need help w/ customer objection. call tomorrow.

Jarrod · 27th Nov 2012, 05:22 PM

A potential client I reached out to earlier this week is interested in having me build a mobile site for him. However, he wants to have a call first with me and him and the guy that currently manages his main website.

I use EZ Mobile Site Generator (premium wordpress plugin) to build sites.

The guy that manages the website replied back to the business owner (who is very interested) with the following:

"We don't need that. For the site all I need is to change the layout for the mobile platform. No biggie there.

And I know Wordpress VERY well. No way Wordpress is something to use for an ecommerce platform like SnS (how is he even thinking about handling all the orders and integrating with the OMS?!?!? Wordpress is for blogging and entry level sites, not SnS).

It sounds like all you want is when you go to the site from a phone you get to see a streamlined version of the site, not the full one, a mobile version (you will be redirected to m.domain.com instead of the full site). Initially I thought you want a native application like an iPad or iPhone application, but to have just a mobile version of the site it's not problem to do on the current site (everything is already in place, build engine, ordering, OMS, all is needed is a different layout, easy to do)."

So to be honest, I am not even sure what SnS and OMS mean. (I've built a few mobile sites for clients and been through a few good mobile WSO's and don't recall ever coming across these acronyms.)

Ok, I may be a bit out of my league, and if I look like a fool in here typing this or on the call tomorrow, I'm fine with that as long as I learn from it.

Is the concern/objection valid, and how should I handle?

Any help is much appreciated.

Mr Bill · 27th Nov 2012, 11:06 PM

I would say "fine, see ya and good luck". By the time you spend arguing with people like this you could have made 100 phone calls.

Jarrod · 28th Nov 2012, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by Mr Bill

I would say "fine, see ya and good luck". By the time you spend arguing with people like this you could have made 100 phone calls.

Normally I might agree with you, but this one has the potential to become a huge client, and with a large network that can lead to many solid referrals, so I'd rather not say "see ya" to such opportunity.

Appreciate the response though. Call is in two hours, if anyone has any other thoughts/suggestions.

ppc4profit · 28th Nov 2012, 10:36 AM

SNS may be snsepro but who knows.

It appears that you prompted the prospect to consider Mobile and there is a person in place who feels threatened by your approach. Your problem is that there is an existing relationship and that person has a good idea of the current technology platform - you do not. You will struggle to win this one over a phone call.

You may need to walk away from this one.

If you have the meeting I suggest you use it to gather information
- what is the customers business
- what does the customer want to achieve over mobile
- what is the current platform and how is the business using this

Your advantage may be that you know more about mobile marketing and customer engagement - the meeting is an opportunity to sell your strengths.

A wordpress plugin may not be the solution... if you obtain more technical information as above you will then be in a better position to make a decision - whether you can suggest a good solution to the customer or if your solution is not as good as the suggested alternative.

Jarrod · 28th Nov 2012, 11:02 AM

ppc4profit, great feedback, much thanks!

I was actually on the phone as you typed and entered your response, just got off the call.

So in the end, I had to be honest and politely step away, letting the client know after some Q&A that going the route I was proposing might not be in his best interest. Would rather step away now than sign up for something I'm not currently equipped to do and have a customer mad at me.

It was a great learning experience though. Glad I had the call.

Thanks again!

NewParadigm · 28th Nov 2012, 01:03 PM

In these cases you must ask the prospect questions so they review their current provider. Why didn't the current vendor already have them in mobile? Why did it take YOU to bring it up? Who truly has the CUSTOMER's best interest in mind, by prompting them to new IM opportunities and staying ahead of competition??? That will sit in their craw and they'll feel slighted by their current guy and either contact you in future or more likely be open to future contact. But you first have to plant the question and doubt in their minds.

Selling is kind of like dating, first you got to help them get divorced from their current situation, before they start handing you their money

Tsnyder · 29th Nov 2012, 01:24 AM

Originally Posted by Jedi Jarrod

ppc4profit, great feedback, much thanks!

I was actually on the phone as you typed and entered your response, just got off the call.

So in the end, I had to be honest and politely step away, letting the client know after some Q&A that going the route I was proposing might not be in his best interest. Would rather step away now than sign up for something I'm not currently equipped to do and have a customer mad at me.

It was a great learning experience though. Glad I had the call.

Thanks again!

Stay in touch with the client... send a thank you note... maintain
contact... your honesty will likely get you some referrals

shoopt · 29th Nov 2012, 01:43 AM

Hey Jedi
That is how we learn when you are a beginner in some field. Always try to give your best in the meetings, and learn what you can from the industry.

ppc4profit · 29th Nov 2012, 02:38 AM

Originally Posted by Jedi Jarrod

ppc4profit, great feedback, much thanks!

I was actually on the phone as you typed and entered your response, just got off the call.

So in the end, I had to be honest and politely step away, letting the client know after some Q&A that going the route I was proposing might not be in his best interest. Would rather step away now than sign up for something I'm not currently equipped to do and have a customer mad at me.

It was a great learning experience though. Glad I had the call.

Thanks again!

In the circumstances this is probably the best outcome you could reach at this time ... but as you left the customer with the impression that you had his interests at heart perhaps the door is still open.

Make contact in a month to check progress
- has the proposed mobile solution been implemented
- review how they are using Facebook / Google Plus before you call
- is Google Places relevant
- do they exploit Twitter if relevant

There is no guarantee that the existing IT staff / vendor will follow through on their alternative solution

If the guy had missed the Mobile site opportunity he could also have missed many other opportunities.

27th Nov 2012, 05:22 PM	#1
Jarrod HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 404 Thanks: 165 Thanked 270 Times in 120 Posts	need help w/ customer objection. call tomorrow. Share on: A potential client I reached out to earlier this week is interested in having me build a mobile site for him. However, he wants to have a call first with me and him and the guy that currently manages his main website. I use EZ Mobile Site Generator (premium wordpress plugin) to build sites. The guy that manages the website replied back to the business owner (who is very interested) with the following: "We don't need that. For the site all I need is to change the layout for the mobile platform. No biggie there. And I know Wordpress VERY well. No way Wordpress is something to use for an ecommerce platform like SnS (how is he even thinking about handling all the orders and integrating with the OMS?!?!? Wordpress is for blogging and entry level sites, not SnS). It sounds like all you want is when you go to the site from a phone you get to see a streamlined version of the site, not the full one, a mobile version (you will be redirected to m.domain.com instead of the full site). Initially I thought you want a native application like an iPad or iPhone application, but to have just a mobile version of the site it's not problem to do on the current site (everything is already in place, build engine, ordering, OMS, all is needed is a different layout, easy to do)." So to be honest, I am not even sure what SnS and OMS mean. (I've built a few mobile sites for clients and been through a few good mobile WSO's and don't recall ever coming across these acronyms.) Ok, I may be a bit out of my league, and if I look like a fool in here typing this or on the call tomorrow, I'm fine with that as long as I learn from it. Is the concern/objection valid, and how should I handle? Any help is much appreciated.

27th Nov 2012, 11:06 PM	#2
Mr Bill VIP Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Posts: 1,633 Thanks: 1,211 Thanked 952 Times in 497 Posts	Re: need help w/ customer objection. call tomorrow. Share on: I would say "fine, see ya and good luck". By the time you spend arguing with people like this you could have made 100 phone calls.

28th Nov 2012, 10:36 AM	#4
ppc4profit HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2007 Location: London, United Kingdom. Posts: 167 Thanks: 12 Thanked 33 Times in 25 Posts	Re: need help w/ customer objection. call tomorrow. Share on: SNS may be snsepro but who knows. It appears that you prompted the prospect to consider Mobile and there is a person in place who feels threatened by your approach. Your problem is that there is an existing relationship and that person has a good idea of the current technology platform - you do not. You will struggle to win this one over a phone call. You may need to walk away from this one. If you have the meeting I suggest you use it to gather information - what is the customers business - what does the customer want to achieve over mobile - what is the current platform and how is the business using this Your advantage may be that you know more about mobile marketing and customer engagement - the meeting is an opportunity to sell your strengths. A wordpress plugin may not be the solution... if you obtain more technical information as above you will then be in a better position to make a decision - whether you can suggest a good solution to the customer or if your solution is not as good as the suggested alternative.
	Checkout Our Fully Responsive Wordpress Templates Mobile Enable Your Wordpress Website Today - With This Plugin Online Marketing - We Help With PPC, SMS and QR Code Campaigns

28th Nov 2012, 11:02 AM	#5
Jarrod HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 404 Thanks: 165 Thanked 270 Times in 120 Posts	Re: need help w/ customer objection. call tomorrow. Share on: ppc4profit, great feedback, much thanks! I was actually on the phone as you typed and entered your response, just got off the call. So in the end, I had to be honest and politely step away, letting the client know after some Q&A that going the route I was proposing might not be in his best interest. Would rather step away now than sign up for something I'm not currently equipped to do and have a customer mad at me. It was a great learning experience though. Glad I had the call. Thanks again!

28th Nov 2012, 01:03 PM	#6
NewParadigm Senior Warrior Member Join Date: 2011 Posts: 1,141 Thanks: 628 Thanked 286 Times in 222 Posts	Re: need help w/ customer objection. call tomorrow. Share on: In these cases you must ask the prospect questions so they review their current provider. Why didn't the current vendor already have them in mobile? Why did it take YOU to bring it up? Who truly has the CUSTOMER's best interest in mind, by prompting them to new IM opportunities and staying ahead of competition??? That will sit in their craw and they'll feel slighted by their current guy and either contact you in future or more likely be open to future contact. But you first have to plant the question and doubt in their minds. Selling is kind of like dating, first you got to help them get divorced from their current situation, before they start handing you their money

29th Nov 2012, 01:43 AM	#8
shoopt HyperActive Warrior Join Date: 2012 Location: USA Posts: 174 Thanks: 7 Thanked 21 Times in 19 Posts	Re: need help w/ customer objection. call tomorrow. Share on: Hey Jedi That is how we learn when you are a beginner in some field. Always try to give your best in the meetings, and learn what you can from the industry.