Ask the prospect what they need?

by abozeb
5 replies
I have been thinking about how I and a lot of others in the same business (online marketing) approach potential clients, where usually introduce ourselves and talk about how we can help growing their business etc.

For instance, if an agency do SEO/Email marketing/Webdesign etc. Could it be better to not talk about everything we are able to help them out with while we introduce our services, and just ask the prospect it they are having difficulty in any specific marketing channel.

From my experience, it's easier to close a deal when the client has indicated that they need help in a specific service that we offer. And to be honest a lot of time I did not even tell them about most of the services that we offer, as it a lot and most of the time confused the potential client. So the ask me about a specific services, or they just tell me that we don't need any SEO/PPC etc.

So in the next week I will change my way in selling my services, so instead of telling them that we can help them with their for example PPC marketing or whatever I feel they could need some help with. I would just introduce my company and then I will find out if there is any specific area within their online marketing that they are struggling with and wants to improve. And then just take it from there.

So what do you think guys, would it work? Or will this approach (that in a way giving them more responsibility) make it more complicated?
#prospect
  • Profile picture of the author RimaNaj2011
    Marketing, specifically sales is all about providing solutions to problems.

    I don't go into a meeting and give a presentation. I have a regular conversation and find out what the problems are. You can even ask, "in the perfect world, what would you expect your website to do for you?" or "what's your biggest problem with marketing right now?"...I don't always get upfront like that, but my point is you have to be casual and have a regular conversation with business owners. They're humans and face problems like every other business.

    Then when you know what their problem is you provide your services in a solution-way. So you can say "yeah, well our design with XYZ is going to keep visitors on your site longer and lower your high bounce rate like you said it is now" or whatever.

    Once they have give you what their problems are, you're supposed to provide the solutions to those problems. Don't just start pitching. You say, our X service will fix your Y problems.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
    Originally Posted by abozeb View Post

    I have been thinking about how I and a lot of others in the same business (online marketing) approach potential clients, where usually introduce ourselves and talk about how we can help growing their business etc.

    For instance, if an agency do SEO/Email marketing/Webdesign etc. Could it be better to not talk about everything we are able to help them out with while we introduce our services, and just ask the prospect it they are having difficulty in any specific marketing channel.

    From my experience, it's easier to close a deal when the client has indicated that they need help in a specific service that we offer. And to be honest a lot of time I did not even tell them about most of the services that we offer, as it a lot and most of the time confused the potential client. So the ask me about a specific services, or they just tell me that we don't need any SEO/PPC etc.

    So in the next week I will change my way in selling my services, so instead of telling them that we can help them with their for example PPC marketing or whatever I feel they could need some help with. I would just introduce my company and then I will find out if there is any specific area within their online marketing that they are struggling with and wants to improve. And then just take it from there.

    So what do you think guys, would it work? Or will this approach (that in a way giving them more responsibility) make it more complicated?
    Congratulations on figuring out trying to sell them what you want to sell them, instead of them buying what you're offering (huge difference) is telling and not selling.

    I would suggest you read my recent post:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...-salesman.html

    It's pretty much a step by step process how to do what you're thinking about.
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    "When you do something exactly wrong, you always turn up something."
    -Andy Warhol
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  • Profile picture of the author CandyxLand
    No. That's a good way to get ideas for a product, but not on how to sell your product. I would get the idea you are just telling me what I want to hear. You should be clear about what you do from the beginning and how your client can benefit.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cobaki
    I guess this can work for some people if their knowledge about marketing is wide. This is kind of tricky especially when you haven't been in this business for a long time. I think I am more efficient and helpful if I stick to what I planned when I started my business.
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  • Profile picture of the author PanteraIM
    The problem with simply asking if there's anything you can help them with is that 'People don't know what they don't know.' If they knew already how you could help your job would be simply taking orders instead of selling and uncovering needs.

    Your approach is fine if the first step you are taking is to simply see if there's an opportunity or not, but I feel you'll be missing a lot of business if you carry the expectation that people are aware of everything out there in the IM market, that's your job to educate and match what you sell to their needs.
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    you cant hold no groove if you ain't got no pocket.

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