This was a suggested headline for client recruiting emailed to me by a “will remain nameless” option in the vast universe of SEO Marketing Companies. This single line was the big reveal of the email that was intended to get me to pay for more nuggets just like it. What I don’t think this marketer realizes is that asking people what they need is day one of training in the retail world, not some well-kept secret.  

I know most people in marketing these days don’t have thirty plus years of retail experience. I do, and I learned a lot over those decades. Sales is all about developing a relationship with your customer. Before you call me crazy, understand this isn’t the relationship you have with a family member, close friend or even a neighbor. It is a short-term value-based relationship where you acknowledge their needs, demonstrate your ability to meet them all while demonstrating the patience to resist trying to make your sales day on that one sale.  

Determine their Need 

Meet their Need 

Don’t Oversell them  

That short-term relationship can easily blossom into a long-term repeat customer when you establish credibility. If the product you sold them works out and you didn’t lie to them or upsell them to items that far exceed their need, you gain credibility.  

The final piece of the puzzle is how you deal with a problem when it happens. Inmoment states that, “It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience.” (Source: “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner via Help Scout). Enough about retail, I’m sure you can all name a company you are actively avoiding due to a problem you may not even fully remember. Bad customer service sticks! 

So, what does all of this have to do with your website? Simple, most of the companies out there offering to fix your SEO strategy or teach you to do it yourself are overselling you. I recently attended a one-hour webinar about SEO. The invitation claimed that they would “teach me the best practices for SEO improvement”. It turned out to be a sixty- minute infomercial for a $1,000 series of recorded training sessions, that would actually do what the email falsely said it would. I was expecting it to be just that, so I wasn’t disappointed. They even dangled the carrot of a free pamphlet at the end but did not mention that you only got it if you signed up for the classes. I managed to pull out a couple of nuggets of value like I have done with every newsletter and webinar I have read or attended. 

SEO is only such a closely guarded secret because the real money is made by gatekeeping the information from the people in need and feeding it to them slowly to create a not necessarily willing return customer. Realistically SEO is all about the three relationship builders I mentioned earlier. If you determine your customer’s need, meet that need and don’t oversell them you will develop ongoing digital relationships.  

I don’t claim to know everything about SEO, anyone claiming that is not being honest with you. What I can do is help you to figure out who your customer is, what they want from you, and how best to show them that you can meet those needs. 

Send me a note through the contact page on this website. I’m not selling deceptive webinars or $1,000 classes. An hour or two, at a reasonable rate, will get you started doing it for yourself. Once you know I'm on the level you can call me back when you need something else!