HELP NEEDED! What documents to take with me to an appointment

by WillST

Posted: 13 years ago 14 replies

OFFLINE MARKETING

Hi guys,

I'm ramping up my offline activities by setting appointments and going to visit local businesses. I used to do everything over phone and email but feel I can get more clients on board if I'm actually seeing some of them face to face.

Anyway, my question is - what documents should I take with me to an appointment?

My main 'service' that I will be selling would be on-page/off-page SEO to rank for their target keywords. For an appointment, I'm thinking of taking...

>> An SEO audit report of their site (whats wrong with it, how we could fix it, etc)
>> Online marketing strategy (further explanation of how organic SEO / local SEO / social media / email marketing / affiliate marketing / conversion rate optimisation, can benefit them, etc)
>> A proposal?...

Would that sound about right?

What would I actually put in the 'proposal' - would it be an outline of what we're actually going to do for them, expected results, timescales, and the monthly fee?

Or would you leave the monthly fee out of the proposal so you can discuss it verbally with them?

Or should I create another document to take with me? A 'contract' ready to sign maybe?

Would really appreciate any advice, I'll be setting appointments in roughly 2 weeks, so I'm just at the stage of making sure I have everything properly set up ready to rock and roll.

Thanks guys.

JSTEF

#appointment #documents #needed

iamchrisgreen 13 years ago

This may shock you...

Ready??

Take nothing but a pen and paper.

There is a thread here that may help you: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...-services.html
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- dandod16 13 years ago
  
  Listen to Chris, he has it spot on, JSTEF
  
  It is so important to build the relationship first, forget the sale, try to help the person you are visiting first. Ask LOTS of questions about them and their business. You mentioned a report on their site, great, bring this along with you, take them through it, tell them how much better their business will be with better rankings.
  
  The sale will come on it's own if you do these things
  
  Best of Luck
  Damien
  
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WillST 13 years ago

Hmm... OK? When would you pitch your service then? Surely at some point the client will need some form of document(s) when the deal is 'on' and heading for the close??
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- digichik 13 years ago
  
  Pen and paper because you may need to take notes about what they need. You may want to prepare a list of questions to ask them so that you can assess their needs, this will allow you to take what they tell you and use that information to show them how your service will benefit their business.
  
  You will also want to have with you the service agreement and/or invoice, should you close the deal right then and there. It does happen and you don't want to be unprepared.
  
  Take any other information you think you may need, just because you have it with you doesn't mean you have to present it to them. Better to be over prepared than under prepared. The more meetings you get under your belt, the better feel you will have for what information you will need to have with you.
  
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RKCastillo 13 years ago

Generally, you don't need to bring a whole lot to these meetings. I do take along a booklet that breaks down all the different packages that we offer so that I can walk them through it visually and verbally. I have also used an iPad to help with presentation. The bonus in that case is that you can take notes on it.
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WillST 13 years ago

Thanks very much so far guys!

What Im thinking of is the following process...

_____

Telemarketing to book appointment - on the same call I will briefly explain the benefits of our service, how we can provide these benefits, etc.

The appointment - Ask questions to see what there current online marketing is... Walk them through an SEO audit I previously did to point out errors/mistakes... Go over how else my online expertise can help them (conversion rate optimisation, etc)... Explain again the benefits I can offer... Close them.

_____

Would this be realistic? Or am I trying to achieve too much in the first appointment?

Or should I go through everything with them, give them a quote, then follow up in a few days time?

Finally(!), what information actually needs to go into the 'contract' (or service agreement)? Are there any sample templates anywhere I can use/emulate?

Thanks again guys! This is really helping me out!

JSTEF
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WillST 13 years ago

Excellent advice Damien,

I suppose I'm just overthinking everything to be honest....

Get an appointment, build the relationship, show a genuine interest in helping them, explain in a compelling way HOW we can help them, emphasize the benefits this will bring to their business, then chill out and let the sale close itself.
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MIB Mastermind 13 years ago

You don't tell your doctor what you need if your ill do you?

So what makes you thinks you should be prescribing SEO etc to clients when you don't actually no diddly squat about there business.

And you won't know untill you ask the right questions, then and only then should you come up with solutions.

Dexx has a great questionnaire he was selling a while back, not sure if it's sill for sale or not but you should check, think it's called the "coffee close". Or something.
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WillST 13 years ago

Great stuff, thanks MIB Mastermind.

As you can probably tell, Im a little 'green behind the ears' with all this, so I will definitely take a look at Dexx's coffee close questionnaire.
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- rbecklund 13 years ago
  
  When I set an appt. I have asked enough questions to be able to analyze some related keywords and where they rank and whether they want their site redone. Some basic info like that. Then when i go to the meeting I write up a page or two proposal with where they rank for search terms and services related to what we talked about, whether it's a site redo or just SEO and prices for the proposed services. I also provide our service / price list with all our services.
  
  We talk about their needs but we also talk about my suggested services. I don't hard sell on the phone or in person so usually I know they are interested and usually they sign up for my suggested services.
  
  Keeping things simple and straightforward is best. On the phone or in person I never really sell my services, but I always assume they will buy and move towards that. It might take two hours to get there though...
  
  I don't have contracts. For SEO it's month to month and I tell them I have to earn their business every month. That seems to help sell the service.
  
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WillST 13 years ago

Thank you rbecklund, I will definitely be putting all of this advice to use :-)
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angmoore 13 years ago

I'm with Chris. I take a notebook and that's it. Proposal should come after the meeting. You could take a comparison of them and their competitors if you really think it will help but you can always send that afterwards as well. I just find out what they need, let them ask questions and find out what their budget is. I build a campaign around that.
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Angie Moore
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KabirC 13 years ago

I take my questionnaire, iPad and sometimes my computer. I also have the contract in hand signed and ready for them to sign.
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dancorkill 13 years ago

Just ask like a million questions about their business, write them down, at the end tell them you will send them a customized proposal next Tuesday if they sound interested.

If they don't sound interested don't waste time writing a proposal.
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HELP NEEDED! What documents to take with me to an appointment

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