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Offline Consulting... sorting out the wheat from the chaff

by MichaelHiles
13 replies
Okay, here's something to ponder.

What's the point of driving traffic to a website that isn't equipped to actually convert traffic to a bonafide lead for an offline client?

But let's dig deeper.

What's the point of even having a website to capture and generate leads if the business itself doesn't have some manner of consistent, measurable, manageable, systematic operating process to do something meaningful with that lead?

If a business is spending time and money doing any form of marketing that generates leads (online and offline), how do they get managed once the suspect has identified itself and raised its hand?

One statistic that I saw a while ago in an industry trade journal was that 80% of all leads generated through all forms of marketing in all business across all sectors actually got trashed.

What does this mean?

Does the business have a way of evaluating and assigning criteria to those opportunities - particularly so that sales can spend their time on those opportunities most likely to close?

Is marketing and sales even aligned in their understanding of what constitutes a "qualified lead", and as such, is marketing generating the kinds of leads that sales can actually use?

If you're an "offline" consultant, and you're working with any business client that doesn't have solid answers to these questions, the work that you're is like building a skyscraper on a sandy beach. Eventually, the work that you do will reach a hurdle within the business, which itself may not really be capable of handling the traffic you're sending to their website and leads that you're capturing.
#chaff #consulting #offline #sorting #wheat
  • Profile picture of the author MarkR
    Excellent points Michael. You may be providing only part of the solution for an offline customer if you're only "generating leads".

    Helping that customer to complete the process for 1) how to build a relationship with the lead (autoresponder), 2) how to differentiate his/her business from another's (copywriting), 3) how to close the deal (bonuses/deal design), and 4) how to maintain a customer for life (related products) can all be upsell opportunities and provide "real" value to the client.

    Dumping leads in a bucket full of holes is a waste of the client's money.

    Good stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
    Originally Posted by MichaelHiles View Post

    Okay, here's something to ponder.

    What's the point of driving traffic to a website that isn't equipped to actually convert traffic to a bonafide lead for an offline client?

    But let's dig deeper.

    What's the point of even having a website to capture and generate leads if the business itself doesn't have some manner of consistent, measurable, manageable, systematic operating process to do something meaningful with that lead?

    If a business is spending time and money doing any form of marketing that generates leads (online and offline), how do they get managed once the suspect has identified itself and raised its hand?

    One statistic that I saw a while ago in an industry trade journal was that 80% of all leads generated through all forms of marketing in all business across all sectors actually got trashed.

    What does this mean?

    Does the business have a way of evaluating and assigning criteria to those opportunities - particularly so that sales can spend their time on those opportunities most likely to close?

    Is marketing and sales even aligned in their understanding of what constitutes a "qualified lead", and as such, is marketing generating the kinds of leads that sales can actually use?

    If you're an "offline" consultant, and you're working with any business client that doesn't have solid answers to these questions, the work that you're is like building a skyscraper on a sandy beach. Eventually, the work that you do will reach a hurdle within the business, which itself may not really be capable of handling the traffic you're sending to their website and leads that you're capturing.

    Bingo. And what does a business do with the leads that do not immediately convert? I think you have identified why I think the demise of the "SEO" shop is in sight!

    E.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
      Originally Posted by DukeNasty View Post

      Bingo. And what does a business do with the leads that do not immediately convert? I think you have identified why I think the demise of the "SEO" shop is in sight!

      E.

      Oh, now you can't go preaching that sort of religion to this congregation.

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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        If you look at why businesses fail, you'll find something interesting. The top reason is, and probably always will be, some permutation of "running out of money". Call it lack of sales, or whatever, not enough business kills a lot of small companies (like GM).

        Once you get past that, another killer of companies is too much business, too fast. The business either gets lucky or does something right, and they're flooded with more leads/orders than they can handle. Without the proper systems in place, they exhaust their cash, and the business crashes and burns.

        One sure way to kill the goose is to stuff it with corn until it chokes.
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        • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          If you look at why businesses fail, you'll find something interesting. The top reason is, and probably always will be, some permutation of "running out of money". Call it lack of sales, or whatever, not enough business kills a lot of small companies (like GM).

          Once you get past that, another killer of companies is too much business, too fast. The business either gets lucky or does something right, and they're flooded with more leads/orders than they can handle. Without the proper systems in place, they exhaust their cash, and the business crashes and burns.

          One sure way to kill the goose is to stuff it with corn until it chokes.
          Far more businesses fail because of a lack of top line revenue growth (sales) as opposed to growing too fast. Most businesses would love to have the problem of growing too fast which is like you said a huge problem if you don't have the capacity/resources to grow, but when sales don't exceed cost (and the banks won't lend like they used to) you have a recipe for disaster. I see this more often than not...especially in this financial environment.

          E.
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  • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
    Well, I probably should qualify that statement for everyone even though judging by your posts, you are already ahead of the curve and "get it"! It is kinda like when all you had to do was direct link and make tons of cash on the Internet in affiliate marketing. It was good while it lasted, but all good things come to an end. "Getting Found" on the web is great, but like you pointed out, the bottom line is does this ultimately lead to money being made for your customer. There are tons of firms that can whip up an SEO and/or PPC campaign to drive traffic, but far too often, the end result is that the ROI isn't there. Why, traffic increases which generally makes customers happy in the beginning, but when it is time to justify the cost, if no customer conversion takes place, then what is the point? That is when business owners give you the boot!

    In fact, one of the first questions I ask a customer is "Does your website make money for you?". Most say "No" and then the lightbulb goes on and I've got 'em cold because I start talking about lead generation, measurable ROI, conversion metrics, offer specific landing pages, etc. which is a very different conversation than they are used to, but one they love having!

    This stuff is old hat to you, but to many it is a wide open area of opportunity that should be explored.

    E.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
      Originally Posted by DukeNasty View Post

      Well, I probably should qualify that statement for everyone even though judging by your posts, you are already ahead of the curve and "get it"! It is kinda like when all you had to do was direct link and make tons of cash on the Internet in affiliate marketing. It was good while it lasted, but all good things come to an end. "Getting Found" on the web is great, but like you pointed out, the bottom line is does this ultimately lead to money being made for your customer. There are tons of firms that can whip up an SEO and/or PPC campaign to drive traffic, but far too often, the end result is that the ROI isn't there. Why, traffic increases which generally makes customers happy in the beginning, but when it is time to justify the cost, if no customer conversion takes place, then what is the point? That is when business owners give you the boot!

      In fact, one of the first questions I ask a customer is "Does your website make money for you?". Most say "No" and then the lightbulb goes on and I've got 'em cold because I start talking about lead generation, measurable ROI, conversion metrics, offer specific landing pages, etc. which is a very different conversation than they are used to, but one they love having!

      This stuff is old hat to you, but to many it is a wide open area of opportunity that should be explored.

      E.

      But the reality is that most leads are wasted. Period.

      So... business SAYS they want more leads, but what does that actually mean?

      "MORE LEADS MORE LEADS" is just throwing good money after bad if they don't have their act together. Yet, that's exactly what business owners and senior management thinks the solution to be.

      Churn and burn baby.... lol... maybe in 1988 but not now.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Chamberlain
    I am pretty new to the offlien consulting arena but have done my research!

    There are many business owners in my family and I did a quick survey....

    3 business owners...1 week

    Between them they had 15 calls asking if they wanted a website, and out of those 15, 9 peoples response to any objection was that they could get them on the first page of google in a month.

    Is that all theses people have?

    As a consultant you want to provide a complete solution.

    Go into the business and find out what they are actually doing to market themselves, are thee tracking their marketing, do they market to previous customers or do they just concentrate on generating new ones!

    Many businesses follow up campaigns are either non existent or very weak, one or two follow ups and they give up.

    People are leaving some serous cash on the table by providing minimal solutions - if you are already working for somebody - you are only a few questions away from turning a $X,XXX job into a $XX,XXX one!

    Ask them about


    Customer reactivations systems - Wake up the existing customers! It costs between 7 and 14 times more to generate a new lead, than it does to sell to a previous customer!

    USP - What sets their business apart from ALL the competition.

    Upsells - Once a customer enters the sales funnel, what happens? Do they just pay - and that's it? Find out if the business upsells services/products. Explain the Mcdonalds concept...do you want fries with that?

    These are 3 things I am concentrating on in my business and implemented correctly you can really impact your clients profit and loss account!
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
      Originally Posted by David Chamberlain View Post

      ..

      Is that all theses people have?

      As a consultant you want to provide a complete solution.

      ...
      I'd say you've done a good job with your homework.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by DukeNasty View Post

      Far more businesses fail because of a lack of top line revenue growth (sales) as opposed to growing too fast. Most businesses would love to have the problem of growing too fast which is like you said a huge problem if you don't have the capacity/resources to grow, but when sales don't exceed cost (and the banks won't lend like they used to) you have a recipe for disaster. I see this more often than not...especially in this financial environment.

      E.
      Granted. Lack of revenue is probably the fatal blow to more businesses than anything else.

      However, whether it's a manufacturing company or a one-man lawn service, burying them in leads or orders they aren't prepared to handle is not the answer. I think it was Dan Kennedy who said that good marketing can kill a bad business faster than almost anything else.

      Originally Posted by David Chamberlain View Post

      I am pretty new to the offlien consulting arena but have done my research!

      There are many business owners in my family and I did a quick survey....

      3 business owners...1 week

      Between them they had 15 calls asking if they wanted a website, and out of those 15, 9 peoples response to any objection was that they could get them on the first page of google in a month.

      Is that all these people have?
      Sadly, yes.

      I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "first page of Google" is not the holy grail that will deliver untold riches simply because it exists.

      1. Getting the first page is easy if you target a keyword that no one searches for or competes for. Get the number one listing on page one, and you still get nothing.

      2a. If you get that first page for a keyword people use, you still have to compete with every other possible choice on the screen for that click - including that red X in the upper right corner.

      2b. If you get the first page for a keyword people use for research or entertainment, and you win the contest above, the odds of converting that click into actual, bankable business are less than a sure thing.

      3. Okay, you beat obstacles 1 and 2. You're on the first page of Google for a buying keyword that people actually search on, and you get your share of the clicks. What, they didn't tell you that just because the keyword gets 50,000 searches a month you won't get all 50,000? Shame on them. Anyway, even if you get your fair share of the clicks from that results page, you still have to convert that visitor into a lead or an order. Once you get the order, you have to fulfill it in such a way that, at minimum, you don't have to make a refund.

      Don't get me wrong - being on the first page of Google for the right terms is better than not being there. But simply being there isn't enough. You have to generate a positive return on the investment of time and energy and resources it took to get you there.
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      • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
        [QUOTE=JohnMcCabe;1182256]Granted. Lack of revenue is probably the fatal blow to more businesses than anything else.

        However, whether it's a manufacturing company or a one-man lawn service, burying them in leads or orders they aren't prepared to handle is not the answer. I think it was Dan Kennedy who said that good marketing can kill a bad business faster than almost anything else.


        I hear you on the Dan Kennedy stuff, but experience tells me that this just isn't the case in this environment. Companies are struggling and need help boosting profits and revenues because working capital is so restricted. Bank financing is tight, they are limited on what they can do with their lines of credit (if they still have them), and are looking for any way to do more with less.

        I have one customer that is a local chain of "hot wing" restaurants. He has the opportunity to expand in a new development and the developer is giving him a much larger concession for buildout and willing to finance initial inventory (much more than a developer would normally do in good times). This is a fantastic location, but the bank won't lend like before even though all the research projects that the entire development is a home run (lots of high end stores and the demographics are fantastic). So the only option is to to put more of his personal funds in the deal which is why maintaining and increasing his sales across his mini empire is critical.

        Every single customer I talk to these days is looking at capitalizing on their competitors weaknesses in this environment and looking for opportunities to grow market share. No one is talking about having too much business these days.

        E.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Riddle
    When someone says they want first page of google my reply is "what's Google?"

    I get a lot of shocked looks but it opens the door to explain why that is a false goal.

    Mark Riddle
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    Today isn't Yesterday, - Products are everywhere if your eyes are Tuned!
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