First off congratulations! Second, take a deep breath! There is no doubt that sales meetings can be intimidating but that's only because you put too much weight on them.

You've been talking to strangers all your life, you've been selling all your life (whether it's when you were a kid and tried to convince your parents you should be allowed that new toy, or when you entered your bosses office seeking that raise). Selling is a natural part of your life, you just need to relax and approach it right.

I remember my first "professional" meeting (or at least it seemed so at the time), I was in grade 6 and stubborn in the stance that my school needed a school newspaper. My meeting was with the schools’ principal (a rather scary looking character) and I was a nervous wreck! It was at this time that my father, a successful business man, gave me some of the best advice I've ever received. When I was little I was really in to acting, my dad took me aside before the meeting and told me that this meeting was just like one of my plays, the pitch was merely what I had to present to the audience, I would play the character of someone they wanted to listen to and sell them on a concept they would enjoy.

This initial view got me over the fright of walking into a room with someone much older than myself and in a position of responsibility, but it also got me to look at human interactions in a brand new light. As I continued to learn more about sales, people, and life, I learned a few valuable things about selling that I want to pass on to those of you venturing out to your first meetings.

#1 - You Talk Too Much:
I know, I know, coming from me, this one may be a bit of a surprise, but when it comes to sales most sales people speak way too much. The client, in most cases, does not care who you are, or what your products’ ten best features are.. They care that they have a problem - in most cases one problem; that they want to you to fix.

Former CEO of Porchse, Peter Shultz, says,

"If you listen closely enough, your customers will explain your business to you."

And he's quite right with that, most sales people do 80%+ of the talking in a meeting, tell a client what they need, and trying to follow this "ABS" (always be selling) which is a load of rubbish. What you need to be doing is "ABL" always be listening, find out what the clients’ problem is, and help to educate them on how you are the solution.

Use this over the top example to help you understand:

Imagine I am a parched traveler and you are a sales representative of a food and beverage company. My problem is that I am parched and dehydrated; do I want to know that you make the best soda? Do I care about the competitive pricing of your chips? Not at the moment; but if you listen to me and identify my needs, explain how your product (water) is the best solution to my problem and then resolve my issue, not only have you closed a sale but now I might be interested in your other products.

#2 - What clients really want

Now that you understand that you need to listen for a clients’ problem, let's talk a bit about selling them a solution. Clients are really only interested in two things "The Impact" and "The Promise".

Let's put it this way, I went into the corner store to get an apple, I came out with my apple and ate it. Traditionally, people would tell me I bought an apple because I wanted an apple. A sales man might try and tell me why his apples are the best.

But did I want the apple? No. What I truly wanted was to get rid of my hunger, the after effect or "The Impact" of eating that apple. So while you might be great at selling apples, you should really be focusing on selling the impact of your solution and do it with certainty so your client has that promise.

Let's put it in terms more relatable to most of us. You contact a few SEO companies that you want to get quotes from. One of them tells you:

"We are really good at SEO and are going to make sure we implement a great plan for you that will raise your SERPS"

The other company says:

"Our SEO is focused on improving your ROI and not just your SERP. We won't focus on fruitless keywords"

Which are you more likely to go with? What was the end result you desired? Just a higher SERP or did you really want a higher ROI? Sell on the impact.

#3 - Closing a deal is the best thing you'll ever do - Failing is the second best

People are constantly afraid of failure. In fact, it's one of Dale Carnegie's (author of "How to Win Friends and Influence People) fatal five fears. People constantly lose their nerve, and fail to sell simply because they are afraid of failing in the first place.

But when it comes to selling, I love failing, because it gives me an opportunity to grow, and to improve. I have an old little pocket tape recorder and record my pitch so I can listen to after the fact and identify where I went wrong. I've certainly failed plenty, but in discovering the moment where those clients "switched off" I was able to avoid the same mistake in future pitches that I won.

When you accept the fact that you are going to fail, and quite frankly are going to fail a lot, it loosens the chains. It lets you become more relaxed and bold in future pitches, and it acts as a learning experience to help you better understand not only people in general, but also how your business is viewed and what problems you solve.

#4 - Be Memorable - Not Stupid:

"I'm going to rent a Ferrari to drive to my meeting". "I'm going to wear a top hat and a monocle to really stand out to my client"

If you've ever said anything along these lines then you're guilty of being stupid. Being memorable and standing out to a client isn't about being a spectacle, it's about having a hook.

Let me explain further:I was once looking to hire a quality writer to help with a small project. I asked each of the writers why they thought they were the best writer for this job. One of the replies I received was roughly this:

"When I was growing up, my twin sister was blind. I always felt bad that she could never experience the world as I did, so I asked her one day how to better explain things to her. Over time, I learned a more practical and descriptive language that I feel helps me better illustrate any scenario, to any person"

I don't know if he had a blind sister, in fact I'm willing to bet he didn't as the pitch resembles that of a famous sales guru; but what this writer did have was a unique hook. Anecdotes (small stories) are one of the best hooks out there, in fact long after you are done with this thread and moved on with your life you are far more likely to remember the little stories and examples I posted here than anything else in the thread.

Presenting yourself in a unique manner doesn't always involve anecdotes (although they help), but having a unique and memorable perspective, outlook or reasoning can make a world of difference. It's not about looking like an idiot, it's about saying "This is what I do differently, this is why I do it this way and this is why it works for you".

#5 - Stop Selling on Price

One of the biggest mistakes you'll make when you start out in sales is competing on and selling on price. My competitor sells at $100, I better sell at $90! It's a mistake we've all made, myself included.

What you need to remember is that there are shares at all ends of the price spectrum on a market. Either for its perceived value (sentimental attachment) or its practical value (it better provides "the impact" the customer was looking for).

Apple, Gucci, Ferrari, they are all companies built upon being the "premium" product in their niche. There will always be room for that. In the SEO world I can buy links from fiverr or I can spend $1000 a month on a SEO Firm. The products differ in price, but also in quality.

You need to remember, that you are listening to find out a clients’ problem (find their desired impact), presenting a solution to solve it, and promising you can deliver. If you can illustrate that you can solve their problem, promise that you can deliver, and can deliver it better than anyone else, then you will have clients even when you are above the average cost of the product you are selling.

#6 - Your Age Doesn't Matter

Time and time again I see the statement "I don't think I can do offline sales - I'm too young". This couldn't be further from the truth. Your age won’t hurt you - in fact it might be just the unique hook to not only help you stand out from your competition, but also impress the client by the fact that you are so knowledgeable at such a young age.

Beyond that, when it comes down too it, not much about you matters (in the sense that it won't likely be held against you). All the client cares about is “can you solve his problem?”

In Conclusion

Prior to your meeting, make a list of all your products and services, and figure out what impact they have and what problem the solve. Think of ways you can show your client how that problem is solved by your product or service (testimonials, statistics, etc…) and then take a deep breath and don't be afraid to fail!

I am going to start writing a series of short posts (I'm sure a bunch of you just went "YAY") that deal a little more with sales and marketing psychology, how to present and pitch, and hope this helps those of you that haven't had experience in selling, break into that world a little more easily.

I'm going to meet a client face-to-face for the first time today, and you post this. Coincidence?

How perfect! Feel free to shoot of some questions too!

Excellent share Winchester ! Copied to doc.
Thanks!

Great post man..sort of ties in with what you said, but be CONFIDENT in what you're selling.

I wish this post was around when I had my first meeting like 2 months ago. Asshole lawyer wasted my time. We talked for over an hour, and he was asking me the most STUPID questions. My mistake? Answering them. Sure, answer some of their questions, but at a certain point, I think you need to draw the line and tell them this: do you want results, or not? For example, this lawyer I met up with was asking me how long before we could hit page 1. I said there is no way I can tell him for certain, but I'd estimate 3 months or so. I also told him not to worry during the process if his website fell off, as this is known as the Google dance. He panicked at that stage and said he didn't want to risk his site doing the "Google Dance" LOLOL. I got so pissed. Tried to explain it to him, he just didn't get it. Moral of the story? Seems like the less you talk, the better (as you pointed out in #1).

+rep

Thanks Winnie. I'm already looking forward to your next post.

Thx for the info

Originally Posted by thedon23

Great post man..sort of ties in with what you said, but be CONFIDENT in what you're selling.

I wish this post was around when I had my first meeting like 2 months ago. Asshole lawyer wasted my time. We talked for over an hour, and he was asking me the most STUPID questions. My mistake? Answering them. Sure, answer some of their questions, but at a certain point, I think you need to draw the line and tell them this: do you want results, or not? For example, this lawyer I met up with was asking me how long before we could hit page 1. I said there is no way I can tell him for certain, but I'd estimate 3 months or so. I also told him not to worry during the process if his website fell off, as this is known as the Google dance. He panicked at that stage and said he didn't want to risk his site doing the "Google Dance" LOLOL. I got so pissed. Tried to explain it to him, he just didn't get it. Moral of the story? Seems like the less you talk, the better (as you pointed out in #1).

+rep

I think Winchester nailed it already.. sell the benefits [impact and results] they'll get from your service in stead of selling technicals [HOW we get you the result doesn't matter] from which 'real world' clients have absolutely no idea what you're rambling about. You can tell them all kinds of fancy stuff about SEO, how much you know about it etc. but at the end of the day that's not what matters, clients pay to get a high ROI.
If a client was really interested about getting into the techincals of SEO and such I'd just tell them kindly it's our job to worry about that - not theirs.

very nice share...
...and written pretty solid.

...as i will need this at some point in the near future i will stick to this thread and hope you will continue to give some insights and tips on selling stuff.

thanks & rep given...

Another great post Winchester. Got a few possible clients coming up that I'm scheduling meetings for next week.

Will be sure to use some of the info you posted here and I'm looking forward to these new posts you hinted about over the next few weeks

Don't sell, tell!

You are paid according to the problems you solve.

Another awesome post by Winchester! Thank you for putting so much time into it!

Great advice, thank-you. You hit the nail on the head, many people try and impress with technical jargon which the client doesn't care about, just tell them what BENEFIT it does for there business and your halfway there.

Great post, as usual, Winchester. +rep given.

The "Don't talk too much" is a great rule, and something I'm guilty of myself of doing (that I'm trying to learn not to do).

You can talk yourself OUT of sales that were almost closed, by talking too much, when you start bringing up shit that the customer does not need to worry about (it's your job to worry about it). You can talk in generalities about your methods being clean/whitehat, whatever, but if you start delving into specifics it gives them more reasons to have doubts and say no.

Also this applies to price negotiations too. Client - "How much does your service cost?", you - "$1000 a month", PAUSE.

When you start saying something after the price they sense weakness, and that they can talk you down in price. Say the price confidently, if they balk, then you can negotiate it down, don't negotiate by justifying the price before it's even necessary.

Originally Posted by demongerbil

Great post, as usual, Winchester. +rep given.

The "Don't talk too much" is a great rule, and something I'm guilty of myself of doing (that I'm trying to learn not to do).

You can talk yourself OUT of sales that were almost closed, by talking too much, when you start bringing up shit that the customer does not need to worry about (it's your job to worry about it). You can talk in generalities about your methods being clean/whitehat, whatever, but if you start delving into specifics it gives them more reasons to have doubts and say no.

Also this applies to price negotiations too. Client - "How much does your service cost?", you - "$1000 a month", PAUSE.

When you start saying something after the price they sense weakness, and that they can talk you down in price. Say the price confidently, if they balk, then you can negotiate it down, don't negotiate by justifying the price before it's even necessary.

Great point about the the pricing demongerbil, this is actually one of the first things I'll be covering in the sales psychology series.

too many people are worried about their price, and end up needlessly bartering themselves down, loosing not only valuable income but more importantly lowering the perception of being the "premium" product in the niche. Which can be devastating! Glad you folks are liking it so far!

Thank you Winchester, nice advice!

Originally Posted by mil0x

If a client was really interested about getting into the techincals of SEO and such I'd just tell them kindly it's our job to worry about that - not theirs.

If you told me that in a sales pitch I'd remind you who is writing the cheques. I'm for sure going to need to make a post about handling client questions - you want to introduce them to the topics if they ask directly, because they are curious and obviously have some concerns. There are ways to do this and you want to make sure you educate them only enough to make the sale, stand out from other educational results they may hear, and don't come across as an ass.

"Oh how do you build my placement in Google?"

"Essentially Google's rankings are a display of Google's algorithmically solved value of your website. We work to optimize your website as well as acquire various authoritative media properties to reflect a more valuable relationship between your website and your target keyword. We've extensively studied how Google ranks websites in relation to a keyword and make sure to do so in a manner that seems organic, and will allow continued growth over time."

Haven't had my morning coffee yet so it's not perfect but you get the idea, you never want to not explain something to a curious client, but you can skim the surface to put their concerns a little more at ease

Subscribed. This is a keeper.

Em.Absolutely extraordinary.
Thanks.

Simply Superb...

Thanks man. Good read. Really needed number 6.

Thanks folks - clearly this is a topic of interest and well worth continuing the series!

This is gold for anyone who wants to make money at the end of a pitch. Thanks

Printed out for my mates!! Amazing..

But I'm going to be truthfull, actually I thought about renting an Mercedes Benz for bigger meetings but that was some time ago.

Originally Posted by albaniax

Printed out for my mates!! Amazing..

But I'm going to be truthfull, actually I thought about renting an Mercedes Benz for bigger meetings but that was some time ago.

We've all made those mistakes in the past, I went the clothing route! :P At the end of the day solve the clients problem and the selling comes naturally!

<3


this has been missing from bhw i feel

Couldn't agree more m0nster - I'm going to make an effort to improve the guide to business interactions for people who jump out into this realm

you are the greatest!!!!!!!!!! all of your post are just amazing keep it coming love all the great content you offer.
Regards
Suave

WOW Winchester, you have been on the roll lately, I'll be glued to your posts now :-), Your contributions are very much appreciated. Rep +

Thank you

Winchester you are a fucking godsend, I have my first meeting next week. I think I've seen you post elsewhere about letting them talk, I had to repeat that in my head so much while on the phone with this owner. I figured I'd have to be the one talking but sure enough, he took off and did most of the talking and I took notes, another tip I read here, and I learned so much about his situation, when it came my turn I had my notes and could address all of HIS concerns, instead of just bombing him with my wares. I think being quiet and letting him talk was the number one thing that turned that call EXCELLENT. Can't wait for more, thank you!

Originally Posted by thedon23

Great post man..sort of ties in with what you said, but be CONFIDENT in what you're selling.

I wish this post was around when I had my first meeting like 2 months ago. Asshole lawyer wasted my time. We talked for over an hour, and he was asking me the most STUPID questions. My mistake? Answering them. Sure, answer some of their questions, but at a certain point, I think you need to draw the line and tell them this: do you want results, or not? For example, this lawyer I met up with was asking me how long before we could hit page 1. I said there is no way I can tell him for certain, but I'd estimate 3 months or so. I also told him not to worry during the process if his website fell off, as this is known as the Google dance. He panicked at that stage and said he didn't want to risk his site doing the "Google Dance" LOLOL. I got so pissed. Tried to explain it to him, he just didn't get it. Moral of the story? Seems like the less you talk, the better (as you pointed out in #1).

+rep

I would've handled it in this way:
"Your site can't move up in google without doing the google dance. That's like asking how can I win a case without hiring a lawyer."

And the question "How long before we could hit page 1?" isn't stupid at all, it's a pretty legitimate questions for your clients. If they didn't need to ask this question, you wouldn't be trying to sell them the services

Nice Share, keep posting thread like this. This is awesome. Thanks

Ive had two lawyers call me back, both which had me on the phone for 25 minutes sounding completely interested, only to back out at the very end of the phone call. Has anyone else experienced people like this? The ones who seem interested the whole time, but end up just "not being interested" no matter how much your services could help them.. Oh and there's the other excuse of "Oh but I have more business than I can handle anyway at the moment" so I'm not going to pay to have these horrible reviews taken down.. Blows my mind

If anyone's interested in my case, the client I went to meet yesterday already had two full-time workers who also did "SEO work" - basically directory and article submission. And she had owned websites for 10 years so she knew a bit about SEO. Either way, I helped her out by giving her a few on-page tips since her on-page optimization sucked and was out of date - little original content, copied-pasted stuff across all the websites, keyword stuff, no proper h1 tags, titles, descriptions etc. So yeah, I didn't score yesterday. BUT, she called just now. She wants me to work on two of her websites and two of her sister's websites to begin with! FOUR websites in total ;D

Originally Posted by Tvision10

Ive had two lawyers call me back, both which had me on the phone for 25 minutes sounding completely interested, only to back out at the very end of the phone call. Has anyone else experienced people like this? The ones who seem interested the whole time, but end up just "not being interested" no matter how much your services could help them.. Oh and there's the other excuse of "Oh but I have more business than I can handle anyway at the moment" so I'm not going to pay to have these horrible reviews taken down.. Blows my mind

Some people want to pick your mind without putting their hand in their pocket. You won't close every sale. Excuses are usually a sign that they were uninterested when the picked up the phone. No one has too much business that they don't want to grow unless there infrastructure is terrible - and if they knew that fact then why get on the phone with someone who helps grow your business?

good read winnie

Very detailed as always nice contribution

+22

Thanks guys glad you enjoyed it!

Originally Posted by Winchester

"Essentially Google's rankings are a display of Google's algorithmically solved value of your website. We work to optimize your website as well as acquire various authoritative media properties to reflect a more valuable relationship between your website and your target keyword. We've extensively studied how Google ranks websites in relation to a keyword and make sure to do so in a manner that seems organic, and will allow continued growth over time."

I strongly agree with the majority of your points & implement them myself while dealing with my own clients.

The one thing I disagree with is the way you worded that ^. I used to write eloquent e-mails & talk exactly like that with clients, but I realized I was hurting myself and routinely got this reaction: "".

When I 'dumbed' it down and sold the results and benefits, not SEO with jargon on a level they understood, it was much easier to have a conversation with them. It wasn't going over their heads, and when they can start to grasp the concept of it, they aren't as afraid to try it (I've seen many clients who are petrified of things they don't understand and past firms who have ripped them off). What you wrote sounds fantastic, in just my personal opinion, I feel it would 'scare' prospects when they try to process all of it.

My $.02, but keep the posts rolling. Always great to see others think the same way.

I'd love some feedback about what to actually bring to the meetings for us noobs. I was planning on bringing (7878 method) this stuff, and presenting in roughly this order:

0) personal notes I have compiled about the guy and his business, for me to refer to

1) a printout of neg reviews to go over (I don't need these for this particular meeting, the guy already knows, is already in pain, wants solution) but just to overview.

2) printout of powerpoint presentation I made that very simply and step by step shows how the feedback system works

3) sample feedback card

4) our various orm services

5) brief statistics sheet about the positives of orm, with sources

6) one-time cleanup + 3-tiered pricing sheet? or should I make up a custom plan for his business? or both?

7) keyword tool printout with some great phrases he's not ranking for, to possibly upsell some seo too

7) contract, with room/sections to add in any additional services or whatnot (do you happen to have any help with this or should we just google and use whatever?)

8) new client sheet with info for him to fill out for me to use, basically whatever I need to get him set up without having to keep on calling him

9) business card to leave

How's that sound? Missing something? Too much? lol

Fantastic post man! Very helpful.

Originally Posted by singingsleep

I'd love some feedback about what to actually bring to the meetings for us noobs. I was planning on bringing (7878 method) this stuff, and presenting in roughly this order:


4) our various orm services

5) brief statistics sheet about the positives of orm, with sources

6) a custom plan for his business

7) keyword tool printout with some great phrases he's not ranking for, to possibly upsell some seo too

7) contract, with room/sections to add in any additional services or whatnot (do you happen to have any help with this or should we just google and use whatever?)
l

Personally I think it's a bit much, so I cut out the ones I don't think you need. Get his details via email or save them on file, don't use a client sheet, no need to leave a business card otherwise there wasn't enough detail in your ORM Sales letter you sent. As far as contracts I cover that in my other series Your Full and Complete Guide to Starting Your Offline Business (This link goes to part 3 as part 3 has links to parts 1 and 2 as well!

Great idea on the upsale and stats though - that's the way to go!

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Winchester again"

Haha.

It seems like I +rep a few guys and Winchester - I tried to give you rep again - forgot about it. It only prove that your posts are superb!

Thanks for your time and for those helpfull tips.

Originally Posted by xenoxen

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Winchester again"

Haha.

It seems like I +rep a few guys and Winchester - I tried to give you rep again - forgot about it. It only prove that your posts are superb!

Thanks for your time and for those helpfull tips.

You wouldn't believe the amount of Pm's I get of people telling me they can't rep me right now as I post too often :P

Thanks though!

Does anyone know where my thread went to?