Scored a meeting with a big client!!! NOW WHAT :o

29 replies
Hey all,

So I managed to get a meeting with a big client, and we're meeting in 2 weeks! I'm so excited. This guy has spent so much money for his website (thousands) and it's almost all flash... bad news for him, but good news for me! Plus he wants more clients, so SEO and SMM is definitely on the menu here.

OK, so I want the meeting to be mostly educational, and won't try to close him on the spot, while still showing him what to expect in terms of costs. Other than a presentation, I want to come up with 3 "packages" with pricing to be more or less what the final price will be so he has an idea.

Here's the thing: I'm very good with internet stuff, SEO, all that jazz... but I don't have B2B experience. I want to arm myself with sure-fire techniques that will seal the deal, as well as Do's and Dont's (can't hurt).

ALSO, if there are relevant WSOs, books, trainings, I will gladly take a look at them, so try me! lol :p

If you have any questions or need more info, just drop me a line!

You guys' help will be instrumental, and I promise to post news about everything when the deal is done!!
#big #client #local business #meeting #scored #seo
  • Profile picture of the author Rocket Media
    Here's what I'd do... Educate the client a little on why flash is bad for SEO and explain why he needs a new website. Educate him on collecting a list so he can utilize repeat business. But first try to feel and see what he's most interested in... close that sale first... then offer more services.

    Hopefully he will be accepting on the idea of having his site redesigned. Educate him a little on how easy it will be for him to edit and add content to his own site compared to his current design. This will be an attractive point if he wants to add his own stuff like testimonials/pictures/etc. Close him on a web site design and then once he's happy with that and you're his new "guy for that"... write him a big ass proposal for SEO, reputation management, and client acquisition.

    Do with my advice what you will.
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  • Profile picture of the author dancorkill
    Sent PM, don't educate in general terms, e.g. flash is bad etc. if people wanted education they would sign up for a course or just Google stuff. But do educate on how it can help him just don't get technical (they won't understand it and are not interested).

    Some good metaphors for explaining key concepts like links and why you want to build them ongoing etc always help.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteSmarty
    Education? He already knows how bad flash is or he wouldn't be meeting with you. You're waiting 2 weeks for a meeting. Sounds like your prospective client is busy. Don't waste his time.

    Lay your cards on the table and tell him exactly:

    - how he will benefit from working with you
    - what you can do for him
    - how you will support him

    Ask him what he has in mind and let him do the talking. Then close.

    He's expecting to hire you if you show him what you can do for him. Make an arrangement as fast as you can and get the hell out of there, as fast as you can.

    Have a number in mind when asks about price, if he asks. If he doesn't ask about price, discuss it later over the phone at detail time.

    Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author midasman09
      Banned
      Understand the "Basics"....the guy you're meeting is NOT a "Dummy"! He KNOWS the money he's spent has returned him "NADA"....so....he's Looking to "someone" who CAN....provide a ROI for him.

      You can "question" him till the cows come home and that ain't gonna get you the order!

      What he WANTS is....."EVIDENCE" of what "YOU" can do for him and "WHY" he should consider little ol' YOU to do some work for him!

      I would make a "MockUp" for him to take a look at....and....when you are showing him your Mock_Up....explain to him why what YOU are showing him is better than what he has now!

      It's a "simple" matter of....WHY....WHAT REASON....should he give YOU his business....instead of someone else! And....these "Big Boys" can see thru "phonies" like a transparent shower curtain!

      So....you got some "talent"....with regards to what HE'S interested in? Then....FLAUNT IT! Show him "What You Got"....then tell him WHY he should Go With YOU!

      Simple!

      Don Alm...."overwhelmed" when The Walgreen Co and Wrigley Chewing Gum (and Mercedes Benz of America, W. Clement Stone, and MANY other BIG Cos)....gave....little ol' ME their orders instead of anyone else!
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  • Profile picture of the author Nathan Alexander
    Ask questions (clarifying) and LISTEN.

    Ask more questions about what he wants from his site, etc...

    Repeat back and tie-in how your work will provide the solutions he is looking for. Don't make the mistake of "showing" how much you know. Make your solutions all about him.

    Listen, listen, listen.

    Then sell him what he already wants.
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    • Profile picture of the author greatzen
      Ok, I work for a very big corporation and I can honestly tell you that the bottom line for all of the work you are going to propose to him is how it translates into getting more LEADS. So make sure there is that definate cost/benefit aspect to it. For instance, he probably doesn't care about flash not being good but once you explain to him that having a site it flash means that you are potentially losing all engagement from iPhone/iPad users who may be potential leads his ears may perk up.
      Also, do some stats on his keywords, find out in google how many searches are made for his keywords then find out how many are searching using a mobile device. See if his site is mobile friendly. If it isn't then show him the stats for mobile searches and explain to him that is potentially how many new leads he is NOT engaging each month. Those numbers start to speak a lot to someone who is looking at the bottom line. Don't forget to also look up a main competitor who has a non flash site and a mobile site and show it to him and voilà this will really bug him.
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  • Profile picture of the author gcjmarkets
    Look at how you got the meeting with the prospect in the first place. What is he interested in? What are his goals for his online business? Forget about traditional "Pushy" Sales Strategies! They don't work..

    The most important thing you need to find out is what your prospect wants!!! Forget about what you think they need, that will come later. Once you discover what they want you can show them how your service can benefit his business. In sales we call this the prospects X-Factor.

    For example if a prospect says to me "I want to be on page one of google" (not an X-factor) I would ask them what problem being on page one of google would solve for their business? Their response may be "So more people will visit my website"! So now I know that he/she wants more traffic, but still haven't gotten them to give me their X-Factor. So my next question is "Can you tell me right now how many visits you get each month, and of those visits how many turn into customers"? Their response is more often than not "I have no idea"! If that is their response I ask them if it would benefit their business to know that information? Now I am getting down to the X-Factor which in this case is really about needing more business, and their current website was not created by a professional marketer! Then I would show them what a Profit center website is and how it will benefit their business. And how a page one ranking will come as a side effect of having an online marketing expert handle their online business (aka website)

    Hope this helps good luck with your meeting.
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  • Profile picture of the author Deidra Renee
    Originally Posted by JeffNormand View Post

    Hey all,

    So I managed to get a meeting with a big client, and we're meeting in 2 weeks! I'm so excited. This guy has spent so much money for his website (thousands) and it's almost all flash... bad news for him, but good news for me! Plus he wants more clients, so SEO and SMM is definitely on the menu here.

    OK, so I want the meeting to be mostly educational, and won't try to close him on the spot, while still showing him what to expect in terms of costs. Other than a presentation, I want to come up with 3 "packages" with pricing to be more or less what the final price will be so he has an idea.

    Here's the thing: I'm very good with internet stuff, SEO, all that jazz... but I don't have B2B experience. I want to arm myself with sure-fire techniques that will seal the deal, as well as Do's and Dont's (can't hurt).

    ALSO, if there are relevant WSOs, books, trainings, I will gladly take a look at them, so try me! lol :p

    If you have any questions or need more info, just drop me a line!

    You guys' help will be instrumental, and I promise to post news about everything when the deal is done!!
    So are you saying you won't try to close him in this meeting or just not right up front at the meeting? Because that's what the meeting is for..to get the check! But I'm going to assume you won't be pushy and try to just jump in and start naming your price..It's good that you want to educate him, but from my experience business owners don't want to hear about HTML, Backlinks, etc..they want to hear about the results you're going to give them..aka how many new customers you're going to bring from your marketing efforts! Yes, you should tell him about your services and WHY and HOW it's going to benefit them, but don't go in with the intent to JUST educate..he would be in a seminar if that's what he wants..he wants results so tell him how you're going to give them to him.
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  • Profile picture of the author keliix06
    I don't know why everyone here is assuming his site sucks just because it's flash.

    I can't believe the number of posters who are selling internet marketing without knowing that Google can crawl flash sites, and read the content just fine (as of over 3 years ago).* It's far from ideal, but if he has a different goal with his site and it engages his visitors, then what's wrong with it?

    If his problem is his website isn't doing what he wants it to do and he thinks the problem is flash then you can use that to your advantage to help close him on your non-flash site. But flash is not the problem.



    * Official Google Blog: Google learns to crawl Flash
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    • Profile picture of the author Dexx
      Originally Posted by keliix06 View Post

      I can't believe the number of posters who are selling internet marketing without knowing that Google can crawl flash sites, and read the content just fine (as of over 3 years ago).*

      * Official Google Blog: Google learns to crawl Flash
      I wonder if any tests have been on the SEO results of a pure flash site vs a non-flash site (all things considered equal).

      I'd be curious to see how a flash site ranks compared to an SEO optimized Wordpress setup.

      Great share either way!

      ~Dexx
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Grant
      Originally Posted by keliix06 View Post

      I don't know why everyone here is assuming his site sucks just because it's flash.

      I can't believe the number of posters who are selling internet marketing without knowing that Google can crawl flash sites, and read the content just fine (as of over 3 years ago).* It's far from ideal, but if he has a different goal with his site and it engages his visitors, then what's wrong with it?

      If his problem is his website isn't doing what he wants it to do and he thinks the problem is flash then you can use that to your advantage to help close him on your non-flash site. But flash is not the problem.



      * Official Google Blog: Google learns to crawl Flash
      Exactly what was going through my mind...
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      • Profile picture of the author IMguy123
        Originally Posted by Mike Grant View Post

        Exactly what was going through my mind...
        Making updates may be important and if the flash design does not take that into account then flash may not be his best option. However, if the guy has money to spend making updates is as simple as hiring someone to do the updates. Although many who get one have little ability to add or change the website.
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    Hey Jeff

    What do you already know about his business, about the way they currently attract new prospects, win new clients, monetise their existing clientbase, what are their best selling and also most profitable services/products?

    You do know all that dont you , you want to, have you contacted them as a potential prospect to discover what they do so you know what you can easily improve .

    If this is that big a prospect then you want to be putting in this pre meeting effort.

    how impressed will he be when you know probably more about the above than he does?

    NB I wouldnt say do this for the smaller every day prospects but the OP states this is a big one so.....do your homework
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    Mike

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    • Profile picture of the author JeffNormand
      Thanks for the amazing feedback guys!

      First off, I apologize for some of the confusion.

      Ok some clarifications: No, I did not intend to go in that meeting just to tell him how SEO works I am going to educate him about how much business he's losing, and how I am going to help him out, possibly with some numbers if I can.

      I *AM* going to try to close him if I see the opportunity, without being pushy. If he's hesitant for some reason, I will present him with 3 packages and follow up promptly.

      This guy is a referral from my best friend. He is a busy business owner, and this project is not even his main business so ... I'm thinking that because he's so busy, he might want to go straight to the action, but I'm not 100% sure on this. My friend is telling me he's def. not going to sign on the spot, so since he knows him well, I tend to go with that.

      Keep those comments coming!

      Also, where can I get numbers to show him? (I do own SEO Power suite so that is def. going to help though!)
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      • Profile picture of the author Jason Dittberner
        Avoid Powerpoint slideshow type of presentations...right out of the gate you will be "different" and it lets you flow easier based off of the feedback you get from your line of questions (which is vital, as others have said). Use a mindmap instead, and some infographics to punctuate certain points.

        Nothing works better than samples of what the competition is doing as well.

        Also be careful of providing too much detail, where they could take your whole strategy and use it themselves. I find this the trickiest part. You want to show you should be hired, but not let out all of your secrets.

        If you decided to go with a pricing structure, as mentioned, make sure you incentivize it so they must act quick on it to get "x,y, or z" to help close.

        Last, a nice three price package trick is to use the old real estate trick (where they show you garbage, overpriced places all day and then hit you with a winner at the end)...make the first two packages "not so good" and the final package you present fantastic = close.

        Good luck.
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        • Profile picture of the author JeffNormand
          Good points by you Jason.

          No I wasn't going with Powerpoint. I am building a prezi.com presentation. It rocks!

          Also, I am absolutely not worried that they will take my methods and run, this guy knows nothing about the internet. What I am worried about is it he starts to shop around... I don't want that, and I am not going to bring it up. I'm going into this meeting like he NEEDS me, and I am the MAN for the job, and no one else is


          Originally Posted by Jason Dittberner View Post

          Avoid Powerpoint slideshow type of presentations...right out of the gate you will be "different" and it lets you flow easier based off of the feedback you get from your line of questions (which is vital, as others have said). Use a mindmap instead, and some infographics to punctuate certain points.

          Nothing works better than samples of what the competition is doing as well.

          Also be careful of providing too much detail, where they could take your whole strategy and use it themselves. I find this the trickiest part. You want to show you should be hired, but not let out all of your secrets.

          If you decided to go with a pricing structure, as mentioned, make sure you incentivize it so they must act quick on it to get "x,y, or z" to help close.

          Last, a nice three price package trick is to use the old real estate trick (where they show you garbage, overpriced places all day and then hit you with a winner at the end)...make the first two packages "not so good" and the final package you present fantastic = close.

          Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author RobBritt
    I think that letting him know that "getting traffic" isn't the goal. Getting the right traffic is. my wife and I do websites for local brick and mortar businesses who want to rank in google for their main function, like in a search for "water proofing" but don't realize they really want to reach "Charleston water proofing" or "James Island water proofing" Lots of people "outside of the internet looking in" don't understand this very well. (on an off note.. flash. Ack)
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  • Profile picture of the author Mac the Knife
    Jeff,

    Great work on locking in the meeting! I think all the advice given here is great as well! The one difference I would mention is, I don't usually go with packages, unless we identify EXACTLY what they need and are willing to pay for right there. Usually, I leave the meeting and tell them I will get back to them with a very simple proposal based on what we discussed which will include the needs that have been uncovered. Then, I rock out a killer proposal based on templates I already have created, plug and play if you will, and I include some of the specific info from the conversation so it is personalized. I just find the packages to be too salesy for some and I find many businesses appreciate the time you took (or they think you took) on creating a personalized proposal.

    The prezi.com is a good idea...I haven't used it personally because I usually never give presentations...just look at real life examples, discuss goals, etc, but since I am starting to do more multi-business meetings, I may go this route. Please tell us how you do, good luck!

    Mac the Knife
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    • Profile picture of the author JeffNormand
      Thanks Mac, awesome advice. I was on the fence about packages too. I prefer your way.

      I'll report back I promise!! The meeting is next week
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      • Profile picture of the author JeffNormand
        Hey all!

        Just wanted to let you all know that the meeting went really well!

        It was the first meeting, it was hard to gauge if I should present a price yet (but I came prepared), so at some point I started to sense that he wanted to know how much it would cost per month for SEO, so I gave it away. He found it was expensive (understandable), I told him we are very flexible and that was the best package (had included SEO and SMM).

        In retrospect, I kind of wish I had done the 3 packages thingy

        The thing that I found was the hardest was to really make him see the value, make him see why he's paying a big lump every month.

        Anyway, we managed to get at least site optimization for 3k as a one time fee, not bad!

        We'll take it from here. At some point he's going to need SEO no matter what, so I'll be patient.
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  • Profile picture of the author lizacrew
    So wonderful adviced and it gives essence to the reader,Nice one..
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  • Profile picture of the author DedicoRob
    Walk in with the attitude that they need you, confidence is huge, the more you come across as highly knowledged, the more impressed they will be.

    Don't fidget, don't play with your hands, EYE contact is huge.
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  • Profile picture of the author RRG
    I don't recommend going in with any prices on the first meeting.

    It should all be about learning about his business and what his goals are. Try to get at the emotions that underlie his problems.

    Ask "layering questions." By this I mean, when he answers one of your specific questions, ask him, "Interesting. Tell me more about that." Or, "What would addressing that issue mean for your business."

    The more he talks, the more information you will get, and the better you will be able to help him.

    If this is a whale like you imply, it doesn't make sense to try to "close" him in one appointment. It's a process, not a single event.

    If he asks about pricing, say something like, "I don't know yet. Every situation is different. I don't offer cookie-cutter programs and solutions. I need to learn a lot more about your business and your goals first. Only then can I craft a custom solution. Once I do, we'll get together and talk about investment options."

    Something like that.

    Some people here will disagree, of course, but sales at this level it really is about relationships. People buy from those they know, like and trust.

    One more tip: make sure you have the attitude, "I don't need your business. I couldn't care less whether you end up working with me or not."

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author RRG
      Originally Posted by RRG View Post

      I don't recommend going in with any prices on the first meeting.

      It should all be about learning about his business and what his goals are. Try to get at the emotions that underlie his problems.

      Ask "layering questions." By this I mean, when he answers one of your specific questions, ask him, "Interesting. Tell me more about that." Or, "What would addressing that issue mean for your business."

      The more he talks, the more information you will get, and the better you will be able to help him.

      If this is a whale like you imply, it doesn't make sense to try to "close" him in one appointment. It's a process, not a single event.

      If he asks about pricing, say something like, "I don't know yet. Every situation is different. I don't offer cookie-cutter programs and solutions. I need to learn a lot more about your business and your goals first. Only then can I craft a custom solution. Once I do, we'll get together and talk about investment options."

      Something like that.

      Some people here will disagree, of course, but sales at this level it really is about relationships. People buy from those they know, like and trust.

      One more tip: make sure you have the attitude, "I don't need your business. I couldn't care less whether you end up working with me or not."

      Good luck!
      Didn't see when I made my post that you already had the meeting. Congrats on the sale.

      Hope you got some value from my post for future opportunities.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Hi Jeff,

    Some tips that may help for next time:

    Budget - Ask: "Did you have a budget set aside for this?"

    If the prospect says it's too much, ask (nicely): "Compared to what?"

    Don't demonstrate your solution until you are certain the prospect can afford it. Sell first, educate later. Don't tell them about all the technical things: provide the solution to their urgent problem.

    You can always say: "Solutions like this typically range from $X to $Y. Is that comfortable for you?" If they say it isn't, ask "OK, what features do you want to cut?" Don't lower your price because you're folding under pressure.

    Hope this helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Remember why you are in business, and dont be afraid to close him down. He may actually respect you more. You have to get it into perspective that your business is just as important as your prospective clients. Congrats.
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  • Profile picture of the author mike3188
    sounds great good luck
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