Been referred to a $100mil+/year company any advice?

Amazing tips on this thread. Damn. Stefanie's knowledge in the field is really impressive.

Another tip for someone that wants more "credibility" in front of clients: publish a guest post (or a few of them) on sites like SEOmoz, SEJ, SEL, etc... it's easier than most people think and it impresses the shit out of clients. They think you're some kind of god of SEO or something when they see that you publish content on those blogs. (Don't tell them that it's easy and even Sumit can do it lol)
 


JoseArmando said:
OK since this got bumped I'll update what happened.

After I got referred an upper level manager that's directly under the CEO contacted me and the email was basically "we want to work with you but there's another company in the picture that's been working for us for some time and once we see what kind of contracts we have in place with them we'll meet".

Apparently (I learned this from the person that told them about us) what happened after that was the manager that wanted to bring us in had no idea what the actual situation was concerning the company they're contracting online advertising to at the moment.

I have no idea if that's the real reason or if someone else got in before we could even set up a meeting. I guess this is just another part of the game when you're dealing with companies like this.

Thanks for all the help I got here and on Skype, I'll definitely use this sometime in the near future.
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In another thread a WFer threw some water in my face and told me I was friend-zoned as my pitch for work failed - he was spot on. One lesson for me was to try and not take positive feedback at face value after a pitch fails. Because I had been doing just that.

It's possible something similar is happening here. Fortunately this isn't sex, so friendzoning while not a good thing isn't necessarily permanent.

All I saw in my initial pitch was green acres, as in: "I can come in here and do a great job for these guys because they're so ass-backwards - and clean up."

My mistake was relying on an internal connection and making them like me and convincing them I knew what the fuck was going on.

I did not concentrate on hammering across what I could do for the potential employer/partner.

#whatIlearnedonWFthisweek
 
JoseArmando said:
OK since this got bumped I'll update what happened.

After I got referred an upper level manager that's directly under the CEO contacted me and the email was basically "we want to work with you but there's another company in the picture that's been working for us for some time and once we see what kind of contracts we have in place with them we'll meet".

Apparently (I learned this from the person that told them about us) what happened after that was the manager that wanted to bring us in had no idea what the actual situation was concerning the company they're contracting online advertising to at the moment.

I have no idea if that's the real reason or if someone else got in before we could even set up a meeting. I guess this is just another part of the game when you're dealing with companies like this.

Thanks for all the help I got here and on Skype, I'll definitely use this sometime in the near future.
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Well I guess thats it then. Just forget about it and move on. I guess there is no point in trying to go after these bigger contracts after all. The other guy always finds out and slams the door in your face.

That or you can put on your big boy panties and go to fucking war. Figure out a way to get this done. You need to go the extra mile. This shit doesn't just land at your feet. You have to go and take whats yours.
 
JoseArmando said:
OK since this got bumped I'll update what happened.

After I got referred an upper level manager that's directly under the CEO contacted me and the email was basically "we want to work with you but there's another company in the picture that's been working for us for some time and once we see what kind of contracts we have in place with them we'll meet".
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Maybe that was you cue to call and say, 'we wait for no one, if you value your online presence you need_____'



Want some coffee?

Coffee's for closers..



Thanks for the update.
 
dropping keywords we take as "simple" like someone mentioned
so true....i landed a large client when they were complaining no one could figure out how to make their webpages work on a mac/ipad
when i mentioned html5...i noticed 3 employees writing it down...and had a chuckle on the inside.

what we take as easy or obvious..is almost voodoo magic to others
 
onlinemoniez said:
Charge what they can afford. Period.
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This is the part I struggle the most with.

I always ask clients if they have a set budget for online marketing to work with, but I get an answer like 1 time out of 5. Most of the time they answer "ohh we don't really have a set budget yet" or "well tell us how much your services cost first and we'll see if we can afford it" so I'm always the one that has to throw the numbers first which is annoying.

Any tips?
 
avatar33 said:
This is the part I struggle the most with.

I always ask clients if they have a set budget for online marketing to work with, but I get an answer like 1 time out of 5. Most of the time they answer "ohh we don't really have a set budget yet" or "well tell us how much your services cost first and we'll see if we can afford it" so I'm always the one that has to throw the numbers first which is annoying.

Any tips?
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Have you ever considered your asking the wrong questions? You want to ask questions that you get favorable responses. If you know your question is going to fail 4 out of 5 times, why ask it?


You need to take a consultative approach and ask alot of questions. Not just "how much do you spend on online services" hurr durr. Business people love to talk about their business, good or bad. You should be asking questions about the general state of their business. A few well directed questions and you will know everything you need. Its not hard to get them talking about how much revenue they have coming in or bitching about how they are loosing business.

If they ask how much it is you can simply say

"Thats a great question and I would be happy to go over that with you.
First so we can get a better understanding of you and your companies needs, I would like to ask a few questions so we can recommend the right course of action for you"

These questions are the foundation for your whole proposal. It will be what you will use to make your recommendations and figure out your pricing. You need to put a lot of energy into figuring out what these questions should be. You only want to ask questions that you can use as leverage. And yes personal questions make for the best kind of leverage.

A lot of guys worry about pricing because they don't have confidence in themselves or their services. If you feel like your just making them up (prices) and hoping the guy will say yes, your doing it wrong. If you don't believe in them why should your prospect?

Just remember its all about the questions.
 
One thing I'd say would be to join your local Business Group or Chamber of Commerce get networking till you're pretty popular with other members because one very useful thing is you will come across guys who have set up on their own .e.g. business docs or capital equity/wealth management firms when you get the right ones these guys have years of experience with board room and exec meetings its their norm try and have two in your corner INSTANT BORROWED CREDIBILITY.

Even better if they prep you themselves.

P.s now that we are a year later how did it go interested to hear the tales *Pop corn at the ready*.
 
When I first scored a referral client in the defense industry, for the covert PR stuff, I billed them at what I considered "nearly pushing it" at around $250k for one campaign. Interestingly enough, they laughed at me about it and I felt like the noobie on the block. Some of these companies expect incredibly high fees to be tossed their way, because that's just how corporate budgeting works. So, take advantage of it. As much as you can. You can also start it off with a higher than typical price, and if they want more from you, just do what everyone else does... increase that budget for whatever bunch of "reasons" they say. Also.. important to know, that you don't have to try as hard to prove your value or worth to them. The fact you know how to list a site on a search engine in 20 mins is fucking magic in their eyes.
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If everyone were so lucky to score a federal contract or sub on a contract vehicle. I found out early on that you can easily get away with charging $250/hr and how they won't even blink at six figure contracts.

"Act as if" is the best piece of advice you could ever receive in this case. You're the expert, not them. Don't ever let the size of the business or contract intimidate you from doing your job.

Also.. chew on this:

"If I had asked my customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse."

- Henry Ford
 
Congrats! Good luck man.. From what I've learned, it's not about how talented you, or how much money you make the company, or even if you're the best. If you don't show up or keep in touch, and make them feel like you are ALWAYS there for them, it won't work out.. Because if they can't see you or hear you, they will drop you. The money they make with you might keep you there, but it's not enough to just deliver results. People like to be in charge, and in the loop of everything so they feel important.
 
contract said:
Congrats! Good luck man.. From what I've learned, it's not about how talented you, or how much money you make the company, or even if you're the best. If you don't show up or keep in touch, and make them feel like you are ALWAYS there for them, it won't work out.. Because if they can't see you or hear you, they will drop you. The money they make with you might keep you there, but it's not enough to just deliver results. People like to be in charge, and in the loop of everything so they feel important.
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..unfortunately you're posting to a quite old post.
 
Even though it is an old thread it is packed with gold. Thank you all. I cant even put into words how insightful the info here is for me.
 
rusvik said:
This is also true. There's always a lot of internal politics going on. Like you may be dealing with someone who has their own agenda and ideas, while other people in the firm may have others. People constantly jostling for position and trying to claim credit for things done right and avoid being part of losing bets. You will also be up against other companies cold calling, greasing the wheels, network dinners etc. Always try to get as high up the food chain as possible when closing the deal. Much more likely to get a good thing going when it becomes the boss' project instead of a 'lowly' employee. Once the CEO is on board, everyone below him will work hard to make things happen.

I would seriously also consider hiring one or more very attractive women as eye candy to bring for meetings.

Last but not least, most corporate people like to be 'wowed' particularly if they expect online marketing people to be high flying, fast talking alpha types, so don't show up looking and behaving as a nerd. Make them feel smart and 'in the know' for bringing in an 'inbound marketing guru'.
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This was a huge help to me. Thanks.
 
Update: What happened here then was last week the CEO wanted to work with us to manage their social presence since apparently the current firm was too expensive and it put me in a tough position since that's something I seriously don't want to deal with - and I don't want to be in a situation where our edge is our lower price.

Was thinking about us simply outsourcing it but honestly since I got a referral from someone inside the firm I just wouldn't feel good half assing it.

In the end me and my bro talked long and hard about it and it came down to neither of us being that in to it since we both went in to this for the advertising and not client management.

It was also a turning point for me in regards to me better understanding why I'm doing this and what was my original motivation when I was starting out. I got so caught up in the money chasing game I forgot I don't need to work on stuff I don't like and that it's more about peace of mind and enjoying what you do.

Thanks again to all of you for seriously solid advice.
 
JoseArmando said:
Update: What happened here then was last week the CEO wanted to work with us to manage their social presence since apparently the current firm was too expensive and it put me in a tough position since that's something I seriously don't want to deal with - and I don't want to be in a situation where our edge is our lower price.<snip>
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So you were interested when the price was ostensibly high, but now that the CEO told you the other firm was "too expensive" you are not?

With all due respect - do you have ANY idea what it means when a CEO says someone was too expensive?

They do NOT mean they cost too much.

They do NOT mean the price was too high.

What they mean is that they were not seeing enough success - quantifiable or not - for whatever the price is.

I've been doing IM for 3 years. I am a total hack at it, because I also own a consulting company and that is my bread and butter and has been for 16 years.. We have between 15 and 20 employees/1099's at any given time and do about 3.5 MM in revenue a year with Fortune 500 companies and the US Federal Guv'mint.

None of the people in charge CARE how much anything costs if it brings in more revenue than it produces or solves a problem that causes scads of money to disappear. If you charge them a million per day and bring in 2 million per revenue it's no problem to them. Obviously that's a gross exaggeration but the principle is true.

Anyway, if the CEO told you the other firm was too expensive -and we are assuming this isn't some very rare family owned Fortune 1000 company like Walmart - he was testing you to see how you'd respond.

The appropriate response in that scenario is something like "What kind of value/revenue/income/sign-ups/etc do you need to make it a worthwhile investment?"
 
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