Is the US more open to monthly payments than the UK

I've never had any trouble getting people to sign monthly deals.

No you wouldn't.

It is no different from an IT contract or anything else.

Think cashflow. They are.

Dan

Hi Dan

Oh ok, I see what you mean now.

Cheers
Phil

I haven't had any issues with monthly payments on either side of the pond. And a UK expert I was working with encouraged monthly payments for a service we were offering.

Typically it has come down to whether the prospect could afford the total cost outright or not. If they couldn't, then they were happy to go the monthly route.

So the question doesn't seem to be about methodology, but rather value and availability of funds.

Phil I want to have you look at this another way. I'm most often on the other side being pitched to. The key to landing a $10k Upfront, $2k a month deal is simply Math plus Trust.

First let's talk about the Math part as this will help you when considering who to target. A business owner or manager is going to want to make sure that they are going to get value for what they pay.

The problem with the math is too many people seem to think Revenue = Profit. And it doesn't so you need to make sure that the profit they will gain from your service will be greater than the cost.

Let's look at some numbers from my world. Let's say the average RV a dealership sells is $20k and they make a profit of $1k(think net not gross) on that. So to even justify your service I need to believe that your service will allow me to sell another 34 RVs Minimum or $680k of revenue. Now let's be real no one spends 100% of profit on advertising so honestly if you couldn't convince me of at least 102 RVs and a Revenue of $2.04 Million I would not even consider it.

Now the higher that number the better but now we come to Trust. When we show that number I have to trust that you can deleiver and the results will be above my minimum and hopefully closer to what you said they could be.

So are you confident that you can provide Millions of Dollars in Revenue for your Thousands in Fees?

Now the math will vary by business. Some might make 10% profit and be looking for 1000% ROI. Others might make 90% Profit and be ok with a 200% ROI. But in the end you must make them a certain multiple of your fee in profit to justify it.

Because no offense but what is the point of more sales if I don't make more money? Taking that further what is the point of more sales if i have to get those sales at a greater cost then I am used to?

This is how your prospects are thinking even if they don't understand their number well enough to put it into such clear thoughts. They will be comparing you to something else they do. They will not trust you. You need to convince them that not only will they make more sales but they will make more profits and your service will be the best investment they ever made.

In my experience those pitching me can't do that. They suck at showing me profit. I am literally listening to a rep in an office next to me pitching something and he hasn't once been able to quantify what is in it for us. Lucky for him he is a TV station, old school media can get away with that. The consultants on here can't.

Hi Phil,
I have clients pay me an upfront retainer and a monthly percent of thier profits I help them gain. If they see value in your offer then a business is going to go for your offer. I work on trust. They send monthly sales reports and bacs my cut. Obviously their is trust involved here.
Oh and many of my clients are in London.

I don't charge a setup fee, but I will often only produce a blueprint in month 1

Generally, I'll outline where they are, where they could be, and the cost to get there.

Then I ask them if the annual cost to hire me - (that varies between £4,000 and £17,000 + ppc budget) is affordable ...

Because I've found that business owners tend to annualise the cost anyway, when I quote monthly numbers

And I want them psychologically commited to at least a 12 months relationship

So my "close" runs along the line of, "that may, or may not be a number you're comfortable with, but that's what it will cost to do a professional job"

"If you can't afford to commit to spending £15,000 (or whatever) with me over the next 12 months, there's little point in taking this forward at the level we've discussed."

Then I shut up

Doesn't always work, but it cuts out a lot of timewasting for both sides.

I have half a dozen clients on monthly standings orders

And to Aaron - that's exactly the sort of numbers conversations I have with business owners - but if they were only making 5% net - I probably wouldn't be a good fit for them.

Tony

Thanks for all your replies guys. I think it is fair to say that the "offline marketing" route is often sold as something that is much easier to do than typical Internet Marketing. Like everything, it takes a lot of work and persistence.

I think most (like myself) figure "let's get 10 clients at 1k per month and that will be a cool 10k monthly income"....pie in the sky or realistic?

Thankfully, my first real client is a cosmetic dentist whom I'm working for free for in order to get experience and learn the industry, so I'm hoping I'm on the right track.

Phil

the industry you work with dictates the profits