The Header
Welcome to another episode of Silence in Golden where Troy and Simon give away invaluable tips for your business. Except this week Troy has man flu, so the awesome Gin steps in. (Look out Troy!)
Today our main topic is the “Go Wide, Go Deep” method to use in your first meeting with a potential client. Gin and Simon also give us the latest news including WordPress turning 15, the return of the keylogger virus and how you can protect your website.
Watch the Video
The Sidebar
News
WordPress Turns 15!
15 years ago on the 25th January, this was the post from Mike Little on Matt Mullenweg’s blog that started it all.
Thank you Matt and Mike! It’s a great time to celebrate the community and how far this amazing project has come in 15 years.
Read the full article from WP Tavern here
Keylogger Virus
The keylogger virus that affected thousands of websites late last year is back again.
Simon points out a useful article on the Sucuri website, where there is a guide to help you get your website unhacked.
Other tips to avoid the hacking include making sure you are using the best hosting that you can as the cheaper ones are notorious for getting hacked. Also let your clients know that if they are on a care plan that they are less likely to get hacked, and if they do actually get hacked that you are there to make sure it gets fixed – no headaches for them.
How to Set up a Cornerstone Content Strategy with Yoast
On your site, you probably have a number of articles that are dear to your heart – your cornerstone articles. So how do you make sure these articles pop up in a high position in the search engines? This article from Yoast gives some helpful tips.
How Saying “No” Wins More Work
This post from WooCommerce looks at the way you should be using “no” to show your expertise and win more work.
For example, if a client asks for something that you know is difficult to do and not in their budget, then you need to educate the client and set boundaries. This is also where scope creep (and preventing it) comes into play – which we spoke about in last week's Silence is Golden.
The Content
Go Wide Go Deep Method
This is a method that you use with new clients (or existing clients with new projects) in the initial meeting with them.
The aim is to go deep and find out the real goals of the project and what it is going to achieve. This helps you create better proposals and positions you as the expert.
A client may come to you and think that they know what they want, but by going deeper, you can uncover the core reasons. It may be totally different to what they initially explained to you and thought they wanted to be done.
Tip: If you live in the same area, having this meeting face to face is better if it sounds like a good lead, however, the Skype or Zoom video call work well too.
The Mock GWGD Session
The conversation doesn’t always go according to the plan so Gin and Simon do a mock GWGD session for you to get the feel for how it works.
Ginny explains that she is starting her own blog with a friend on the slow movement, zero waste and healthy living, and wants it to have e-commerce capabilities.
So firstly, Simon says that if it is purely a blog then he wouldn’t take it on. It needs to give the client some kind of return on investment. If it’s purely a hobby, then he would offer a consult at a high hourly rate and train her how to set it up.
He starts by asking Gin about her goals and she explains that she has two goals:
- To add e-commerce to sell eight products that they have acquired so far
- They are writing a book that they are self-publishing and want to sell that
Listen in at the 12-minute mark where Simon asks why and goes deeper with questions such as:
- Why is this important that you use e-commerce?
- So by making money, you will expand your audience?
- So why is getting a book published important?
From these questions, he uncovers that the real reason that she wants to set these things up is to be able to quit her job (because she has such a mean boss… wink, wink Troy!) and reach a certain level of income. So now he is on the same page as her for her more personal goals and can help her reach a target. Bang!
Why This Works
The difference between the proposal that you will now send compared to someone else's, is that you now know more than your competitors and you understand and care about the core of the project. You have shown that you know what you're talking about and that you are now a trusted advisor.
Even if you don’t know how to deliver all of the services, by simply having a conversation like this, it puts you in a position where they will trust you.
Be Ok With the Awkwardness
Sometimes it's awkward because you want to tell them all the technical things about what you could do, but the client doesn’t need to know that at this stage. So keep it simple and just ask why.
Be ok with awkward silences and let them think. If you can see that they are getting awkward, then tell them to relax and to take their time. It's all about listening not talking.
Simon's Hot Tip
Always have the decision maker in the room so you can get to the deeper needs of what they want to achieve
Finishing Up the Meeting
Finish up the meeting within an hour and let them know that you will talk to your team and get back with a proposal. Don’t talk about how you will tackle the project or the price. However, if they ask for a ballpark figure try and give them one. If you're not comfortable giving them one, then that is fine but always make sure you know their budget first!
You don't need to charge for this meeting. However, if they have no idea about their goals, their vision or what they’re doing then you can charge for a discovery session and book them in for that.
Gin refers to a great post from Christina Hawkins on what we hear clients asking all the time about why we charge so much when they could just get the cousin to do it on Wix, and how to respond. Love this!
So that's it for this week. Until 10 am next Tuesday EST, go elevate!
