"We Already Have a Web Guy..." Responses?

11 years ago

Show them the fact that based on google, they're not getting the traffic they should be, and show them how much they WILL get when they use your services. Instill some pain in them. And also, a "web guy" is most likely someone that just updates the site....They don't have the years of experience in successfully generating more leads, and business online that you do. It's a completely different animal. There's a chart out there that details the percentage of traffic the first 10 sites get and it is a massive leap. The key is in showing them what they're missing and how it's affecting their results..and then of course, positioning yourself as the best solution. Take a look on here for a package of WSOs by Brenden Clerget as you get all the information and charts etc you'll need, including rebuttals. Worth the ink to print it all out.

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leeannprice 11 years ago

It's difficult to help without more context about the problem, but I can offer generalities.

Sounds like this niche doesn't realize they have a problem - and that's the toughest sale to make. Because first you have to expend a lot of energy letting them know of the problem, then the same amount of energy (or more) telling them how you're the solution to that problem.

Unless they have the potential to be huge clients, I say wait until they realize there's a problem and then go back.

In the mean time, you can drip campaign them, remind them you're around, give them helpful information.

Lee Ann
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hayfj2

11 years ago

Excellent, I'm glad to hear it...

Are you happy with the "search engine readiness" report he provided for you?

Are you ahead of or behind the projections in the "social media marketing plan" he provided you with?

Are the features, and functionality being used properly by your staff as per the "social media policy" they provided?

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Robert Domino 11 years ago

I sent a direct mail report that worked very well and a lot of the targets had already paid for SEO for several years. I could see this through internet archives.

Anyway, the report addressed all of this with one simple question:

"Where are the results?"

They called back. A lot more than those who had never paid attention to internet.

If they already have a "web guy" then that's actually good for you.
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- Claude Whitacre 11 years ago
  
  These are all good suggestions. I pre-emptively tell them that we do not work on anything already created by their web guy. our service is separate from anything they have already done, and will not interfere with anything in the works.
  
  I actually get that "objection" often. So I try to make it a non-issue as soon as I can.
  
  I do not want to compete with their web guy. I don't want to replace what they already have. That's how I position my service.
  
  "We already have a website"
  
  "All my clients had one before I talked to them. We don't interfere with that. Our service actually adds to what you have already done, to make it more effective. It's a stand alone program".
  
  There is no way I'm going to talk to their web guy. No way I'm going to change the website they have. And I'll compliment them on any action they have already taken.
  
  Telling them that their nephew sucks at marketing is not going to get me a sale. Letting them say he sucks at marketing is OK.
  
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playtone

11 years ago

Originally Posted by hayfj2

Excellent, I'm glad to hear it...

Are you happy with the "search engine readiness" report he provided for you?

Are you ahead of or behind the projections in the "social media marketing plan" he provided you with?

Are the features, and functionality being used properly by your staff as per the "social media policy" they provided?

Excellent answer. I get a lot of design and seo work from people who may have a "web guy" but he does not take care of them, ask the question are you happy with him/her also you can ask what they charge

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DABK

11 years ago

"Excellent. I could tell that when I looked at your site. We like to work with good web people.

Good web people are forever tweaking and increasing the number of leads you're getting, whether they're increasing the number of qualified visitors you're getting or playing with colors, images, text to increase the conversion rate of your site.

We're working with a company now that was getting 37 leads from the website every month, one of those leads became a buyer. Now, 6 months later, they're getting 89 leads a month and 4 of them buy. And they spend x% more. That company went from making $144,000 a month in revenue from their website to making $690,000.

I'm glad to hear you have a good web guy."

I don't get it often, because I position myself as a marketer that works with web people (and I do, I'd rather not have to do anything that has to do with code). I used something along the lines of the above before.

The last 2 times, the responses were:
how do you tweak images?

can you look at my site and tell me what you'd do?

The 2nd guy ended up being a pain right fast... the 1st one worked out better (google place, mobile phone, seo)... and he's introduced me to a couple of his business associates as 'internet marketing guru.' Which lead to me being invited to give a short presentation at one of these people's 'networking event' where they're trying to sell their stuff to a bunch of business owners I won't have to convince to come and see me strut my stuff.

I've also avoided this a couple of times by sending them a friendly letter, followed by friendly email messages that pointed out a ton of ways they were leaving money on the table... Things that were easy to see... showed them their competitors (see, guy abc, he has this strong call to action... you, you just have a phone number... ).

I also got a lot of people to ignore me with this method... They read... I know, because I sent them to a web page created just for them, where I told them there would be more info... and there was more info + an invitation to contact me... And each of these pages was visited one or more times...

Yes, I followed up... And will, till they tell me to stop or they'll send the cops after me...

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chtfld

11 years ago

Originally Posted by cypherslock

Show them the fact that based on google, they're not getting the traffic they should be, and show them how much they WILL get when they use your services. Instill some pain in them. And also, a "web guy" is most likely someone that just updates the site....They don't have the years of experience in successfully generating more leads, and business online that you do. It's a completely different animal. There's a chart out there that details the percentage of traffic the first 10 sites get and it is a massive leap. The key is in showing them what they're missing and how it's affecting their results..and then of course, positioning yourself as the best solution. Take a look on here for a package of WSOs by Brenden Clerget as you get all the information and charts etc you'll need, including rebuttals. Worth the ink to print it all out.

Thanks Cypherslock - I will check out the WSO package - that sounds like a good deal. You're spot on with your assessment - we are having difficulty pinpointing exactly what the disconnect is. Obviously these are people who need something. We don't do a lot of cold calls or emails (some but not a lot) so it's mostly inbound or referred. So, when I get this question - and it doesn't happen a LOT, thankfully - it's hard to answer.

It comes back to the research and having something in place to answer their questions BEFORE they have them, I suppose. I may need to go back to the drawing board and do some more research.

Originally Posted by leeannprice

It's difficult to help without more context about the problem, but I can offer generalities.

Sounds like this niche doesn't realize they have a problem - and that's the toughest sale to make. Because first you have to expend a lot of energy letting them know of the problem, then the same amount of energy (or more) telling them how you're the solution to that problem.

Unless they have the potential to be huge clients, I say wait until they realize there's a problem and then go back.

In the mean time, you can drip campaign them, remind them you're around, give them helpful information.

Lee Ann

You are so right - I have always tried to avoid the trap of selling to someone who doesn't know that they need what I have. It's hard. We've changed a lot of our inbounds to focus on problem solving and it's resulting in new leads, but the same can't be said for our sales materials and efforts.

Need to really ratchet things up a bit there and either make it clear in advance what we are providing (benefits not features) or stay in touch until they realize it themselves.

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

These are all good suggestions. I pre-emptively tell them that we do not work on anything already created by their web guy. our service is separate from anything they have already done, and will not interfere with anything in the works.

I actually get that "objection" often. So I try to make it a non-issue as soon as I can.

I do not want to compete with their web guy. I don't want to replace what they already have. That's how I position my service.

"We already have a website"

"All my clients had one before I talked to them. We don't interfere with that. Our service actually adds to what you have already done, to make it more effective. It's a stand alone program".

There is no way I'm going to talk to their web guy. No way I'm going to change the website they have. And I'll compliment them on any action they have already taken.

Telling them that their nephew sucks at marketing is not going to get me a sale. Letting them say he sucks at marketing is OK.

I love the way you word that - "our service adds to what you already have to make it more effective." Very positive and no spin to make someone else look good.

Finding that perfect pitch to guide the prospect to understand the problems they are having is hard, but it's increasingly what I think I need. These insights are great!

Originally Posted by Joe Ditzel

Check out Chet Holmes' book "The Ultimate Sales Machine." He suggests becoming a market expert rather than a product expert.

"If you come from the place of truly wanting to serve your buyer, then being a market expert--not just a product expert--means being more knowledgeable than any of your competitors. This is easy to do as most of your competitors will be more concerned about selling product than about positioning themselves as experts. In every case where I have personally run companies using these strategies or helped clients do the same, we have literally slaughtered our competitors. Even after they see what we are doing, they cannot grasp it. Truly, building a core story or stadium pitch is working smarter, not harder. The one who gives the market the most and best information will always slaughter the one who just wants to sell products or services."

-Holmes, Chet (2007-06-21). The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies (p. 74). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.

Show them you know more about their industry any of your competitors. It's easy because most salespeople and executives don't even read the trade journals in their field.

As content producers, this strategy also plays to your strength.

This is so true and I don't know that I even consciously realized it. I actually had a sales call today on which the prospect asked if I was familiar with his niche and location. The niche was a yes but in terms of location, I'm not necessarily anywhere near a lot of clients but I had taken a few minutes before the call to check the competitors in that region, do some number crunching in AdWords and get to know the towns.

It was that easy - I hadn't gone that far before but that simple step seemed to be all it took with this particular lead.

This was great - thanks everyone for your input. My big push in 2013 is to refine and really dig in and improve my sales approaches. Before we kind of just sailed from month to month on referrals and random web traffic.

It's time to be proactive and really get things to take off.

Thanks
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misterme

11 years ago

Originally Posted by chtfld

I love the way you word that - "our service adds to what you already have to make it more effective." Very positive and no spin to make someone else look good.

Claude beat me to it. But to add to your takeaway of Claude's answer:

Not only adds to it, but you're positioning yourself as the needed Step Two for completion. And you're also implying they've already taken Step One, so Step Two is the natural progression of the road they're ALREADY on.

Thanks
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Claude Whitacre

11 years ago

Originally Posted by misterme

Claude beat me to it. But to add to your takeaway of Claude's answer:

Not only adds to it, but you're positioning yourself as the needed Step Two for completion. And you're also implying they've already taken Step One, so Step Two is the natural progression of the road they're ALREADY on.

This is going to sound like a lie. But it is absolutely true.

Many times I have said that they have already done the first half, the hard expensive half, of what needs to be done to make their online marketing profitable. I'm here to complete the second part. Weird.

Thanks

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KingOfContentMarketing

11 years ago

Originally Posted by chtfld

You are so right - I have always tried to avoid the trap of selling to someone who doesn't know that they need what I have. It's hard. We've changed a lot of our inbounds to focus on problem solving and it's resulting in new leads, but the same can't be said for our sales materials and efforts.

Keep pushing your prospects in a positive way. Inbound is effective, important and needed, but in my opinion it is best when married with a comprehensive "Challenger Sales" approach ( see

The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the... ) where you challenge them to expand their vision. You are selling by teaching.

Here is some good stuff:
"As marketers, we're well aware that our priority has shifted from outbound to inbound marketing. For Sales, a similar dramatic shift has occurred—away from relationship selling to value selling. Now, salespeople must provide insights at each stage in the buying cycle to earn trust; that's an incredible challenge when buyers are doing homework on their own and engaging later on in the process—and only with a person and a company with expertise they respect."
http://www.marketingprofs.com/articl...in-buyer-trust

Show them examples of companies in their industry you've helped with things they are not doing. If you don't have your own success story yet on a specific service, check for success stories in their industry that you can share with them. Often you can find this on their trade association website.

Most companies are not doing enough to help themselves succeed. If you watch Jay Abraham's hot seat sessions, within minutes he can find huge gaps in their strategy and tactics. You can do the same. You are more than a vendor- now you are a true consultant adding value. At at a certain point, your product and service is almost a foregone conclusion.

Here is Jay doing some hot seats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QStf7lTwSc

The trick is to find ways to broaden their vision without implying their baby is ugly.

Thanks

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gamfreek1989

11 years ago

Originally Posted by hayfj2

Excellent, I'm glad to hear it...

Are you happy with the "search engine readiness" report he provided for you?

Are you ahead of or behind the projections in the "social media marketing plan" he provided you with?

Are the features, and functionality being used properly by your staff as per the "social media policy" they provided?

Great responses, I will definitely use this. Eh, I also like "we don't interfere with that. We provide a stand alone service that compliments what you have in place"

Persistently persist, fellas.

Thanks
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Sys4 11 years ago

I qualify. I don't sell.

They'd never make it through my qualification process, I'd save time, and move on to the next prospect.

If there isn't a next prospect, I'd spend the time to learn how to market my services. The warrior forum is packed full of information and info products that can help you market yourself.

If you're selling, your wasting your time. If you're not choosing your clients, your not marketing your services correctly. Qualify, plan, collect, implement.
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bizgrower

11 years ago

Given that there is a large difference between content writing and copywriting,
I'd suggest hiring a copywriter to co-write a lead gen whitepaper or kindle book or
hard bound book or pamphlet which will: establish your expertise, differentiate your
company from a "web guy", and answer the wifims (what's in it for me questions - benefits they don't realize they are missing).

Dan

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KingOfContentMarketing

11 years ago

Check out Chet Holmes' book "The Ultimate Sales Machine." He suggests becoming a market expert rather than a product expert.

"If you come from the place of truly wanting to serve your buyer, then being a market expert—not just a product expert—means being more knowledgeable than any of your competitors. This is easy to do as most of your competitors will be more concerned about selling product than about positioning themselves as experts. In every case where I have personally run companies using these strategies or helped clients do the same, we have literally slaughtered our competitors. Even after they see what we are doing, they cannot grasp it. Truly, building a core story or stadium pitch is working smarter, not harder. The one who gives the market the most and best information will always slaughter the one who just wants to sell products or services."

-Holmes, Chet (2007-06-21). The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies (p. 74). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.

Show them you know more about their industry any of your competitors. It's easy because most salespeople and executives don't even read the trade journals in their field.

As content producers, this strategy also plays to your strength.

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Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
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dave147

11 years ago

"we already have a web guy"

Really?
Well I'll match the price and deliver a higher quality/higher converting website

Thanks

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KingOfContentMarketing

11 years ago

Here's a different way of handling the "we already work with someone" objection;

"It reminds me of a real-life story – You know Brad Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston for quite a while , and in my opinion she was pretty darn good . Then Brad meets Angelina Jolie , and well … the rest is history . My point here is that sometime even if you’re totally satisfied with what you have , it makes good business sense from time to time to explore , be on the lookout and keep your ear to the ground for new technology , new ways and methods to reduce costs , improve productivity and make more money . I was just wondering if you have an open mind to new possibilities , an “open mind is like an open window –it lets fresh air in.”

More here:
http://www.increased-revenues.com/archives/22

Thanks

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steveka

11 years ago

Originally Posted by chtfld

We've been running campaigns recently to target certain mid-sized businesses in an industrial niche - high volume stuff but this particular niche has been pushing back a lot.

The most common response I'm hearing is "we already have a web guy". Anyone on here who does SEO or content knows what I'm talking about here - some prospects think that "web" anything is all the same. If you have someone that updates your website, you have everything you need.

We have pitches for this, a lot of edu content on our site and, I feel, a good way to stand out from the pack, but it hasn't been working here. Do you hear this a lot and, if you do, what is your usual response? I'm thinking more proactive efforts may be needed to position us as something MUCH different than "web guys" (we do content - landing copy and inbound stuff).

Thoughts?

It's really hard to talk about why, when you don't know much about the details. Is this an answer to a phone pitch or are you getting email replies? I am wondering where that " web guy" response is coming from.

If, this is a sales call, then i would recommend to double check your script because the general education, know how and point of view varies from niche to niche. If people are not understanding what you are offering, that's most likely the way they will respond, since simplifying the whole thing as "something related to web" is less technical to them.

So, if people you are pitching to have no clue about what you are talking about, then they may be coming up with that canned response to end the conversation. Marketing is way too complicated for some, even more on the phone and time is money so they may not have the patience to listen to what you have to say. I would say check your script.

Thanks

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Slave1

11 years ago

It's hard not to slam their "web guy", but sometimes they are a trusted person to the individual your speaking to on the phone. It's like walking on egg shells.

Here is what I typically say "Most of my clients already have a great website and a web guy...you would think that SEO/Online marketing go hand-in-hand with website design, but its an entirely different skill set. We work with your web guy and coach them on the exact modifications to make in order to get more clients calling".

It seems to diffuse the Us vs. Your Web Guy feeling of the call

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DABK

11 years ago

They do, indeed, think that a web guy automatically knows web design, SEO. Often, they seem to think a web guy's on top of all the ways you can market online.

And, sadly, some web guys who have no clue, think the same. One such guy, lucky for him, he's the son of the owner, has added 641 photos of remodeled kitchens, redone porches, etc. (construction company), and they have titles like: kitchen 1, kitchen 2. And their goal is to rank for a lot of keywords + suburb.

The photos have no alt tag. They're described like this: "white cabinets and red granite.'

Just naming 641 photos the right way would get them what they want.

Anyway, I'll be adding "I'll coach your web guy" part.

PS In my next life, I shall be the son of 100 of my ideal clients and study html in high school.

Originally Posted by Slave1

It's hard not to slam their "web guy", but sometimes they are a trusted person to the individual your speaking to on the phone. It's like walking on egg shells.

Here is what I typically say "Most of my clients already have a great website and a web guy...you would think that SEO/Online marketing go hand-in-hand with website design, but its an entirely different skill set. We work with your web guy and coach them on the exact modifications to make in order to get more clients calling".

It seems to diffuse the Us vs. Your Web Guy feeling of the call

Thanks

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TeamBringIt

11 years ago

Originally Posted by chtfld

We've been running campaigns recently to target certain mid-sized businesses in an industrial niche - high volume stuff but this particular niche has been pushing back a lot.

The most common response I'm hearing is "we already have a web guy". Anyone on here who does SEO or content knows what I'm talking about here - some prospects think that "web" anything is all the same. If you have someone that updates your website, you have everything you need.

We have pitches for this, a lot of edu content on our site and, I feel, a good way to stand out from the pack, but it hasn't been working here. Do you hear this a lot and, if you do, what is your usual response? I'm thinking more proactive efforts may be needed to position us as something MUCH different than "web guys" (we do content - landing copy and inbound stuff).

Thoughts?

Ask, what their "web guy" does and see what kind of results they are getting. Ask if their "web guy" or even themselves are tracking results and seeing what kinda of leads are generated. Most of these business, have no clue about their "web guy" and YOU need to educate them and let them know if this individual is actually bringing in results. If some results are brought in, YOU need to educate them on how your service, can bring in better results.

Thanks

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maverick8

11 years ago

I have had this said to me a little bit. I dont like calling. This is what is what i have said.

"no problem a lot of our clients have said the same thing. But were amazed about what we do compliments what your web designer has already done."

I usually then tell the prospect about a chiropractor that i do work for that was with a online marketing chiropractor specialist firm. After they were working with me for 2months their site generated $7000 in new business where in the previous 7 months they had only received 12 phone calls from their site.

Stories help sell for me. People can picture them self getting the same results then. This of course backed by case studies, testimonials etc.

Thanks

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Nino

11 years ago

Yeah... I heard the same thing when trying to deal with my local business owners.

My reply would be: What's your website traffic? What number of clients (their eyes start to open) do you get from your site?

Obviously they'll say: He knows this stuff!

ANd the kicker: In a world where 50% of the population are online and 10000 people search "your business" per month... are you sure you don't want to know those numbers?

If they still say yes... they are too close minded and they are exactly the people I was dealing with until i decided that I need to own my business in their domain and crush them like the cockroaches they are.

First on my list will be a car rental company as this is really a passion for me right now!
(Want the story on car rental company? PM me or give a reply)