Originally Posted by c0rrup

MEETING REVIEW:

So just got out of a 10:00 am meeting with this president / ceo of a Volkswagen dealership, he called me the other day and we set up an appointment because he was very interested. Anyway, get there, he asks his buddy to come in as well, and I start presenting myself. I might have talked a bit too much but he did as well.

He was like 50+ years old and didn't think public reviews and opinions "mattered much" to him and his dealership, LOL. I tried my best to tell him and show him statistics that it is hurting him, by saying things like "See Chris, a car purchase is pretty much the 2nd biggest purchase in most peoples lifetime, other than a house. If I am going to invest in a car, you bet I am going to look online first for reviews of dealerships, If I see your dealership has 2 stars (which it did), and then a dealership 30 miles away has 5 stars you bet I am going to take the further one.

He still wasn't "thrilled" and when I showed him the pricing outline he didn't really have a reaction but did think it was expensive. My prices were $895 and $695. Two packages with one having more features than the other.

I don't think I could of presented it any better than I did, but I wasn't thrilled on his reaction.

He said he was going to talk to his buddy with it who was there and give me a call back later today so we will see what happens. I told him a one time cleanup will be $2495 and he was more interested in that. Funny how a VW dealership making millions a year is crying about $900 a month lol.

Owell we will see!

Originally Posted by 7878

Auto retail is actually a highly lucrative space and you'll find that most owners have more than a basic understanding of the importance of online reputation. I worked in that business for 11 years prior to this and the majority of my agency clients are dealerships. It takes a lot of know-how and a sharp pitch to close a closer.

Other verticals are easier to close and just as lucrative. Keep digging, you'll find them.

This is disappointing to say the least.

I was going to mail out a batch to dealerships this Monday. I'd have thought dealerships would be perfect for this offer because:

1. They have the money to care about it.
2. They spend tons on advertisement in papers, radio, tv ALL the time.
3. A car is the 2nd biggest investment for most people. They pay huge money for it, and/or get in huge contract with the dealership. So naturally people would research about the dealership.

Yet the above posts, including 7878's, suggest that other verticals like restaurant are easier

I dont get it. Why would restaurants give a damn about their online reviews?

Who the hell researches a restaurant's reviews before they walk in for a meal? I like going to different restaurants, bars etc. when I get a chance. If I like them, I go back. If I dont, I dont.

Never had to sign a two year contract with a restaurant before. Anyone in here actually went online to see the ratings and reviews before they went to a restuarant for a $10 meal?

I think you're overreacting a hair.

I've never suggested any specific vertical to anyone, and that's because I think there's a deal to be had everywhere you look. Don't let me deter you from mailing dealerships - I was just pointing out that most owners you'll deal with in that space have at least a basic understanding of the impact of online reputation and you'll need to be sharp to nail them down.

I also said that the majority of my agency clients were dealerships.

Either way, what I think should be of little consequence to you - you've got the basic idea and that's all you need to move forward. Don't let what does and doesn't work for anyone else dictate how you run your business.

Originally Posted by Barbarossa

This is disappointing to say the least.

I was going to mail out a batch to dealerships this Monday. I'd have thought dealerships would be perfect for this offer because:

1. They have the money to care about it.
2. They spend tons on advertisement in papers, radio, tv ALL the time.
3. A car is the 2nd biggest investment for most people. They pay huge money for it, and/or get in huge contract with the dealership. So naturally people would research about the dealership.

Yet the above posts, including 7878's, suggest that other verticals like restaurant are easier

I dont get it. Why would restaurants give a damn about their online reviews?

Who the hell researches a restaurant's reviews before they walk in for a meal? I like going to different restaurants, bars etc. when I get a chance. If I like them, I go back. If I dont, I dont.

Never had to sign a two year contract with a restaurant before. Anyone in here actually went online to see the ratings and reviews before they went to a restuarant for a $10 meal?

Barbarossa
Well, you'd be surprised: for instance, every time I can, I do an online research for reviews. It doesn't matter if it's for a restaurant, a bar, a dentist or a teaching center. I don't have infinite cash; when I buy something, I want to be satisfied.

Originally Posted by Barbarossa

This is disappointing to say the least.

I was going to mail out a batch to dealerships this Monday. I'd have thought dealerships would be perfect for this offer because:

1. They have the money to care about it.
2. They spend tons on advertisement in papers, radio, tv ALL the time.
3. A car is the 2nd biggest investment for most people. They pay huge money for it, and/or get in huge contract with the dealership. So naturally people would research about the dealership.

Yet the above posts, including 7878's, suggest that other verticals like restaurant are easier

I dont get it. Why would restaurants give a damn about their online reviews?

Who the hell researches a restaurant's reviews before they walk in for a meal? I like going to different restaurants, bars etc. when I get a chance. If I like them, I go back. If I dont, I dont.

Never had to sign a two year contract with a restaurant before. Anyone in here actually went online to see the ratings and reviews before they went to a restuarant for a $10 meal?

I pretty much review every restaurant I eat at before going. Even if I'm sitting in my car.

Originally Posted by Barbarossa

Anyone in here actually went online to see the ratings and reviews before they went to a restuarant for a $10 meal?

Absolutely. If I'm eating somewhere new (Especially sushi), I want to know if the food is worth a crap. If I'm taking someone with me, I especially want to know it doesn't suck. Most of the time I'm trying somewhere new to me, I'm 1-1/2 hours away from my house and I'm not looking to waste my money/time when I could go to somewhere I enjoy.

When I am taking my girlfriend out to dinner I always look online to find new places first, mainly seafood, I always look for reviews, I don't want to waste my time at a bad place when others have already warned the public by posting reviews!

Originally Posted by Barbarossa

I dont get it. Why would restaurants give a damn about their online reviews?

Who the hell researches a restaurant's reviews before they walk in for a meal? I like going to different restaurants, bars etc. when I get a chance. If I like them, I go back. If I dont, I dont.

Never had to sign a two year contract with a restaurant before. Anyone in here actually went online to see the ratings and reviews before they went to a restuarant for a $10 meal?

Takes 10 seconds to check in Adwords. Apparently over 1 million Americans every month use restaurant(s) + review(s) in a Google search query.

Originally Posted by VanillaH

Barbarossa
Well, you'd be surprised: for instance, every time I can, I do an online research for reviews. It doesn't matter if it's for a restaurant, a bar, a dentist or a teaching center. I don't have infinite cash; when I buy something, I want to be satisfied.

Originally Posted by somerocks

I pretty much review every restaurant I eat at before going. Even if I'm sitting in my car.

Originally Posted by marusia

Absolutely. If I'm eating somewhere new (Especially sushi), I want to know if the food is worth a crap. If I'm taking someone with me, I especially want to know it doesn't suck. Most of the time I'm trying somewhere new to me, I'm 1-1/2 hours away from my house and I'm not looking to waste my money/time when I could go to somewhere I enjoy.

Originally Posted by c0rrup

When I am taking my girlfriend out to dinner I always look online to find new places first, mainly seafood, I always look for reviews, I don't want to waste my time at a bad place when others have already warned the public by posting reviews!

Originally Posted by BreakAllTheClocks

Takes 10 seconds to check in Adwords. Apparently over 1 million Americans every month use restaurant(s) + review(s) in a Google search query.

Ok guys I stand corrected. Looks like people do review restaurants - including Blackhatters. LOL.

But I have a question for you all: You're not just an average consumer, you're an IM'er. You've all read 7878's threads and know that only the bad apples bother to leave reviews.

So why bother checking reviews? Much less trusting them?

Any restaurant that actually has good reviews must have received some dice in the mail.

Anyway, I'm going to my apartment leasing office tomorrow to see if they could use my services in exchange of free rent.

Originally Posted by Barbarossa

But I have a question for you all: You're not just an average consumer, you're an IM'er. You've all read 7878's threads and know that only the bad apples bother to leave reviews.

So why bother checking reviews? Much less trusting them?

We're good at telling BS from legit from the research we do all the time on this kind of thing. There's one restaurant in my town I hadn't been to, wanted to go to, and absolutely will not go to now that I have researched their bad reviews after sending them a packet. They've got too many legit gross reviews of their food and they cost too much to risk wasting that kind of money.

This is a great thread... Have you closed a sale yet OP? Have you ever got that check in the mail?

Thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by drewman

Owners are hungry for someone to just give them the "answer" to all there online marketing problems. About 90% of owners know they need something to help them out and they may even have a clue as how to get it. But, they will not know the steps, nor have the resources to accomplish anything big time without "me" haha..... or so I make them believe.

100% true! I just had a meeting with a CEO of a $5+ mil company that is struggling with social media. He already spent thousands on attending seminars and is still clueless. Now I just need to close this account.

Originally Posted by Barbarossa

So why bother checking reviews? Much less trusting them?

You don't look for the good reviews when going to buy something, you look for the bad reviews. If you see several on the same issue(s), that should raise a red flag. For instance, if I'm looking to buy something off ebay, I filter to only see the bad reviews and see if they were all for the same thing. Several random people aren't going to leave a bad feedback just for the sake of it.

FINALLY got printer ink/paper today and printed and scribbled over 13 letters. Just have to get dice, stick em in envelopes and ship them off now.

Originally Posted by ViperVin

100% true! I just had a meeting with a CEO of a $5+ mil company that is struggling with social media. He already spent thousands on attending seminars and is still clueless. Now I just need to close this account.

Yessir!... I just closed another restaurant, after website, deposit and a few months local search optimization as well as a bit of social, I'll get 1600 out of it. He also want ORM and mobile after the initial setup, so there comes another couple 100 per month.... And I had to hound this guy to track him down for a meeting he rescheduled twice...
persistence is key.

Hey guys, here's a BlackHat tactic that's not extortion to soften up the prospects.

Call them initially, as a customer. Lets say you were calling a dentist, with a review that said he had bad breath.

"Hi, i'd like to speak with Dr. Sevenate please."

- "hello Dr. Sevenate speaking"

"hey, I'm looking for a new dentist, I googled a few and you came up, but there are some really awful reviews of you on the internet, I'm just curious how you can explain having such horrible breath, smelling like onions while working on someones teeth?"

"i ugh.. don't know what ugh.. you're talking about, i assure you we are very clean"

"well that's not what "Rick" said you should really remove that. I'm gonna call ( one of the competitors) now, goodbye."

---

That'll get their attention.

Originally Posted by kayzne

Hey guys, here's a BlackHat tactic that's not extortion to soften up the prospects.

Call them initially, as a customer. Lets say you were calling a dentist, with a review that said he had bad breath.

"Hi, i'd like to speak with Dr. Sevenate please."

- "hello Dr. Sevenate speaking"

"hey, I'm looking for a new dentist, I googled a few and you came up, but there are some really awful reviews of you on the internet, I'm just curious how you can explain having such horrible breath, smelling like onions while working on someones teeth?"

"i ugh.. don't know what ugh.. you're talking about, i assure you we are very clean"

"well that's not what "Rick" said you should really remove that. I'm gonna call ( one of the competitors) now, goodbye."

---

That'll get their attention.

Yup. Saw that in movie 2-3 years ago. They were doing it live.

Customer were siting in front of him and his friend was calling him.
Let's assume you are talking with a restaurant owner:

- Hello
- Hello this is John
- [...]
- Yes I know about our apoitment. I'm sure we will get your restaurant on the top... blah blah blah..
- 0.o
- You see - this is next customer who want's SEO for this niche. It is really competetive...

BANG! You just closed a deal!

Remember to know and name the restaurant. Give as many details as you can..


Back to the keyzyne said:

It might be a good idea but twix is a bit. Tell you GF to do the call 5-7 days before you will call/visit/send snail mail to them. They won't connect the facts and you might get better chances to get a deal/meeting.

Good job for you all!
I love the reviews - keep them comming.
I will do that once I will start this.

Originally Posted by kayzne

Hey guys, here's a BlackHat tactic that's not extortion to soften up the prospects.

Call them initially, as a customer. Lets say you were calling a dentist, with a review that said he had bad breath.

"Hi, i'd like to speak with Dr. Sevenate please."

- "hello Dr. Sevenate speaking"

"hey, I'm looking for a new dentist, I googled a few and you came up, but there are some really awful reviews of you on the internet, I'm just curious how you can explain having such horrible breath, smelling like onions while working on someones teeth?"

"i ugh.. don't know what ugh.. you're talking about, i assure you we are very clean"

"well that's not what "Rick" said you should really remove that. I'm gonna call ( one of the competitors) now, goodbye."

---

That'll get their attention.

That does sound interesting... but I'm the nervous type that would think the owner was on to me and start connecting dots...

Sooo...

Here I am preparing for the next meeting. Again, this guy is a bit older, maybe around 60ish sounding and from a few statements he made on the phone, he seems to be in poor health. The guy owns a restaurant in a small suburban town but has been getting ragged on in reviews. He ever knew it existed and called me... last week I setup a meeting with him for tomorrow (wednesday @ 12pm EST).

Originally I planned to go in full presentation mode, meaning 20 page "reputation" analysis... and yada yada yada. I've changed my mind and I'll be going in and speaking to him like it's a casual conversation.

I'm going in with my macbook and phone to tether internet, since he has no internet access. I'm going to just show him things from the perspective of others going to restaurants.

My starting price point will be @ $700 with a six month contract and I'll negotiate to no lower than $500.

I haven't had any new calls since this guy last Weds/Thurs. However, I have received 1 or 2 returned letters due to my postage fiasco. I have since resent those letters with the correct postage. I feel by the end of this week, all the returns SHOULD have made it back to me and there shouldn't be any more lingering. With that said, I will begin follow up phone calls next Monday.

good luck man - i recommend making sure you have a contract with you. don't schedule a second meeting, be prepared to close the deal by the end of the meeting. the 2nd meeting gives people too much time to think about things and often will give them time to change their mind which isn't in either of your best interest (he's losing customers now, and you can help now).

CLOSE THAT DEAL!!

did 7878's thread get taken down? i can't find any of the 3 installments for this method anymore

Originally Posted by 7878

I think you're overreacting a hair.

I've never suggested any specific vertical to anyone, and that's because I think there's a deal to be had everywhere you look. Don't let me deter you from mailing dealerships - I was just pointing out that most owners you'll deal with in that space have at least a basic understanding of the impact of online reputation and you'll need to be sharp to nail them down.

I also said that the majority of my agency clients were dealerships.

Either way, what I think should be of little consequence to you - you've got the basic idea and that's all you need to move forward. Don't let what does and doesn't work for anyone else dictate how you run your business.

I will say this Barabrossa... I work at a dealership currently... you didn't hit the guys hot buttons. 7878 is spot on.
If you want to do RM,you need to know what a vertical's hot buttons are.
So look back upon all the different positions you have held or friends and family for targets.
If your background is restaurants then you know what the hot buttons are..
if your friends and family have insights on other verticals then quiz them what their verticals hot buttons are.
Each vertical has a hot button, either restaurants, dealerships, dentists, plastic surgeons, etc.
Find it and exploit it to the maximum.

Good luck OP, I'm doing a similar thing, but only using email. I blasted out about 5k emails across 80+ different service+locations.

So far I have 2 leads and giving 1 person a free 1-month trial. Also I have about 10 people spewing insults at me

tbh I'm rather discouraged I kinda expected more leads.. lol. Sitting on the computer sending emails for 20+ hours is hell.

The whole point of 7878's post was his high converting method of contact. E-mail is the worst way to contact a cold lead, ever. I really can't think of a worse method - you're lucky you got as many responses as you did.

It is great idea. When I was in car biz we would call each other when with customers pretending to talk with another buyer coming down to pick up same car.

Nevertheless, maybe you should experiment with dropping off your package Before calling your leads.

What emotions and actions will you trigger in the dentist when you call him as customer complaining about bad reviews?

Probably he ( or his receptionist) will immediately go online and look for those reviews, than start googling "remove bad reviews" or what not and land on Reputation .com or your competition. By the time you get in touch with him it might be too late. On the other hand if you do it shortly before it might be too obvious. Either way it is trial and error game.

good luck
_________________

Originally Posted by xenoxen

Y........e the restaurant. Give as many details as you can..


Back to the keyzyne said:

It might be a good idea but twix is a bit. Tell you GF to do the call 5-7 days before you will call/visit/send snail mail to them. They won't connect the facts and you might get better chances to get a deal/meeting.

Good job for you all!
I love the reviews - keep them comming.
I will do that once I will start this.

@purpleseo

In case I missed it, did you ever get any money??


Also, the the same tone as WF

"is there an OTO"?

Decided to give ORM a try - as already offer Seo Services and have quite a few clients there.

So far sent out 35 packages over the last 2-3 days

Included Cover Letter / Google Print Outs illustrating their current Strategy vs What others are Doing / About my company - and mocked up a Postcard to give them something hands on (it points to a dummy site I made up as example)

Pricing - basically saying 6 months then month to month $1499 or $1599 if they want something custom with their logos etc.

Worst case I figure will probably get a couple of seo jobs.

Overall have decided to send 5 a day from now on - as it takes a little while to get everything ready to go - and already got into an argument with the girl at staples - as she told me she was just too busy to do any work for me... delayed my printing.

I hope OP doesn't mind but will just post my results here - and people can draw their own conclusions.

GL

Originally Posted by Danny1111

Decided to give ORM a try - as already offer Seo Services and have quite a few clients there.

So far sent out 35 packages over the last 2-3 days

Included Cover Letter / Google Print Outs illustrating their current Strategy vs What others are Doing / About my company - and mocked up a Postcard to give them something hands on (it points to a dummy site I made up as example)

Pricing - basically saying 6 months then month to month $1499 or $1599 if they want something custom with their logos etc.

Worst case I figure will probably get a couple of seo jobs.

Overall have decided to send 5 a day from now on - as it takes a little while to get everything ready to go - and already got into an argument with the girl at staples - as she told me she was just too busy to do any work for me... delayed my printing.

I hope OP doesn't mind but will just post my results here - and people can draw their own conclusions.

GL

Interesting.. Would love to know how that turned out for you.

Originally Posted by scubasteeve

can anyone tell me where to find the original threads that 7878 created for this method??

I believe he was getting too many PMs and was fed-up, so he moved them to somewhere less public. VIP I would assume. This information is according to a thread asking the same question that you are.

Originally Posted by Desolite

The whole point of 7878's post was his high converting method of contact. E-mail is the worst way to contact a cold lead, ever. I really can't think of a worse method - you're lucky you got as many responses as you did.

I know it's a terrible method. I didn't know it would be THAT terrible. Also I don't think 2 from 5k emails is a lot...

Originally Posted by scubasteeve

did 7878's thread get taken down? i can't find any of the 3 installments for this method anymore

Originally Posted by scubasteeve

can anyone tell me where to find the original threads that 7878 created for this method??

I can still find them. I cannot give more details as they have been moved/deleted for specific reason. But wishing you luck to find them. Or you can PM 7878

As moneyspinner said, you can try to PM 7878, but I suggest either looking in Google cache (as the posts are still indexed) or searching "7878 22 letters profit 3 weeks" and looking at the top few results. Hope this helps!

thanks .. i was able to find them

Dam I wish my dice would arrive already, dam eBay and China purchases!

Love the read up

Congrats to the guys finding success so far. I have just finished compiling 100 companies reviews to start posting out to hopefully in the next week. Gotta get on this money train

How much have ya earned so far in total?

Just prepared and sent out 5 more today.

In total so far I have spent

Buying Stamps - $120
Printing - $40
Envelopes - $10

Ink / Paper - already had these.

So far sent out 40 - and now just sending 5 a day.

Cheers

Originally Posted by pokerjk

Dam I wish my dice would arrive already, dam eBay and China purchases!

Love the read up

I ordered 100 from eBay from a supplier in Miami. $10 for 100 dice.

I can't post links yet but search on ebay for "100 19mm Acrylic Transparent 6 Sided Red Dice Brand New"

Originally Posted by somerocks

I ordered 100 from eBay from a supplier in Miami. $10 for 100 dice.

I can't post links yet but search on ebay for "100 19mm Acrylic Transparent 6 Sided Red Dice Brand New"

That's the same listing I bought mine from...that guy is probably making a killing on his dice sales thanks to 7878's posts here on BHW.

EDIT: Link to the dice:

Code:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-19mm-Acrylic-Transparent-6-Sided-Red-Dice-Brand-New-/330522690761?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf4b004c9#ht_2844wt_1163

Originally Posted by Atlusphere

That's the same listing I bought mine from...that guy is probably making a killing on his dice sales thanks to 7878's posts here on BHW.

EDIT: Link to the dice:

lol. He probably is!

Why can't i view the original thread by 7878? I'm new to BHW so if someone could explain why that'd be great. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Cloqwerq

Why can't i view the original thread by 7878? I'm new to BHW so if someone could explain why that'd be great. Thank you.

It was moved to the Jr. VIP section for specific reasons.

Originally Posted by Atlusphere

It was moved to the Jr. VIP section for specific reasons.

Thank you Atlus.

UPDATE
Yes! After 7 phone calls and 3 meetings, I finally closed my first deal!

This was from the last restaurant owner I met with who didn't know SHIT about the internet. He told me his son connects him to the "sci-fi" and browses the internet for him.

Anyway a great way I have found to push the PAIN issue:

1) Discuss in detail with the owner what the company is CURRENTLY doing for advertisement. Say they are doing radio, TV, and even internet marketing... let them know all that means SHIT since the first thing people are going to do is look up the company online.

2) Show the owner the keyword research tool and how many people are looking for keyword + city... In my case it was 2000 (broad match). I showed the cust he is missing out on a potential 500 customers per week because of the bad reviews (I know exact is a better tool, but I needed to push the pain!)


When I tried to close on the spot he deferred saying he needed to speak to his account, but yesterday they called me back to come pick up the check.

$500/month 6 month contract. Bada bing bada boom!

Congratulations mate... Nice to see more progress here... i have been closely following this thread here ..

Happy for you Purple well done