10 Ways to Exceed Your
Client's Expectations Every Time ! by John Alexander
The following tips are just a few of the things I do to set my
service apart from the crowd. In general, the weakest areas in the
Internet marketing and Web development business are "customer
communications" and "customer service." Set your effort towards
learning to deliver "excellence" in both customer service and
communication, and you'll have distinct advantages over many of
your competitors. These tips are based on the tried and true
philosophy of "under promising and over delivering."
Manage
expectations on initial search engine placement.
Do NOT
tell your prospect that you will get their Web site in the top
10 search results immediately. Don't guarantee that you will get
them thousands of visitors right away. I tell my prospects that
I will do my best to position them within the top 30 search
results initially. As you know, in this business there are no
absolute guarantees, but even if you can often position a client
within the top 10 search results on at least a few of the major
engines right off the bat. Think about what you say before you
say it.
People are
tired of hearing a lot of hype. Many firms make the mistake of
selling a lot of trumped up claims, even before they learn and
understand a prospect's business. With so many people out there
who will promise the world to get a sale, a little realism goes
a long way toward establishing your credibility. Setting a
client's expectations conservatively from the outset only
enhances the effect of achieving a high-ranking later.
I like to
teach the client to expect top placement over a period of 3 to 6
months. It's much more realistic and for each time you
immediately place within the top 10 quickly, the client has
another exciting surprise! To ensure happy customers, try to set
realistic expectations that you can attain every time. Focus on
educating your clients and teaching them the truths that others
only gloss over, or are not aware of themselves.
Offer
some kind of peace of mind guarantee.
While no
credible search engine marketer can guarantee a certain organic
search position without qualification, you must put the client's
mind at ease, particularly before you've had time to build a
relationship. While competitors may promise the world, if you
can guarantee to at least achieve a certain number of top
rankings or traffic over a certain period of time, you will gain
the trust of skeptical prospects. If you don't achieve your
minimum stated goal, then you could offer at least a partial
refund, or to continue working until the goal is met. Of course
you must know your own abilities and examine how competitive the
client's keywords are before jumping right in. While a guarantee
is riskier for you, it will encourage clients to choose you over
your competitors by giving them additional peace of mind.
Blow away
old misconceptions.
While some
Web firms talk about the huge volume of "hits" to their
customer's sites, I teach my prospects very early that "hits"
are irrelevant. Hits are not the best means of determining site
activity. A hit is NOT a visitor. A hit can be any action from
the server. For example a page that displays 1 image, 10
buttons, 1 logo and plays music in the background might generate
up to 14 hits for every visitor to that page.
This is
best explained by showing the client an activity report and
pointing out the difference between hits (any action from the
server) and User Sessions (actual visitors). Eliminating any of
the common misconceptions about traffic right from the start
will serve you well in a marketplace where others are selling
nothing more than hype. Set yourself apart from the crowd.
Instead of letting customers believe old ideas, educate them and
help your customer to grasp how things really work.
Teach
your client about the time required for initial indexing.
I tell my
client not to expect much site activity right away. I like to
prepare them for the time it takes robots to visit their site
for the first time. Once again, this is a great opportunity to
set your client's expectations. If we give them an expectation
of waiting approximately 6 weeks after registration, before
traffic commences, we know that some search engines will
probably begin to visit in 3 to 5 weeks. Indeed a few may
occasionally visit within just 48 hours from the time you
register. However, creating an expectation of 6 to 8 weeks gives
you a better chance of out-performing your goals. If your client
must have results more quickly, discuss paid inclusion and paid
placement options. Offer them the choice.
Success
Principle: Teach your client's the truth and learn to manage
their expectations. If you deliver above average results and
communicate well, you will have a client for a lifetime.
Customer loyalty is the key to long-term profitability.
Warn
about mass search engine registration.
Have you
been telling your client about how you are going to register
them with 250 search engines for free? This is an old, out dated
approach but you may be surprised at how many competitors will
be saying the very same thing. That's because literally anyone
can buy auto submission software and press a button to submit a
site.
I take a
different approach. I ask the prospect this question:
"Have you
ever wondered why some web developers may offer to register you
with 250 search engines for free?" The answer is simple...that's
exactly what it's worth -- ZERO. I then go on to teach them how
traffic is only realized through achieving a high ranking on the
major search engines. Show them an activity report to validate
it. Then educate them about how you will remain focused on
optimizing their Web site for the major search engines.
By setting
realistic expectations on search engine registration, and
telling them the truth about where most of their traffic will
come from, you once again are providing an education that many
others in the business fail to give their clients.
Teach
your clients about the risk and annoyance of FFA Links:
FFA Links
(which stands for Free For All links) are NOT search engines.
What you may have learned by now is that FFA sites are often
times nothing more than e-mail collection sites hoping to spam
your e-mail address after submission. Over the years I have
tried subscribing to these services at times just to determine
if there may be any benefit. I can determine no benefit in FFA
links and I like to educate my clients so that the many "special
offers" do not suck them in. Educate your clients and save them
headaches.
Build
long-term relationships with your clients.
Taking the
consultancy approach with SEO offers many opportunities to not
only build customer rapport but also to maintain it on a long
term basis. I see my role as teaching my clients as much as I
can about the Internet side of their business. The time you
spend educating your client pays big dividends in terms of
customer loyalty. What happens after a while is that your
customers will seek your advice on issues rather than just being
taken advantage of by one of those e-mail offers that sounds too
good to be true. Care for your client's business as if it were
your own!
Does your
client need help to write a media release?
This may
be a stretch for some SEO's, but look for opportunities to help
your client promote their Web site in different ways. I like to
assist my clients by doing little things that are easy for me to
do, don't really take too much time, and add extra value to my
service. Examples of these services might be to help your client
write a good media release or the creation of little counter top
signs that advertise the clients URL. Do they need a checklist
of ways to help them promote their URL? Think value added!
Practice
customer service excellence.
One of the
biggest tragedies in the Internet marketing and SEO business is
lack of quality customer service. Do you return customer calls
promptly? Do you keep them informed about the newest trends?
See your
customer as a customer for life.
Care for
your customer's business as much as you can with full attention
to detail. Most business owners are far too busy running their
business to look after all of their "Web presence" issues. This
is why they hire you in the first place. If you remember to
deliver "excellence" in both customer service and communication,
you'll have distinct advantages over other competitors. Take
care of your customers, and they will take care of you.
(530) 583-7989
Gossamer Web Design
135 Alpine Meadows Road #22
Olympic Valley, California 96146
Located midway between Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and Tahoe City
