Questions for Qualifying Prospects

How do you qualify your SEO or web dev. leads?

[stuntdubl]

Since I'm mainly SEO, I have a handful of questions that I like to ask which I'll include below. When you're trying to priortize your prospects and workflow it is nice to have some things in mind to keep the sales cycle to a minimum.

My current favorite:

Briefly explain your business model:

What are your current issues with internet marketing?

What current metrics do you have for performance?

What are they now?

What would you like them to be?

What is the value of this increase?

Any other relevant information about your site or sites?

Generally good answers to these questions indicate a client willing to work on their site and not just wanting to "set it and forget it". What types of things do do you ask your clients to make sure they are the type of people you want to work with?

[loki1961]

pretty good list, but i feel the question "What is the value of this increase?" could be reworded a bit better.

just seems a bit in your face, especially for a potential client that probably isn't yet getting that 'warm, comfortable glow' from you.

anybody?

[anallawalla]

The summary of qualifying questions is:

• Is there a budget for the offering?
  
• Is there some specific project?
  
• Is there some urgency to buy?
  

At a previous job I used these principles to devise a 3-page online form for seminar registrations. The first page gave us the minimum for the event's needs; the second page probed deeper about their business; the third asked more probing questions. The last two pages were optional but hardly anyone abandoned at page 1.

For SEO, your list is fairly good, but we also ask the prospect about where they are spending their marketing dollar, which leads to different questions. e.g. if they are in the YP or spend on PPC ads, it is an easier sell. We also try to find out what they sell, so that we can estimate how many widgets they need to sell to recoup the investment.

[henry0]

I partner with a marketing guru
However I claim “paternity” for my favorite:
<<<
What is your return on your web investment, what percentage of your biz is web generated?
>>>

Usually this starts a potential client brain’s wheels!

[percentages]

>What is your return on your web investment, what percentage of your biz is web generated?

This is a good question for all.

The closing question is this:

You pay me 50% of your increase in profits from the web. If you make nothing extra, I make nothing!

If I make you $millions of extra profit per year you will have to share 50% of the increase with me, and as you will see from my contract I will have total control over your online business should you wish to take another step forth!

No risk to the client, all the risk to the SEO, they have nothing to lose! 99+% closing ratio, and if you can deliver, as much money as you ever need to make. :)

The simple solutions are the best, your SEO needs to make as much as you, try any other solution and you are most likely the one who will be out of business online.