“How do you become successful in selling SEO?” It’s a common question we get from clients when walking them through our methodologies.
Selling SEO is no different from how you would pitch other services. You need to have wit, confidence, realistic expectations, and the right strategies to expand your SEO client base.
Last week’s Boost Your Business Webinar focuses on becoming an expert at selling SEO. Bernard and William discussed different touch points that show partners and freelancers how to go from good to great in pitching their SEO services.
Knowing Who You Are
Are you a premium or a cheap provider? Are you targeting local or national clients? What niche would be a good start?
Your success in selling SEO services starts with defining who you are. Knowing your identity as an SEO provider helps you determine your target market and provides you the momentum to move forward as a powerhouse agency.
How will you execute your growth as an SEO provider? First, you need to drill down on your initial market:
- A niche that you are familiar or have history with
- A powerful rapport building tool
- Common ground with your SEO clients
Every agency has a specialization that they pitch to clients, whether it’s SEO, SEM, social, web development, or branding. You can’t sell all solutions if you don’t have the capabilities of fulfilling them—the key to being successful is knowing your scope and limitations.
You can’t be a good salesman if you’re forcing solutions that clients don’t need for their business. Listen to your clients and know what they need, so you can develop your SEO pitch and provide added-value service.
It’s equally important to identify what sets you apart from the competition. Are you cost-effective? Do you have the technology to provide results? How effective is your methodology? Define your unique selling point and identify which aspect of the service you are an expert at.
Determining What You’re Selling
Some clients still don’t have a good grasp of what SEO does, or what it is in general. You have to be the showman. Arm your clients with industry knowledge by determining your own sets of solution.
- Understand the Methodology
You need in-depth knowledge of your methodologies to convince clients that you’re the pro. Use the Resource Center to your advantage, so you don’t have to explain every element of the SEO process to your client. This makes it easier to provide a structured pitch deck, provide a detailed methodology explainer, and show white label testimonials, which raises your chances of closing a sale.
- Manage the Experience
The sales experience plays a pivotal role in earning the trust of your clients. Provide clients with frequent touch points, milestones, and regular reporting. Build a service that will help your agency overcome buyer’s remorse.
- Understand the Technology
Your white label dashboard helps you work smarter, manage better campaigns, and collate and analyze information. But, you can’t just assume that clients know how the dashboard works—walk them through the dashboard features and explain each of these at their level of understanding.
Learning How to Sell Effectively
How do you shape your solution? The answer is simple: differentiate your commodity and product. Your commodity is the goods or the service, while the product is the experience that would make clients buy your service.
Selling SEO lies on how you ace the pitch to your prospects. The most important step here is to maximize the use of your time—preparation can make all the difference if you want to close a sale.
Some important points to remember:
- Arrange a pre-planning meeting with your Project Managers – Ask for advice and learn how to qualify your clients.
- Arm yourself for the pitch – Download your pitch deck, prepare the proposal, and provide an audit report.
- Conduct a pre-intake assessment – Include output in your presentation; don’t spend too much explaining the methodology.
Proposing SEO to clients is about taking control of the situation – from your knowledge of the technology to the application of the methodology. Overcome the common challenges during the pitch, and you’re all set in getting your feet wet in the intricate world of SEO.
Be the next SEO agency powerhouse. Call our toll-free number at 1-800-250-6106 and get in touch with our Project Managers.