If Mobile Sites Are So Hot, Why Is It That Nobody Wants One?

Can you share what your pricing is?

It could be you are offering them a price that does not fit their budgets. So you need to go after customers with better budgets or adjust your pricing.

Without knowing more I can't be sure why they are saying no. They don't see the value in it that is clear but the why behind that I don't know.

Instead of trying to sell mobile websites, your presentation should focus on getting customers for their businesses.

No if anything your price might be too low though I am a fan of upfront fee plus hosting.

Hosting = $29/mo? IDK I think I'd go lower but charge $299 up front.

It seems like you are offering a lot but what are you offering the customers? Aka how does it relate to their businesses? I think that may be the disconnect here.

How will paying you this amount bring them business? Why will it bring them business? Also have them do the math. It will bring how many customers per month? How much is a customer worth? etc.

What are you doing as far as following up after your inital meeting? Are you leaving the door open for a return visits? as you develop additional ideas to drive traffic to the M site do you the oppprunity to repitch? B2B is all about relationship building and I was just curious to see how you are working on building the relationship.

It appears you only tried to sell them only the aesthetic benefits of having a mobile website. I see you made no mention of how, by using your $29/month mobile website, it would bring in more customers, thus bringing in more income. Like it was stated earlier, business owners don't want or need a mobile website just to have a mobile website. If you can translate to them how your product/service will bring in more customers, then I'm sure you would have had better conversion rates. Show them a (good) ROI and there should be no qualms of using what you have to offer.

Did you make any mention of the approximate number of people searching for their services from their mobile phones? How about the search engine penalizations they'll incur for not having a mobile website (myth?). Those that do own websites, how did their site display on a mobile browser? Did you happen to show the comparisons between the two?

As far as niches, I'd target those that deal in emergency situations. You listed locksmiths, and I would venture to say towing companies would be another niche to target. Unless you're carrying your laptop around and you find yourself locked out of your house or stranded on the side of the road, your mobile phone (if it's equipped with a web browser) is your only source of research and possible solution. How about service companies, such as HVAC, plumbers, etc.? Granted, folks could do a search on their laptop/desktop at home, but they're something to consider for mobile as well.

We as mobile marketers know that everything is trending towards mobile, so it can be frustrating when potential clients fail to realize what seems simple and normal to us. I'm sure it will be a matter of time, but til then, keep pressing on!

I used to own 2 pizza places and a steak, seafood and pasta house I had these for around 12 years. I was pretty well set as far as food suppliers go, so this one food rep came in one day, introduced his self and asked if he could price out what I was currently buying, I told him politely that as much food as I purchase that I was getting super good deals, he said fair enough and walked out the door.

The very next week on the same day he walked in again, he said he was just stopping by with a flier on the weekly specials his company was running, I didn't give him a order or really the time of day. Well he kept doing this every week on the same day and always got the same answer. After about 4 or 5 weeks of this I thought that if this guy comes in week after week and week after week he gets turned down then maybe I should give him a crack at it.

On one week when he came in I was ready for him with all of my invoices for the last 4 months,, he sat down and for a couple of hours he went through line by line and priced me out, well to my amazement he saved me $2500 per week on my purchases so he walked out that day with a 12k order...

You might ask what does this have to do with mobile sites and qr codes,, well this guy was not dumb by stopping by every week he was building a trust with me, he was letting me know that he was there every week and I could count on him to be there for me.

So the moral of the story is,, stop by and say hi from time to time,, don't be pushy and eventually you will see the benefits.

It work for any niches.
Build a mobile directory for each niche you want to target: Dentists, restaurants...

Then go out face to face and suggest them their mobile website like you did before but add the following: If you order a mobile site we include free your site in it as it's a mobile directory. A $$$ value!

Now if they don't see any of their competitors they might say not interested, what you should do is get businesses a free test like 1 year subscription and 3 months free limited to 10 people, now you have these 10 people you can go out and chase other businesses for full price.

It's always because they see competitors in it that make them a decision

Hi Mike

As you have been in sales I understand that you know that it is all about testing and measuring.

Finding the right approach can sometimes take a lot of work but once you find the right approach then you find the gold.

I tried 30 different ways at the beginning of the year and here are some that worked for me.

1. I established a QR Code site for Australia at Marketing For Australian Businesses with a generator that sends me the people who generate QR Codes for their business and this gives me 20 to 30 leads a month.

I also get a lot of phone calls for clients who just want to get a QR Code and Mobile Site.

2. There is an old saying in Internet Marketing which states the money is in the list. When I started I did not have a list so I contacted businesses that did and did some deals which got me established and also got me referrals. Printers, promotions companies, advertisers etc.

3. I hired a lady to do moc ups for businesses and walked in with a QR Code to their moc up and this converts quite well for cold calling.

4. I set up a business listing site at Australian Business Listings which has also given me a number of warm leads.

5. I do a number of free charity mobile sites which has provided a number of leads which have converted to new customers.

6. I do a small add in local papers

So this is just a few of the strategies that I have done which have allowed me do do a lot of mobile websites.

Mix it up till you find the seems of gold. You will find when you find one client then you can get others in the same niche. Some of the clients niches that I have got are:

Wineries, Mechanics, plumbers, Event managers, Retailers especially clothes and salons, manufactures who want to provide extra information such as bedding, spare parts, instruments.

Coupon mobile sites are also a good way to get more business. So retailers can add a QR Code to link to a coupon which people can redeem.

Another area is to look at current QR Codes on offer and see if they direct to a main site or mobile site and then contact them to show how their marketing is falling down.

Finally always have some upsells like looking at their current desktop site and offer your services to help get more leads etc.

Quentin

Restaurant owners can be converted and it's one of the hottest niches I am cracking at the moment. If you can't crack restaurant owners then I don't think you'll find it any easier with other industries... just being honest.

1. Face to face sales is definitely going to help so you have that going for you.

2. As someone else mentioned (and for all I know you probably are) focus on getting them more customers and more money rather than the mobile site itself. The mobile site is just a tool used to get them that extra money and business.

3. Go after those restaurants that desperately need your services. I suggest a quick read of this thread as it will help you uncover those websites that turn up blank on all Apple mobile devices: http://www.warriorforum.com/mobile-m...-tutorial.html

4. When it comes to pricing make sure you use different packages to help the customer see the value. If they have never heard of mobile websites before then there is no way for them to know whether or not the price you have quoted is good value or not. I suggest using a simple strategy as outlined in this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ould-help.html

5. I would simplify your offer. Get rid of the mobile web app, custom splash screen, maybe even the QR code. Just keep the offer nice and simple. Sometimes less is more. You can turn away prospects by giving them too much to think about.

6. If a customer has Google Analytics installed on their website then you can actually show them the exact percentage of people arriving on their site via mobile devices. This should be enough to scare most restaurant owners into action. If they don't have it installed then offer to install it for free and show them after a few weeks how much mobile traffic they are potentially throwing away.

Seems that you may have exhausted every avenue so far, so maybe going about the business of building a optin list would be the best thing to do, after you build it to a lucrative size then revisit the establishments but this time go in at $80.00 per month and $250.00 for the site.

On another note, I recently did a main website for a client and threw in a mobile site for good measure, and am running Google analytics on both. After a few weeks, stats show that about 30% are accessing the site from mobile device. That's 3 out of 10 visitors and that will only increase over time I'm sure.

So there is definitely a reason to have a mobile site. But its like being in 1994 and trying to tell a biz owner he needs a website. Tough nut to crack, but eventually it will be commonplace.

I'm glad I came upon this post...I have been contemplating getting into offline marketing and providing this type of service. However, I have been very skeptical simply from the point of view that I know how difficult sales can be. I do not want to replace one job, with relative security, for another job with various stakeholders as my boss.

Getting a client is great, but the flip side of that is you also now have a "boss"...and business owners, in my experience, tend to be demanding sorts.

So, I've really hesitated getting into this entire arena....I dread having to make an appointment, fight through traffic, try to find the place...only to get..uhm..he isn't here right now, can you come back...

IMHO, sales, is not exactly glamorous...and if it is relationship selling, as seems to be the new buzzword, well, that is even worse because now you have a relationship to manage rather than a done and gone transaction.

I think I'll still try to build my knowledge base, but I'm going to stick my toe in gently...

Thanks for your honest assessment...

Maybe it's your approach. Watch this video on Simon Sinek to maybe understand more about why you are having trouble.

What I have been doing lately is shooting Jing videos and showing them their site on the iphone tester site and I find a competitor' site and show them theres. I also show them the monthly searches per the Google KW tool. I have been getting people that respond (my problem is my follow-up) and am hoping to close a few soon.

I have a client that I am trying to convince (his actual business gets around 250 mobile searches/mo) and he still does not see the value.

I am not a salesman, I couldn't sell a dollar for 50 cents...

My tip would be to stay away from QRcodes, except from some techies and us IMers 90% of the normal population has no clue of what QR codes are... you will be wasting your time wit it... more on that here http://www.warriorforum.com/mobile-m...-qr-codes.html

The way i do it is i use postcards, here is how i do it

I search 10/15 restaurants/bars, dinners
I go for the businesses that advertise online/offline first but if i have had then all i will go after all the others to.

Then i create the websites, i have a system in place where i easily change the colors to the color of the original website and ad the logo of the business, the pages are already there and i don't change that, i have a menu page, wine-page, Google maps with address info, contact page, business hours page and about us page

When i am done i take a screenshot of how their site look in a iPhone emulator and i take a screenshot of the new mobile site, i put them together on a postcard with a good headline and a personalized URL to a landing-page with a video, where i explain all of the benefits of this mobile website...

I show them the Google keyword tool.. i show them a report by the government planning agency telling that mobile internet is exploding, i show them articles from newspapers and i tell them how they will get more clients into their establishment, that is really important

I also have a live demo of their mobile site on the landing-page that they can play around with....

Then i sent these postcards out, most of the time i get about 2/3 calls right away and i always sell them, if they call i know they will buy because i have taken away all the barriers even before speaking to them... (i belief it's cold pre-selling) and after 24/48 hours i follow up with a call or a email and often i sell about 2 more, so out of the 15 i create, i sell about 4/5 mobile sites on average.


I hope you get what i am trying to say, as you can see English is not my fist language, if you have any questions let me know

Dave

Mike,
First of all be grateful that some of those sales didn't close. Having clients that don't value your service is a lose lose proposition and will make your life miserable.

Also be grateful that you have heard their objections. Now think about the business savvy restaurant owner versus those you spoke with.

Pick the restaurants that are advertising. They at least have a clue.

My first paid mobile client told me the Coupon Mailer gave her a better return than her mobile site and Text Club Table Tents.

Actually, the table tents were still in the back room of the restaurant and they had not even ok'd the mobile content. So of course there was no return. People can' t text them if they can't see the number inside the Kinkos bag.

Then she said she wanted to put the mobile thing on hold - I was actually estatic!!!
Mind you, they paid me and are putting this on hold with table tents sitting in the back room instead of using the QR codes and text codes on their advertising as advised. No subscribers.

Now contrast that with another paid client, ready from day one. Adding QR codes to everything, building their text list, you name it.

I am so glad that I had the experience of 2 totally different restaurant owners about 3 streets apart.
Both were cold walk-ins and totally different responses from beginning to end.

Just think of this as your time to get paid to learn. And don't quit.

I have found that having mockups to show for mobiles and doing SMS/ Text Marketing demos with owners has helped them get the connection and closed the sale.

Sheesh, Fladlien's tips alone probably blow most mobile WSO's out of the water.

Quentin and WillR excepted of course.

At the end of the day ladies and gents its just another expense. If you can not prove the value of what your selling. You can not show the client why they need this not the business but "them" Then you might as well not even bother showing up.

Hi Mike

Thanks so much for starting this thread, as I'm about to start in mobile and having got a few WSO's, I wasn't sure where to start - actually, it was going to be restaurants! I really appreciate you sharing your experiences and I thank everyone for their great ideas and contributions, which I've found very helpful.

I'm sorry I can't make much of a contribution at this time, but I do want to thank you. Perhaps I can say that I've had good success with video (Camtasia & Jing) in other market areas and I'm thinking of offering video to compliment mobile. Something like a short personal intro from the business owner - like a quick interview. People do love the personal touch. Thanks again and best wishes.

Mak25,

are you selling them the QR code+mobile site combination? Or are you showing them the ROI or increased traffic or other "tangible" benefits? Restaurant owners are very low-tech (barely checking email), and while the mobile site looks cool, you have to help them make that mental leap from "cool mobile site" to ROI and how this is going to make them more money.

Are you on LinkedIn? Join the "Restaurant Network" group, and follow this thread: I would love to hear some opinions on mobile marketing for restaurants. There are studies that conclude restaurants can add 15 to 25% to their bottom line. Please watch this video on mobile marketing. | LinkedIn (and there are a few others on mobile marketing for restaurants)

a few points from that thread discussion:
"We've seen ROI [mobile marketing] as high as $32 for every $1 spent, and we've seen text offers on slow nights represent as much as 41% of net revenue in one evening."

This is the info that lights up business owners.

You asked:
>> Your question about why will it bring them business? And how many customers a month it
will bring them? How can anyone REALLY answer that?

of course! Just look at any site's Google Analytics for mobile devices, and its clear that over 20% of visitors are using mobile devices. ALL of them are likely to click the back button (unless they are really desperate) if the site is not mobile-friendly, and according to google, the visitor engagement increases by 85% if the site is mobile-friendly.


Also, there needs to be a specific strategy.. Scanning a QR code just to go to a mobile site may not be enough.. Scanning a QR code to fill out a mobile form to join the club is something. Scanning a QR code to fill out a mobile feedback form and/or leave a review on their Google Place is better (drives their "google map" rankings).

Also, sell them mobile apps, not sites. Most small business owners understand "apps", but not mobile sites. A mobile site is a hybrid mobile app (can be saved on the phone's home screen, etc).

Ping me if you'd like to discuss this further : )

Depending on where you live, some have areas where 3G or 4G are not popular so sure business owners will not be interested.

The only effective way to get clients it's a demo, bring your mobile phone with you, and show them their site not optimized, then talk about mobile stats....
If they don't have a website I do suggest a website design price quote and give them the mobile site free as bonus.

Is it hype like some says? NO! it's really hot!

So I'm just starting out and find this very useful....

However, I've had success...

Originally, I planned on targetting restaurants for the same reasons everyone does - THEY can BENEFIT greatly from it. (Hell, EVERY TIME, I want to eat out - I pull out my cell phone and type "food" in map app. Only restaurants with a red pin are considered and only those with a mobile site that I can check menu items are selected...)

Anyway... I used to work for a couple different restaurants and found that low margin argument to be true when I asked myself if my boss would buy from me.

So, TRY this on for size and see if it works for you.

I went to Craigslist and made an ad for some young folks (which I, too, am 26) to contact me. I don't drink and don't know much of anything about the bar and night club scene.... but I figured most 18-25 yr olds do.

Turns out, these bars and clubs are HOT in my area. They are buying mobile sites like wildfire.

$197 setup with an annual hosting contract which includes domain ($29/mo) billed monthly.
Includes a listing for google places, if they don't already have one.

Hope that works for you.

All these techniques seem great. BUT the real question is:

Do they work if you're old, ugly and have bad teeth? I ask this question because I believe these things are holding me back.

Thanks to all for the great thread.

I'm not working with offline clients, but I want to present my theoretical approach and to summarize all tips discussed earlier.

mak25 you wrote:

IMO that's your main Problem! If your clients have no idea why the need a mobile website or what mobile promotion/marketing is (some of them don't even know about websites), how do they can make ROI if they pay you 350$ and have no clue what to do after they give you the money?

It's not about hot or not, it's about to solve the problem to the end. That means don't let your clients down.

Instead make packages/offers with marketing/seo/coupon creation/... support. It would be great if someone could post an example with prices.

Make a split test with different methods.

I think the best way to start is to speak to clients who are on the same level with you. It means: client who already has a website and try to market his business but do it wrong or just not enough.

You can find this type of clients on groupon.com You can contact them and offer to buy your mobile site AND your HELP to promote their business. Tell them that you also offer a research report "5 big mistakes you should avoid promoting your business on groupon" (you can find the info yourself or hire a copywriter) [Don't say it's free, it's in the price!]
Or offer other research reports. I'm sure you can find a lot Mobile-PLRs.

You can also offer as bonus Video creation or other services and outsource them.

I'm not 60 years old and I don't have big experience in sales. But I was in this "niche" and I figured out that you can't use the same techniques for every niche (no-ever-green-method).

If you try different things and tips in this thread, than you will definitely close a deal.


ToniK

Hey cool post man. I've been selling mobile sites to local small biz and yeah it is a tough sell sometimes for sure.

This is what has worked for me though...I will set up a demo site ...mobile ready...and put it on a subdomain that I have and will actually walk into the store and demo it for the owner.

So you first show the owner how crappy his site looks on your smartphone when you pull it up...having to scroll around...can't read anything etc...point out all the negatives...

Then show him your demo-mobile optimized site and how good it looks on your phone. The show him how easy it is to click on buttons to navigate around etc.

After that, if they don't see the value or understand the importance of having a mobile optimized site...then move on to the next one. Price shouldn't be the obstacle.

You also want to talk about getting them more clients....how people search local on their smart phones...and how to utilize QR codes for coupons and how owners can send push notifications ( this is where having an app comes in) and tell them they NEED to get with the times and the trends or be left in the cold.

You have to make the presentation like you're talking to a buddy....not selling...but showing the owner that they need to get on-board with optimizing their site for smart phones.

Why not hire a pretty lady to get the deals done with business owners. Look sex sells your ugly mug is not attractive to male business owners. Your selling the wrong way, hire a sexy lady train her about sms how the business owner should be targeting every customer by providing a discount by joining there vip sms discount club. Once you do that for 12 months, do the math and explain how it works even if they only sign up 10 people a day 10 x 7= 70 people per week. 70 x 4weeks in a month = 280 a month X 12 month= 3,360 customers on his sms list after a year. People will move, leave the list or whatever, but keep building the list. Now if he could send a message with a click of a button to 3,360 with a 95% read rate of the text message,what do you think his response rate would be. If direct mail has 1 or 2% response rate then i think he should get at least 15% every time he sends a message out. Now if the business owner does not have a boner yet after telling him that, then this guy is thinking with his wrong head. Now lets calculate 15% X 3,360 = 504. So if he could get 504 people in that week offering a special discount all they would have to do is show the discount code or coupon in their phone to the waitress to get the discount, no printing required or no forgetting coupon unless you did not bring your cell phone, instead of his employees picking there nose most of there shift, maybe they can be busy working and lets calculate his profits. 504 X 20$ avg meal ticket = 10,080 extra which he would have never gotten that week. So if you can explain i can increase your revenue by 10,080 every week next year are u willing to listen to me. Forget about selling 300 website sell them how your going to bring in extra money big time. Tell them you only pay me 100 a month for me to create and maintain the list and a % of profits you make off the marketing i do. First time you send of the sms he gets flooded for that week and makes good money, ask him to show you the sales for that week. If he says he did bad, say ok not problem i will delete the list and you go on your way, but if he does really good you have him by the nuts so you hold the bargaining chip. He will negotiate 10% to 25% of profits because he was not doing that before your were there. Once he has a big list tell him i can make more money buy using the list you have in your sms datebase by joint venturing with a non competing business. That's where the big money is making the list and using it to make a an offer to another business and you take % of the profits. its called joint venturing.

This is one thing you will use out of this post the most important thing you will ever tell a business owner.
What business owners don't know is that if they increase there repeat business by 5% they will increase there profits by 35%.

Don't be a bitter old man enjoy your time on this earth.

This is not hype. Someone's inability to sell does NOT equate to a product not being needed. It equates to a poor salesman or a client who refuses to see the potential of that service. Mobile is here and it's here to stay. There's plenty of third party data and figures to back that up. Very soon there will be more people using mobile phones than desktop computers.

To think mobile websites are not essential to the future online success of business is a HUGE oversight. The fact that every business needs to think about creating a mobile optimized web presence and that only around 5% of all domains registered currently have a mobile optimized version, means there is a HUGE market out there for this service. You can call it hype, I call it reality.

It's always going to take a little extra work when you are selling something that is relatively new and unknown to most. But if you would rather wait around until mobile websites are mainstream and every business already has one then you may as well get back to your day job asap.

Prosperwithdnb, hi

You made some good points there, but you'd be better off breaking your text up into paragraphs. Your one block was too daunting to read.

then just make them wants it..
nobody wants it if you cant persuade them right

Yeah something like that, you have to do your testing of course, i always test in batches of 50 and i am not at the point that they are almost perfect lol.... i use 10cm x 15cm cards, i have tried bigger cards but i haven't seen any difference between them (except the cost)

But you have to test them for yourself because i life in Holland and that is different than the US, way different

I thought of this thread just now as I was reading this short Jay Abraham report:

JAY ABRAHAM 101
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE JAY ABRAHAM PHILOSOPHY
AND STRATEGIES FOR CREATING GREATER SUCCESS, INCOME AND WEALTH

On page 2, I found that, under market drivers, his first subheading was "Strategy", and all he wrote under it was: "Change of strategy is the fastest, easiest, most powerful way to change your results."

That might sound simple and obvious, but do not make the mistake of taking a dismissive attitude toward it because of that-sure it's simple, but nevertheless profound.

If your current strategy is yielding frustratingly lackluster results, it's time to brainstorm a new one, or at least a shift-and the most useful posts in this thread can jump-start that process.

When reading threads like this, I often ask myself "which posts would Jay Abraham find most worthwhile, and most strategic"?

There have been several that really interested me as I read them the other day. The one that still stands out most for me is #53, by Dave Zegers, aka Yellowgreenmedia; the combination of before/after screenshot postcards, with personalized URLs the postcard directs the prospect to.

Often the brilliance of Abraham type ideas, is simply putting a couple of elements together in ways others haven't thought of, are too lazy to do, or for whatever reason, have generally overlooked.

I think Dave has done that in the particular combination of mediums he used to create a strong impression (not saying nobody else has-but Dave gets credit for introducing it to me, and to the thread).

Of course he could be making up his results, but even so, the idea seems to have merit, just because it makes sense. Obviously, only testing will tell.

When what we're doing isn't working, most of us often either get discouraged and give up, or get bull-headed, and try the same thing even harder. But there's a third choice that makes a lot more sense from an Abraham inspired viewpoint: change strategies, as the quote suggests.

Several excellent posts point the way to do just that, and Dave's happens to have stuck out in my mind, as one I can imagine winning the Abraham seal of approval.

Not too long ago I thought I'd try an experiment. On speculation, I built a complete custom website for a restaurant, with all the bells and whistles. I completed the site and made sure it was getting traffic before I tried to sell it to them. When they turned it down, I kept dropping the price (over several contacts with them), until I got all the way down to $50 (total, not recurring). They wouldn't even pay that much, even after I showed them it was already getting around 100 visitors per month.

I'm talking about an entire custom website, not just a mobile-friendly version. And I'm not deficient as a salesman, nor as a website builder. I've been selling to offline customers for a long time. It's just that there are many business owners out there who are simply too stupid to understand their own situation. After all, these buffoons didn't even seem to care that they were losing out on an existing 100 visitors per month (and growing) traffic. Which they chose to blow off, rather than pay a measly $50 (one time cost...not recurring...and it even included a domain name they really liked).

They do spend money on advertising, flyers, etc. Stuff they already understand and believe in. And this was an upscale restaurant with two locations...not a tiny hole-in-the wall.

No amount of technology or salesmanship will be effective on a lot of these people. You have to pre-qualify them in some way. I already knew how much they spend on advertising and promotion, but I guess that wasn't enough in the way of pre-qualification.

Bottom line: Restaurants can be tough customers, no matter what you're selling.

Interesting experiment. May I ask if you got them as a client? I've been looking at the restaurant business for mobile, but I think I might look elsewhere. Whats your view?

Have you done any research to see if there are similar companies that are currently using mobile sites and mobile marketing. If you can locate real life examples that may also be competitors, it might give your prospects more to think about.

Mobile marketing is hot, but hot rarely translates into easy sales. The majority of the prospects you encounter simply haven't made the connection. While $29 is not a huge sum, I would hardly call it "paltry". To your prospects, it's an additional $29 on top of what they already payout in expenses.

The great part is you have two new clients. Once you help them turn a profit with their new mobile site, it's relatively easy to introduce them to other mobile marketing ideas and offer additional services.

Best of Luck!

mak25,

I hear where you are coming from. My credibility may not seem like much considering my post count. And my age and experience may be a drop in the bucket compared to yours...

I know marketing, I know web development, and I know video production. I also know a thing or to about mobile.

We are still selling to a lot of potential clients that are still very much computer illiterate. Much less knowing anything about websites, mobile devices, and how they work. That's not what they specialize in. It's my job to educate them in the simplest possible way of how they will benefit by having a mobile site. Mobile globally is still in it's infancy and all of these business owners will never see the value in this until mobile marketing and mobile site are at their peak of demand. It's like this for everything. It was only 15 years ago people were still on dial up because DSL and Cable did not have a lot of demand. This made websites harder to sell as production was not that efficient. Not to mention websites look horrible then.

I have actually had a pretty good amount of success in offering mobile sites to new clients using a very different approach in the form of a unique service... I am the only firm in my area or probably in my state that has a complete mobile CMS platform. When I mention this and explain to them that they have complete control of adding and removing content on their mobile site, the value is HUGE! Especially clients who are already familiar and use a CMS. (No it's not WP)

That's my 2 cents and a little success story. I am planning on releasing my first WSO on it the first on the year.

Hey mak25, first of all thank you for your service. It's because of people like you that we continue to have the freedoms we enjoy here in the U.S.A. I am a late 80s/early 90s era Navy veteran, and I am humbled by those like you who served in Vietnam.

Can I ask one question to you? You said that you have been in sales for most of your career, right? What methods worked best for you throughout your career in sales - what was your sweet spot? Did you do best doing group presentations, cold calling, cold walking, warm lead follow up, networking, or what? Maybe you could segue all that great experience and apply what you did/do best to this; really leverage your strengths, you know?

^^^^^^
Great idea on the FB likes! I had forgotten that any FB Page posts end up on the users page.

judging by the responses here...the issue is not the product, but the pitchman.

You are the issue friend.

When I read the first post, it was CLEAR you were "selling" websites for a "phone" - no small business owner cares about that.

You may have been in sales for all these years and be 60 years old, but the advice given to "show them how to get customers and not buy a website" was very sound.

The next best advice was that you needed to be persistent and build relationships

That of course was BS, and you later asked how often you should follow up and why you should follow up with someone "not interested" (probably because they are not interested "now" and will be later...or your timing was bad - it is clear you do not know how to set appointments by the way you described the short amount of time..but anyway...)

With all these years of sales experience, you should have a long customer list to call from. People you have relationships with that see you as a problem solver and solution provider...oh wait...thats BS...you want the telemarketing route -- SLAM THE SALE the minute you meet and MOVE ON!

I guess thats why you are not getting referrals either...

See a pattern here?

Sounds like you are from that old school hardclosertakechargecontroltheconversationfindthei rpainandassumethesalesandler mentality that stopped working 2 decades ago.

You are the kind of rep Sales Managers call coaches like me in to train. And your type either pitches a fit and leaves because they know it all (but don't perform) or they learn and grow and become rock stars.

Bottom line: People buy from people. and they buy from people they know, like and trust. Clearly they don't know you, and you don't give them time to trust you, and if you give customers the attitude you have given the people here trying to help you, calling it all BS...well I am amazed you made even 2 sales.

I assure you majority of those owners will buy a mobile site at sometime. You are on something that is cutting edge. I remember when I sold websites, and THEY were considered cutting edge. Why buy one when you can get one free from GEOCITIES? lol

Yet I grew my company from 0 to 10 employees in 2 years...

You have a lot of pride. Clearly Mobile sites sell, and sell well. Clearly you are not selling any..."Law of the Lid", Friend (21 irrefutable laws of leadership)...

but you don't see the problem as you...its the "stupid customers":rolleyes:

The other problem is you have the mindset of a salesman, you are concerned about what you have to offer, and you clearly have not been a business owner, and therefore you are not concerned about what you can do for them.

The minute you figure out your attitude will determine your sales, you will be able do dozens of sales per month.

my 2¢
(which I am sure you will call "BS")

CONGRATS!!!! Tony, awesome job and I am glad you are charging what you are worth!
May 2012 be even better for you with more clients than you can handle!

Love to hear when something is working out well. Good stuff!

Where does outsourcing fit into any of this? (lots of great resonses btw)

SHOW them the value! Get a mobile phone, search for say pizza restaurant, and SHOW THEM their competitors who DO have a Google places listing, that leads to their mobile site. People on the go want a site easy to get to what they want, they don't want to zoom in to see the phone number on their regular site. Also do a MOCK-UP of their mobile site, like using dudamobile.com, its easy and free. Once you show them THEIR site in mobile form, they are more likely to buy than showing them your previous work. Also keep in mind that a lot of people may not buy from your the first time, so follow up! Not necessarily bu phone calls, just send them a post card thanking them for the time they spent with you and "reminding" them of your offer. Maybe also get someone else to go with you and give you tips on what you're doing right / wrong on your presentations. Good luck! Hope you get more sales : )

Wow Thanks so much good input from so many people from all levels so good job for starting this thread and I think if Mak25 didnt want to learn he wouldn't be a Warrior Forum Member as some referred to his skill sets and attitude. Im glad for one he started the Thread it allowed me to learn so much.
He also said something that really sticks in my mind hes in a smaller area of New Jersey. One thing I observed over years is people have routines especially in smaller towns and probably already know where they want to go eat or drink. So some areas this idea of mobile web sites etc..just isnt that valid IMHO.
At least 1 or 2 people here commented on Market Research. Hitting the nail on the head I think in this case. He Mak25 described lots of smaller towns back to back probably wont be pulling out their smart phones to see what cool restaurants are out there.
In fact I just moved to a small town and the age demographics are older people with no cell phone or an old one nothing more than an old Razor style like my parents have and barely know how to use it. Plus the coverage if they had one is horrible for high speed connection.
In most smaller community's there really aren't that many dinning out options. So people already have their favorites again Creatures of Habit-So if anything why not reverse prospect and go to people and tell them to ask the owner to do something like offer rewards programs or only target places that already do offer rewards programs.
Robert Kiyosaki sold his first books with this method. No Book stores wanted to carry Rich Dad Poor Dad, they didn't see the value or demand. He developed blitz sent out people from his friends, neighbors and JV partners to encourage to the stores asking for the stores to carry it.

Hi mak25 it's my feeling that especially restaurants suffer the Groupon Syndrome.
Giving a 50% rebate after which they have to share 50/50 with Groupon and then leaves them with 25%.

My suggestion would be to go after all the Groupon etc. advertiser and do a reverse calculation of their "advertising-costs".

Search for the current Groupon offers closest to you and pick the numbers i.e. value $23 for $10 over 200 sold and do the math --> discount $13 plus $5 for groupon times 200 = $3600 for a single ad with groupon. Bet you can do better :-)

Should you be interested I'll give you some coordintes in order to make individual restaurant ads on a FB Fan page feel free to contact me, Martin

like you, Ive been in sales and marketing a Long LONG time and in my opinion the perceived value just isnt there yet. Nothing has happened to make them "see" a demand, a need or a return.
DUH!
you're not going to get many calls from an internet capable mobile phone if you dont have a mobile friendly web site.

I have an outsourcing company and I develop and promote mobile conversions and mobile sites for clients. They are ALL struggling with the same issues. I can tell you some of the things they have done or I have done for them at their request that has worked but basically the only people who see the value are the ones that have taken the risk, (good sales hook BTW that you are free to use as my gift :-)

first of all is case studies. There is info online to give you the data you need to put together a power point or a printed color graph showing things like
starbucks, amazon, ebay etc. Thier sales have all jumped in double and triple digits promoting mobile sites and apps

showing them this and then telling them you'll be showing this to competitors so he can be first or last but he knows as well as you do that is own wife or kids is using their Iphone to contact starbicks. does he think Java Joe's is happy about that?

there are two other things Ive seen work really well that I think are really good.

offer to build them an app and tell them they can use it for free BUT you make 5% of every order. This can build into an incredible recurring revenue stream very quickly because now the business assumes NO RISK but your upside can be HUGE>
once they take the deal they are also open for all kinds of upsells of dsign and features

OR
tell them they can buy it for $1800 (made up number you base your prices on perceived value and what the market will bear)

the other is get a booth at trade shows and THEY WILL COME TO YOU.
At the very least you avoid that 2 hour window.
You may think the cost is prohibitive but if you add the cost of your time, your gas and your anti-rejection juice going down. it is probably a VERY smart move

you'd be amazed at the interest level. Probably from the same people who turned you down before. EVERYBODY knows its coming they just dont see the value to them in their bank account yet so they're waiting. BUT you launch the app taking 5% and promote it at a show and
0H MY GOD!

CUT ME IN AND I'll build the apps and provide tech support!!!!!!!!!

Finally, (I dont care for this one but Ive seen it work)
build your own perceived value.
set up a network of people (pay them if you have to), to start calling up in Jan asking what their mobile website address is. have them act shocked when they are told there isnt one and have them ask for the number of a competitor before they hang up

rest. hello thanks for calling Joes
customer:what is your mobile website?
rest: sorry we dont have one can I take your order
cust : no I wanted to look at a menu and click with my phone. do you know the number for the restaurant around the corner from you. They have a mobile site I think
Rest: Im sorry I dont.

click bbbzzzzzzzzzzz

rest: Hey boss. Just got another call about a mobile site


personally I dont believe this is smart business. Building up fake expectations is NEVER good in my opinion and I wouldnt share it except Ive seen it work