How to Teach Your WordPress Clients to Shop Around and Still Come Out on Top
You’ve got both a great proposal and a client who’s on board. Smart buyers shop around. It’s a fact of life.
And the clients that you want to work with are no different.
Whether it’s cars, houses, insurance policies, or websites, educated consumers look around for the best bang-for-their-buck.
But educated consumers and informed clients are a GREAT thing. Many agency owners would assume that the best clients to work with are the ones that are in love with us at first sight. Here’s why it’s not that simple:
- Informed clients are typically less impulsive with their decisions—that’s good for you, your project, and for them.
- Informed clients know that they want you—and appreciate you more for it.
- Informed clients have read the fine print—that means fewer miscommunications and mix-ups down the line.
When you send your clients out into the world and they still come back to you, you know you’re the best fit.
We at the Academy are ready and eager to outfit you with everything you need to create a winning proposal that brings clients around the world and back, but here are some thoughts to keep in mind in the meantime.
- Present yourself with the same professionalism and preparation for every client, no matter what the dollar amount on the proposal may be.
You’ve scouted out an opportunity to present a proposal, and you’ve chatted with the prospective clients. Things are looking great—until they discuss what they’re willing to pay. Spoiler alert: it’s not the project that’s going to allow you to buy Twitter from Elon.
If you still find the project to be appealing, submit and present your proposal with the same enthusiasm and care as you would for someone willing to pay twice as much. No one ever forgets how you made them feel, and you don’t know what kinds of contacts they’ve got up their sleeves.
- Be prepared with answers to the questions that your competitors haven’t even thought of yet.
Your clients can go look at as many possible providers as they’d like. At the end of the day, though, it’s your preparation in the face of other agencies that will bring your clients running back.
A great way to wow your prospective clients is through having more information that they could’ve thought to ask for, delivered in a way that’s digestible and unpretentious. If you’ve got the answers your competitors don’t and a clear head for project management, you’ve got a leg up for sure.
- Understand that there are many motivations for a client saying, “no”, many of which don’t have anything to do with you.
If at the end of day, your prospective client goes for someone else, don’t take it the hard way. After all, there are countless reasons that they could have gone in a different direction.Most of them you could have never predicted.
If you’ve made your best efforts in presenting yourself and your proposal, you’ve got nothing to lose sleep over. Who knows? Maybe next time you’ll be that very same client’s first choice.
And remember: Desperation isn’t a good look on anyone.
- NEVER underestimate the power of a follow-up!
A little communication goes a long way!
Don’t be afraid to drop a line after a reasonable amount of time has passed. (You could even mention that you’ll be doing so around the time of delivering your proposal.) It’s a good way to have an idea of the way your client is leaning in a way that’s not overly-invasive. It also gives them an opportunity to think and explore without them wandering through their own indecision for eternity.
It’s a great way to get your name back in their mouths and fresh on their brains.
Creating detailed proposals for your leads may seem like a Herculean task at times, but in the end, it’s going to be what not only gives you the professional edge, but puts you at a level above the competition.
Don’t be afraid to lay out what you want, and don’t be shy in describing what exactly you can give—it could be the difference between a “see you never” and a signature on the dotted line.
And if you want to expand your proposal skills even further, you know where to find us! (see below)
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