When I speak to people who has either hired an SEO consultant or an agency, there are always interesting stories that surface. Some are frustrated while some consider themselves lucky. A selected few think they’re clever. But its mostly a mix of everything.

SEO Cost and packages from a buyer’s perspective

The one single thing that makes people frustrated about SEO is the time factor involved. Most genuine and professional SEO consultants and agencies give precise details on what they will be doing to improve their SEO ranks, and are honest with the expectations. SEO ranks are unpredictable and for the same reason, there are no guarantees given. But the interesting thing is that people in the SEO industry who know their game, don’t need guarantees.

But looking at it from a buyer’s perspective, things can be tough.

A buyer puts in his money and he’s expecting results within a particular time frame.

He cannot be blamed for it. If you were a buyer, you’d expect it too, wouldn’t you?

So, how do you convince a demanding SEO client?

Don’t fake it, be genuine. I’ve seen many SEO agencies who quote the Google text “Any SEO consultant who guarantee SEO results, shouldn’t be trusted.” and ask the client to believe it.

Wrong.

A client do not want to hear your “possibility theories”.

He wants answer to his questions. And his question is “When and what can you do to give me results. And how quick can you give them?”

Not everyone will understand the Google’s index and crawling ratio blah blah. Clients don’t need to understand. They need only results.

Take the Question – Answer approach

So a better way to approach it is to fix a Goal – Process flow. Find out what the client’s needs are. Rather than selling your SEO package blindly, try understanding your clients requirement.

A big mistake lot of companies make is to sell “SEO packages”.  They work in selling, but they don’t help the client to trust you or believe in you.

So, instead of being rigid with a set of packages that you’ve built, be open. Take time to study your client’s requirements. Give him a set of questions to answer. Based on his answers, offer him custom solutions. That way, you don’t have to waste his or your time in convincing him of your expertise, just understand his problems and offer him solutions.

Don’t over sell your SEO packages, instead, offer custom solutions

So, what an SEO client need to know is how the process works. He doesn’t have to know things inside out, it wouldn’t help anyone. But he needs to know what works and what doesn’t. And as a seller, you need to find out what the real problems are for a client and not sell the standard soap-box model packages to everyone who comes for help to you.

Summary

In a nutshell, both SEO companies and SEO clients needs to come to an understanding on what can be done and what not. This involves a certain level of getting-to-know each other through sessions and introductory meetings, which I believe is very important.

Otherwise, you’d be selling a square to a triangle.