Throw Your Prospect a Bone, Not the Entire Meal

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Subject: Get More Sales Through Organic Website Promotion

Dear Owner,

I thought you might like to know some of the reasons why you are not getting more organic (FREE) search engine traffic for your website.

  1. Your website is not coming in top pages of Google.
  2. Your site has not good Google back links, this can be improved further.
  3. Your website has some technical error, so that error needs to be fixed for a Good website.

If you want to know hundred such points about what your site needs, and are curious to know what our working together would involve, then I would be glad to provide you with further detailed analysis in the form of a SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) SITE REPORT.

Our clients consistently tell us that their customers find them because they are at the top of Google. Being on the top left of Google (#1-#5 Organic positions) is the best thing you can do for your company’s website traffic and online reputation.

Sounds interesting? Feel free to email us or alternatively you can provide your best time and phone number to call you.

I am sending you our “Plan Of Action” on SEO, On-Page optimization, Off-Page optimization and SMO services, please find the attachments.

3 attachments —

Explanation SEO Services
Plan of Action on on-page and off-page optimization
Plan of Action on Social Media Optimization

This isn’t the first such email we’ve received. And while you might be chuckling to yourself, thinking, “I’d never send an unsolicited email like that,” ask yourself how many times you’ve provided the same amount of free information to a prospect who’s never indicated any level of commitment to engage your services.

Before you give away free and valuable information (the type that can be handed off to a lower-cost competitor) here’s the question you must get answered:

If I can meet all of your expectations for an acceptable price, is there anything standing in the way to prevent you from hiring my firm and moving forward with this project?

Hidden within that question there are two key pieces of information you need to know:

  1. How committed is your prospect to this project?
  2. How likely is he to select you?

How Committed is Your Prospect?

I once sold lawn care door-to-door. We worked in pairs, each covering one side of the street. When I reached the end of the block, I found my partner talking with a homeowner on his lawn. As I approached, I heard the man asking a number of questions. Then my partner did a surprising thing: he handed the man his card, told him to call if he had more questions and walked away.

Once out of earshot, I said, “What are you doing? He was asking questions; he was interested.” To which he replied, “He was just jerking my chain.” My partner was a much better salesperson and recognized when a “prospect” isn’t really a serious buyer.

For years, salespeople have been trained to ask for the budget early in the sales call. But commitment is far more important to ascertain. Budget follows commitment, not the other way around. You need to know if this project is “mission critical” to the organization or not. Remember, you’re not only competing with other firms and/or freelancers, you’re also competing with the decision to do nothing.

How Likely is the Prospect to Select You?

Whenever I met with a prospect, one question I always asked is, “Why are you considering me?” I never had anyone refuse to answer it, and some of the responses I received were not what I expected.

If you don’t ask, you risk providing too much information to a prospect who has no intention of hiring you. The company may already have a preferred vendor, but their purchasing policy requires they get multiple bids—and you just happen to be one of the unlucky throw-aways. Or perhaps they’re using you to leverage their current supplier into lowering their price. If your prospect is evasive or can’t give a genuine reason why they’re considering you, maybe they’re not.

The value you bring is both your ideas and their execution. If you give your ideas away for free, it’s easy for the prospect to use a cheaper competitor, or do it themselves. Want to demonstrate your expertise? Then throw your prospect a bone—but don’t serve up the entire meal.

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John TabitaJohn Tabita
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Former owner and partner of web firm Jenesis Technologies, John is currently Director of Digital Strategy at Haines Local Search, a company providing local search marketing solutions to SMBs, including print and Internet Yellow Pages, web design, and local SEO. When not working or spending time with his family, John offers great sales and marketing advice on his blog, Small Business Marketing Sucks. When not working or spending time with his family, John offers great sales and marketing advice on his blog, Small Business Marketing Sucks.

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