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Need some ideas on how to handle an offer from an OFFLINE client!

by thesanto
11 replies
Hello there,

I was approached by a local business that I pay services to in order to build a website for him plus he wants SEO, Video marketing creation and social networking integration. He wants to trade services both of our services.

So, I am not sure how to make him a package deal that it would be beneficial for both of us. This guy really wants to do business with me, he's very interested on what I had to offer in our initial consultation, and the ideas I brought to the table, he likes them all and wants to start ASAP.

Our next meeting will be in a couple of days, and then I need to bring him my proposal for the static website & blog integration, SEO (get ranked in Google locally), online video marketing creation plus handle all his business' social networking creation and maintenance (Facebook, Twitter).

He already kind of let me know that he wants both of our services kind of even out, so he wouldn't have to come up with much of a difference money wise speaking.

I pay him $180 p/mo, plus I am thinking about upgrading the service then that would be around $250 p/mo for his services. Plus he also pushes another club for an extra $20-25 p/mo and a material one-time package for $300 plus every time you need to test to go up in ranking you have to pay a $40 fee plus also competition fees.

So my deal is that know my services are more expensive than his services, so it wouldn't be an equal trade, but I'd like to get involved with this guy since I am trying to get more established in the local community, and I know it would be good for my business in the long term.

For the website I was going to charge him a set price, but am not sure for the other services, I know that SEO, Social media and video creation can be very costly monthly service, but I am starting, and I know that have to pay my dues - I was hoping to get some advice on how to handle this situation, I am sure some of the people here have had this kind of situation happened to them before.

Any little piece of advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Henry

P.S.: BTW I sold him hosting services as well through my reseller account.
#client #handle #ideas #offer #online
  • Profile picture of the author Vincenzo Oliva
    Sounds like you want to create a barter relationship as well as build up a "test case" client. Both are good ideas if your just starting out. I would draw up what would be your "normal" fees for all the services you speak of to present them in order to point out the great benefit your client will receive in exchange for their service to you.

    Be sure that everything you do is measurable and quantifiable. If your not sure what to charge go back to old Google and search some equally sized cities for what they charge, ie. "Phoenix seo services plan monthly" or whatnot. Most Social network managers charge between $299-499 a month. SEO at least $299-2000.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author thesanto
    Thanks Vincenzo,

    Yes, it definitely a barter deal that I have going on with this prospect, but I believe this deals have to be worked out the right way in order to be fair for both parties.

    Good advice! I will check with Google too see what I get

    Thanks again,

    Henry
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  • Profile picture of the author burnbebe
    You really have to factor in goodwill when you get decide on how to price your packages. As you've said, you stand to gain more local exposure from this guy. So think of him as an advertising channel. His reputation in your community is worth something... it's up to you to decide what's fair.
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    • Profile picture of the author thesanto
      Originally Posted by burnbebe View Post

      You really have to factor in goodwill when you get decide on how to price your packages. As you've said, you stand to gain more local exposure from this guy. So think of him as an advertising channel. His reputation in your community is worth something... it's up to you to decide what's fair.
      You're correct on the "goodwill" thing - and you're right on the money on him being an advertising channel in the community, he already mentioned that his brother is looking to have anew website done for his biz and that he was going to talk to him, plus he's letting me place biz cards at his location as a goodwill gesture way before we were talking about bartering services. So, I will seriously keep all in mind, as I told him when I was talking to him, I wanted to have a deal where we both get benefits from and are happy with each other.

      Thanks for your input!

      Henry
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  • Profile picture of the author burnbebe
    BTW, goodwill is a real world balance sheet item
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  • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
    Goodwill is very important, but since your services cost more than his, it should be understood that this will not be a 100% trade. Especially since you are now currently spending $180/mo. Getting his other services sounds nice but you are not buying them now.

    So, I would give him a package that is good value which you are willing to trade. You know your costs on this package, pick something that the cost to you is worth what you will gain.

    It can be easy to get caught up with the "potential benefits" of a transaction but they are not controllable.

    His brother is not yet your client and may never actually be your client. You might get more advertising from him but you might not. People are full of good intentions but those don't work out a lot of times.

    You want this relationship to to be beneficial to BOTH of you and if you shortchange yourself, it will sour the relationship. Eventually, you will become a little bitter if you aren't getting what you need, then you will do substandard work, then there will be stress on the relationship.

    To avoid this, structure your trade on REAL WORLD benefits to both of you. Seems like he will be getting a lot of real service, and you are figure on several "maybes" and "might haves."

    You will devalue yourself in his eyes if you aren't careful.
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    • Profile picture of the author thesanto
      Originally Posted by Daniel McCoy View Post

      Goodwill is very important, but since your services cost more than his, it should be understood that this will not be a 100% trade. Especially since you are now currently spending $180/mo. Getting his other services sounds nice but you are not buying them now.

      So, I would give him a package that is good value which you are willing to trade. You know your costs on this package, pick something that the cost to you is worth what you will gain.

      It can be easy to get caught up with the "potential benefits" of a transaction but they are not controllable.

      His brother is not yet your client and may never actually be your client. You might get more advertising from him but you might not. People are full of good intentions but those don't work out a lot of times.

      You want this relationship to to be beneficial to BOTH of you and if you shortchange yourself, it will sour the relationship. Eventually, you will become a little bitter if you aren't getting what you need, then you will do substandard work, then there will be stress on the relationship.

      To avoid this, structure your trade on REAL WORLD benefits to both of you. Seems like he will be getting a lot of real service, and you are figure on several "maybes" and "might haves."

      You will devalue yourself in his eyes if you aren't careful.
      Daniel thanks for the great insight,

      That's so true! and this is actually the dilemma that I am having, I wanted to work for both of us, but his services and mine are of a different value and it would not be an even trade if I make charge what he charges. Like you said those other deals that "might" come from him, may never come and I need to be clear on that, because I have dealt with people that talks and talks about how many referrals they will get you and so on and so forth, but at the end of the day nothing happens.

      The fact is that I don't think he actually knows how much these type of services (SEO, Social media, video creation, etc) cost. So he might be alarmed when I tell him the actual charges for these services, and he'll be thinking that I am ripping him off.

      I was thinking of the the following proposal for him:

      • Static Website (6-7 pages plus members area) and blog integration for $1,500 one time charge
      • SEO (3 keywords for Google ranking) no set up fee but monthly charge of $450 p/mo
      • Social Media (Facebook and Twitter account and page creation and maintenance) for $150 p/mo
      • Email marketing set-up (autoresponder, list building,etc) $100 p/mo
      • Website maintenance for $150 p/mo
      • Online Video Ad creation $150 one time
      So that is a total of $1,650 one time fees plus $750 monthly fees for all the services listed above.

      Is it ok to present it like the above, all broken down, or is it better present it as a "whole" package deal? your thoughts!

      Am I charging less what I am supposed to be charging for these type of services, or am I way off charging too much?

      I would REALLY appreciate your comments on this, I am meeting with this client tomorrow, and I need to prepare a proposal to-day!

      Thanks again,

      Henry
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      • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
        Hey Henry.

        In the end, you MUST feel 100% good about the deal. As time goes by, if you don't feel like you are getting what you need out of it your working relationship will go down the tubes. He has to make sure he feels good about it too but that is not your problem, it is his job to look out for his interests.

        I'm not saying you shouldn't be giving and willing to bend in business, but a good business deal will satisfy both sides. It seems maybe this is the first time you have been in this type of situation but trust me, it won't be your last.

        There is an important lesson to learn in this transaction, and no matter which way you play it you will learn from it. You will either feel good about a long term mutually beneficial deal or you will feel lousy about a relationship that goes south when you don't want to do the work anymore because you feel short changed. Think how awkward THAT conversation will be!

        So...#1 is NEVER sell yourself short. If a deal can't be made that you are 100% happy with, then walk away. Maybe another day you guys can make a deal again.

        Here is what I would do with the proposal.

        I would list out what you are willing to trade him and the normal price you charge. Write it out as you would any other client. Then when he starts picking and choosing what he is interested in, you can cross out the price and write his new discounted price.

        Be sure to think about it a little, like you are figuring out what to let it go for.

        This initially discounted price should not be the ROCK BOTTOM price you are willing to take. If he still thinks a particular price is too much, you can THEN drop to the rock bottom price and say "but that is it, I can't take off anymore on that service. That's as low as I can go."

        You are entering into a negotiation. You must know in advance what you are willing to take and keep that number to yourself. If you walk in there with your lowest prices, it will not be low enough for him, he will ask you for more, and you will have to end the deal.

        If he sees you discounting it, he will see the original value of the service and feel like he is getting something.

        If you still can't come to some sort of agreement, then kill the deal and part friends. At this point he wont think you are greedy, you can just say the numbers don't line up and you are sorry, no hard feelings.

        But, I don't think that will happen. Reading the situation it is easy to see he needs your service more than you need his. But maybe there is some small level of service you can offer him, even at that low price.

        Good luck!
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        • Profile picture of the author thesanto
          Originally Posted by Daniel McCoy View Post

          Hey Henry.

          In the end, you MUST feel 100% good about the deal. As time goes by, if you don't feel like you are getting what you need out of it your working relationship will go down the tubes. He has to make sure he feels good about it too but that is not your problem, it is his job to look out for his interests.

          I'm not saying you shouldn't be giving and willing to bend in business, but a good business deal will satisfy both sides. It seems maybe this is the first time you have been in this type of situation but trust me, it won't be your last.

          There is an important lesson to learn in this transaction, and no matter which way you play it you will learn from it. You will either feel good about a long term mutually beneficial deal or you will feel lousy about a relationship that goes south when you don't want to do the work anymore because you feel short changed. Think how awkward THAT conversation will be!

          So...#1 is NEVER sell yourself short. If a deal can't be made that you are 100% happy with, then walk away. Maybe another day you guys can make a deal again.

          Here is what I would do with the proposal.

          I would list out what you are willing to trade him and the normal price you charge. Write it out as you would any other client. Then when he starts picking and choosing what he is interested in, you can cross out the price and write his new discounted price.

          Be sure to think about it a little, like you are figuring out what to let it go for.

          This initially discounted price should not be the ROCK BOTTOM price you are willing to take. If he still thinks a particular price is too much, you can THEN drop to the rock bottom price and say "but that is it, I can't take off anymore on that service. That's as low as I can go."

          You are entering into a negotiation. You must know in advance what you are willing to take and keep that number to yourself. If you walk in there with your lowest prices, it will not be low enough for him, he will ask you for more, and you will have to end the deal.

          If he sees you discounting it, he will see the original value of the service and feel like he is getting something.

          If you still can't come to some sort of agreement, then kill the deal and part friends. At this point he wont think you are greedy, you can just say the numbers don't line up and you are sorry, no hard feelings.

          But, I don't think that will happen. Reading the situation it is easy to see he needs your service more than you need his. But maybe there is some small level of service you can offer him, even at that low price.

          Good luck!
          Hey Daniel,

          Thanks again Sir - I feel like I am getting a great advise from a business consultant/counselor

          All you're are saying lines up with my thoughts and way of thinking, you're right it's the first time I have been in this type of situation/negotiation as far as this field of Offline Marketing, SEO, Social Media services - I have been dealing with clients face to face and negotiating deals for many years, but in different fields.

          I did meet with the client a couple days ago, and it kind of went the way you described it above, at the end we literally ask each other if we both felt good with the deal and we actually got the same answer, we were.

          At the en we both got a lot of value for or services. So I had prepared a written agreement spelling out the terms, services and pricing, and we both signed it.

          I have a good gut feeling about the deal, and I think it will be good relationship as it progresses.

          Like you said, it will not be the last time I will encounter this situation. So this is a good training for the deals to come in the future.

          I am really grateful we have people like you here at the forum that provides a great wealth of experience and knowledge!

          I wish you infinite success in all you do!

          Henry
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          • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
            Thanks for the kind words, Henry. Glad I could help and everything worked out for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author iw433
    What I would do is give him more than he is giving me, but get a testimonial from him and referrals. Those two things will be worth more that what you are giving.
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