Close more deals and land more business.
Your objective when selling marketing or WordPress design services is to get the close, and have the prospect agree to become your client. There are six key milestones take place on the path to the close:
1. Sell Yourself
2. Sell Your Company
3. Probe
4. Sell the Industry
5. Qualify
6. Sell your Product
Close
Now that you understand these 6 key “milestones” that take place en route to the close, let’s break the entire process down into 10 pieces, including the tangible specific action steps, questions to ask, and points to consider. These work best when you sit down and meet with the prospect face-to-face, but you can apply much of these same concepts to phone consultations as well:
#1 Break the Ice
- Look around the office… if possible, and ask about any interesting pictures, plaques, trophies, or testimonials.
- Tell me a little bit about your business…
- How long have you been here?
- How did you get started?
- How does your product or service work? (A plumber will travel to work, a dentist has an office)
- What is the secret to your success?
- How are you different than your competition?
- Who is your customer?
Your goal here is to establish a state of rapport with the prospect. You do that by asking questions, not babbling straight away about your own expertise or knowledge.
And be sure you write this one down: People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
#2 Probe (Ask Questions)
Next you want to steer the conversation towards their current marketing efforts. Some suggestions:
- What kind of advertising are you doing now? (Find out how much your competitors are charging…. like YellowPages or Newspapers)
- What do you like about it?
- What don’t you like about it?
- How much are you spending every month?
- Is it working?
- Are you able to track it?
- Do you have a website?
- Is it getting any traffic?
- Have you tried online advertising before?
- If so, how did that work?
- How much is an average customer worth?
#3 Sell the Industry (Your Philosophy)
Easy to update their WordPress website
Get found quickly on Google
SEO is highly-targeted traffic
We recommend using as many strategies as possible
- On-Site SEO
- Sponsored ads (search and content)
- Google Maps
- Directories
- Video marketing
- Blogs and social marketing
- Press releases
- Web 2.0 properties
#4 Show your Research
- Number of searches in that industry per month
- 4-6 examples of different keyword combinations
- Other related search pages showing organic SEO results
- Your previous results (if possible): “Here are some things we’ve done for other clients”
- Any testimonials
- Other websites you’ve designed
#5 Qualify
Say: “Many of the products I work have just a one time set up fee, while others require a long-term commitment. Before I can recommend a plan, I’m going to need a budget, so let me ask you this…”
Are you planning to redistribute your marketing budget or increase it? I have clients who invest anywhere from $300 to $3,000 into their Internet marketing campaigns, how much would you like to budget every month?
Like I mentioned, many products I offer are “front loaded” and require a little work to set up, how much are you prepared to invest to get this started?
Take all of the objections away. It’s not a question of yes or no, it’s about “How much?” If you can get to that point, you’ll close every sale.
#6 The Proposal
- Formal vs Informal (Break out a calculator and use it to make “calculations”)
- Think on your feet
- Know what you should offer
- Know your costs
- Minor close vs. Going for it all (Normally I charge X, but to get started I can do Y)
- This is what I’m going to do…
- Here’s what I’ll need from you…
#7 Assume the Order
The first thing I’m going to do is…
- I’m going to need some information about the company
- Phone number
- Any pictures or videos we can repurpose?
- Web Address
- Compelling offer
Spell out exactly what you are going to do again and in what order. Give estimated time lines and let them know when you will be expecting their participation.
#8 Close the Sale
- Explain the payment options (cash or credit)
- Ask for the deposit
- Shake hands
#9 Overcome Objections
You’ve done great getting this far. Now it’s just a matter of overcoming objections. It would feel terrible to get to this point and have some silly objection kill all your hard work! Some common objections include:
- Let me think about it…
- Let me check with someone…
- What’s my guarantee?
- Can’t afford (There is no can’t afford. You’ve already found out they got the money)
I recommend ALWAYS having some type of risk-reversal whenever you sell, or advertise. Offer them to try your services for 60 days at your risk. Once you’ve started working for them, it’s VERY hard for them to ask for their money back (you guilt them into continuing to work with you) if you’re providing a quality product – but it makes for a great sales tactic.
#10 Get Referrals
Whether you close the deal or not, you should always ask if they know anyone else who could benefit from using your wordpress design or marketing services.
You can ask something simple, like: Do you know of any other business owners who have been complaining about their business being slow? Friends, clients or maybe a family member?
Then you have a new lead to follow-up with. If you call that lead and mention their friend’s name, then they’ll most likely welcome your call. If you didn’t have their friend’s name to drop, then they’d most likely tell you to get lost.
Funny how that works, eh?
But rinse and repeat the process, and continue growing your business.
Best of luck to you.
