wouldn't ask him to explain exactly how he intended to make the table.

That would be a different service then, since you would be asking for a table, and a lesson in how to make a table.

If you asked the Carpenter "Exactly what are you going to do?"

He would reply

"I'm going to make you a table"

Exactly. A person who wants to know exactly what you are going to do is going to end up consuming all of your time and will never be worth the headache. Micro-managers are a big pain.

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Rus Sells

13 years ago

That is completely an assumption which is probably based on a previous experience.

Originally Posted by keliix06

Exactly. A person who wants to know exactly what you are going to do is going to end up consuming all of your time and will never be worth the headache. Micro-managers are a big pain.

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Bronwyn and Keith

13 years ago

Hey Pete

Maybe we wouldn't have had the "hung" parliament situation in Oz if you were in chagre of the voting system...LOL

Great analogy though.

Regards

Bronwyn and Keith

Originally Posted by tryinhere

So what your saying to guy is something like,

"if you imagine two web sites were candidates in an election, and (you / I) were / was the campaign manager for one of those candidates you / I would go out and meet the people / listen to what they were saying and from that information gained promote your candidate / you / your site and in addition with that information run marketing and promotional information to gain your candidate / you more votes than the opposition candidate, and as such when people searched for a solution ./ and now having more votes you are more popular" / or the short version is we build votes for business on line through many varied sources / edit or extend the story to suit / thats a start

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Bronwyn and Keith

13 years ago

Hi Ms

Just give him an overview as giving him the whole thing will allow him to shop around.

Also an overview is easy to do. Sitting down with a client and spelling it out exactly cost both of you "time and money".

Also, let him know that to do up a complete detailed analysis of the process will take a lot more time and you will need to charge him for it.

Regards

Bronwyn and Keith

Originally Posted by MsMotivation1

He just wants to know what I'm going to do in his SEO campaign... that's all he asked for. So I was trying to figure out how far I should go with the details that I give him - keep it general, or just break it all down... was wondering how others do it.

Thanks

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jsherloc

13 years ago

Just a basic scope of work/summary is all you should EVER give. I have been burned a few times in the past by people that just want all the details so they can shop around, try and fail to do things themselves, or have a nephew "who's a design superstar" look it over.

If you are educating them about the benefits, why do they need to know EXACTLY what you are doing? The only OTHER REASONING i COULD SEE WOULD BE they actually know a little bit of online marketing and want to make sure you do too and they've been burned in the past, but I highly doubt this is the case 99% of the time, and a scope of work and other educational materials should position you as an authority anyways...

- Jim

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MsMotivation1

13 years ago

Yes, this was my concern Jim...

I'm going to stick to a general overview and make it sound like so much work, he won't want any parts of it.

I was just wondering how other people handle this.

I'm a newbie at doing SEO because I used to outsource it. Now, I want to do it myself and I see so many different variations of people's SEO techniques that it gets a little confusing.

And soooo many different variations on what people charge... so it's tough trying to figure that out too.

Thanks

Originally Posted by jsherloc

Just a basic scope of work/summary is all you should EVER give. I have been burned a few times in the past by people that just want all the details so they can shop around, try and fail to do things themselves, or have a nephew "who's a design superstar" look it over.

If you are educating them about the benefits, why do they need to know EXACTLY what you are doing? The only OTHER REASONING i COULD SEE WOULD BE they actually know a little bit of online marketing and want to make sure you do too and they've been burned in the past, but I highly doubt this is the case 99% of the time, and a scope of work and other educational materials should position you as an authority anyways...

- Jim

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willz605

13 years ago

make it measurable/tangible.....

opt-ins, coupons used, business generated, leads, website traffic before/after
redemption rate....its got to be better than what they had before...

One really important thing I overlooked early on with my niche business was analytics and tracking....I left money on the table and learned the hard way....now I test and track everything....

Simply put....you want to know what works and what doesn't.

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Rus Sells

13 years ago

One of the best ways is to deliver what they are asking for, in this case exactly what I am going to do is just tell him.

However, as I tell them I also include "ALL" the pitfalls if its not done exactly the right way.

This will do two things to their minds at one point.

They will either choose you right then and there or, try and shop around but the one thing that they will be listening for form the other people they talk to is all the pitfalls you mentioned.

So by mentioning all the pitfalls you have just discredited your competition as the chances are VERY slim they are going to bother to bring them up. So the prospect is going to remember you and view you as the authority on the matter and call you back.

I've done this so many times and it works perfectly!

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homemodifications

13 years ago

Just give him an overview as giving him the whole thing will allow him to shop around.
Also an overview is easy to do. Sitting down with a client and spelling it out exactly cost both of you time and money.

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Rus Sells

13 years ago

I can see that some people think that revealing to much about "HOW" is a form of possibly screwing yourself.

Most of the responses that say be vague or just give them an over view are TOTALLY missing that point!

There are really only three possible motives behind why a prospect would be asking this question.

1. They just want to have a deeper understanding. Hell they might know a few things and could be testing you, or they want to know that choosing you is an informed and intelligent decision.

2. They indent on trying to do it themselves.

3. They are going to use the information you provided and use it to get other bids.

So as I mentioned earlier, the response is to give them "EVERYTHING" including the pitfalls.

Example, One of the very integral things we are going to begin doing is split testing to measure conversion ratios on your bla bla. One way we do this is through PPC which does cost but its budgeted into the pricing. He use PPC because it gives us instant results that are measurable on what works and what doesn't. The keyword research phase must be completed before we can begin testing and its quite envolved. bla bla bla bla!!! The thing is its easy to make mistakes like misinterpreting the data so your results are askew and your then going in the wrong direction.

Ok you get the point right?

This addresses #1 100%.

This addresses #2 and will discourage them into trying it themselves. If they do try you don't want them as a client in the first place.

This addresses #3 because when they interview other companies should you NOT close the sale, the other companies are going to look like blithering idiots as your prospect will remember all the stuff you told them. When the company fails to mention even one of the things you mentioned after the prospect asks them the same question who is instantly going to look like the expert?

So for the love of God guys don't be worried that your going to screw yourself by offering to much information! This is your mindset and your just projecting that onto your prospect because of your own insecurities.

Look, I am a closer. I have a very high close ratio but I do not close every single deal!

I don't call people back because I don't have too, but the beauty of the way I would approach the situation mentioned in this thread is going to make that person call me back.

Guess what happens when that call comes in? I'm the boss because without actually saying it, the phone call is the admission by the prospect that I am viewed as the authority so its a done deal.