Create The Movement Podcast Episode #13
Liz Montgomery, Create the Movement: Welcome back to the Create the Movement podcast – our next edition here. I am with Mr. Brad Post.
Brad Post, Create the Movement: What’s going on Liz? How are you?
L: And I’m Liz Montgomery.
B: Yeah.
L: I’m good. How are you?
B: I’m doing well. Doing well.
L: So, last week we talked about …
B: Kind of the process of what we look at when we’re approaching a new potential client.
L: And the strategy we put together for them.
B: Absolutely.
L: So, now we have laid out all of our tools that we can use. And we think, “Okay, these are the things that are going to work best for this particular client.” And then, the next step is presenting that to them.
B: Absolutely. It’s kind of neat because also, on the Create the Movement podcast, Josh and I, Josh Rich and I just had a conversation on how to develop a marketing budget. That was our
L: Oh! Good.
B: So, it kind of ties into this. So, you know, hopefully the client would know what their marketing budget is, or have kind of a number. And we would do the pre-work. Right? And, so, now we’re at the point of where we’re proposing the potential new client. So, how do we do that Liz?
L: Well, we would schedule an appointment with them. Or, we probably already have that in place. Letting them know, “Okay, we’re going to put this together, and then in our appointment discuss all the options that we would have for you.”
So, we’ll go over that with the client, and answer any questions that they may have. The idea is that we’ve already done a lot of the work to make sure we are solving any problems that they were having. Or, you know
B: Any “pain points.”
L: Any “pain points” that they have had. Or, things that they wanted to make sure happened in their marketing campaign and their online presence. So, we’ve already done the work to make sure our solution – that we’re really presenting a solution for those things.
B: Right.
L: So, we present that to them. Answer any questions that they may have. Even there, if they’re happy with the solutions that we’ve offered, they could choose to sign on with us there. And say, “Okay. Great. This sounds good.” Or, if we haven’t written up a full proposal or agreement yet, for them, then we would say, “Okay. We want to make sure we’ve gone over this. We know what you really need. And you’re happy with these solutions. We’ll put that together in an agreement for you.” Send it over. And then they get to be our client.
B: Yeah, and just kind of setting the expectations of what they can expect. You know? And then, I think a huge thing about us personally, and our company, and our culture here, is that customer service. So, if you say you’re going to send them a proposal, send it. You know?
L: Right. Right.
B: Or tell them, “Hey, if you look at your calendar, and it’s four-o’clock in the afternoon. Hey, if it’s okay, I’ll get this proposal over to you in the morning.”
L: Right.
B: So, just doing what we say we’re going to do. And then. You know me Liz, I’m a stickler on time. You know? So, if we have a three-o-clock appointment with a client, then we call them at three-o’clock.
L: Right.
B: Or, we show up at 2:50. You know?
L: Well, you’re proving your responsibility to them too. You know?
B: Yes.
L: And building that trust, because we are looking to develop a relationship with them.
B: Absolutely. Yeah. And that’s good. And that’s why our sales team here is not “sales”, “sales manager”, or “sales associate”. What are they?
L: They’re relationship specialists.
B: That’s right. Yes. You’re establishing that relationship. Right? So, it’s a relationship specialist.
L: And the idea’s that before, the way we do it, is even before you’re our client. You know? We might be presenting the product to you. Or, presenting these solutions to you. Then, once you become our client, it’s not like now you’re in someone else’s hands and you don’t deal with us anymore.
B: Right.
L: Because we are looking to build that relationship we remain that point of contact for you. So, we kind of turn into a customer care person or client care person.
B: Account manager.
L: Account manager. Whatever you want to call it. The idea is we don’t drop off the map, now, once we’ve got your business.
B: Right.
L: Which happens at some companies.
B: Absolutely.
L: You know? It’s like this guy sold me this product, but now I’m dealing with the people developing the product. And I never hear from that guy. He promised me one thing; I got something else. And, so, we really try to absolve that from happening here.
B: Absolutely.
L: By keeping that person in touch with the client.
B: And a lot of other companies, the sales person is the likable person. Right? People like the sales person.
L: Yeah! That’s true!
B: An account rep: “They’re rude! I can’t believe they just said that, or they just asked that. Where’s my sales guy?”
L: “Where’s my sales guy that I liked so much when I joined this company” We try to have all of our people be likable people.
B: Absolutely.
L: Even the development. Everybody on the team.
B: Absolutely. So, I think that just presenting that proposal/solution to them. Making sure that it’s clearly defined. Making sure that we explain to them the expectations and the timeline. You know? And really making sure that when you set deadlines. And we say, “Hey, this is going to happen by this date. This is going to happen by that date.” We also make sure that, as relationship specialists, that we’re making sure the development team, or the branding team, or whoever, is meeting those goals.
L: Meeting those goals. Right.
B: And if for some reason they don’t, sometimes it has happened, we find out why. We make sure that it’s brought into the loop of the client. And just go above and beyond on customer service.
L: We like the communication. I mean, communication is just a huge part of it too.
B: It is.
L: So, if for some reason a deadline isn’t going to be met, there’s justifiable reasons why, but making sure that’s communicate to the client. They’re going to feel like, “Okay. They’ve still got this under control. Like everything’s taken care of.” They’re just changes that happen. You know? Unforeseen circumstances. It happens sometimes – in any business.
B: Right.
L: So, but, staying in communication with the client, I think, is one of the most important things to do. What’s that phrase they say? Under promise, and over deliver?
B: Right. Absolutely. Yeah, and I think that the last company I was with, it was sales. A lot of times it would take us 90 days to build a website.
L: That’s a good question. How long does it typically?
B: It just really depends. I mean, it’s usually 30-60 days. And it kind of depends on the client too. If we’re building a website, or if we’re taking it over. Do we have all the information we need?
L: Yeah.
B: Are they responding to us on design?
L: So, are you saying that sometimes the client doesn’t get back to you with the information?
B: Sometimes that happens. They’re busy. They’re busy trying to grow their business, and, yeah, if they don’t get back to us in a timely matter, that slows down the process.
L: Right.
B: We tell them upfront, and encourage them. And we’ve even had potential new clients not sign with us because they didn’t have the time. They knew they didn’t. And then they’re some that just are like, “Hey, we trust you. We like you. You guys are the experts. Make it look good. Make me look good. And do it.”
L: Yeah. And we can handle that either way.
B: Either way.
L: The attorney can be as involved, or uninvolved, as they want. So, the next step after they would sign on with us , then what happens next?
B: And then, well, we charge their card. No, I’m just kidding! Send them an invoice! No. Have them sign the agreement. Make sure that they have agreement. And then we would make sure that it goes to right team. Whether it’s the development team, or the SEO team, or the social media team. Making sure that the next steps happen. In getting it to the right person. Usually when we present a proposal, too, like, say for instance, the client’s like, “Hey, my contract runs up in 30 days. Can you have the website built in 30 days?”
L: Right.
B: And as sales people we’re like, “Sure! We can do whatever.”
L: But normally, we’ll check with the development team and say, “Hey, how’s project queue looking? I’ve got this client. They want their website up in 30 days. Can we do it?” And sometimes it just depends on work flow. Sometimes people want it done in a week or two weeks. You know?
L: Can we do that?
B: We can. We have.
L: What’s are shortest timeline that we’ve turned around a website?
B: Oh, gosh. Maybe it’s a few days. Or less.
L: Really!
B: Yeah.
L: Wow!
B: And, of course, there’s going to be a “rush” charge. And those clients understand that.
L: Right. There’s going to be a fee for taking everyone off of project they’re on to do just this one project for 72 hours.
B: Exactly. Exactly. But, I think just letting our listeners know that we way that we handle that. And we want to encourage other people, is that it’s a process. Communication is key. Responding to emails. I think a lot of clients, they have my cell phone. I’m sure they have your cell phone, too. They’ll text you. You know?
L: Yeah. “What’s happening?”
B: Right. But, I was saying, at the last company we’d sell the deal, couldn’t build it for 90 days. And there’d be no communication for 3 months.
L: Oh, wow.
B: And they’d pay a certain amount upfront. And not have any communication. And I think just letting them know that we communicate.
L: We communicate. We value. We’re grateful for their business. And that doesn’t drop off from the sales person, or relationship specialist, right at the beginning. It follows through. We’re still grateful for your business six months later, a year later.
B: And, we understand too, that we’re new to them. So, we’re establishing that trust.
L: Right.
B: People do business with people they trust. And so, that kind of what we build our company on.
L: And something else, too, that our company does that other companies do not do, is that we don’t require long-term contracts for our clients. And so, we do that on purpose. Right? So, there’s a level of accountability there.
B: Yup.
L: We make sure that we’re doing our work, or you can leave us. And we know that. So, it’s like, let’s be sure we keep them happy. We don’t want to lose their business.
B: Anything else that you can think of?
L: I think that’s good. I think we’re moving our way through the – if you were a prospect to client for us that would look like.
B: Client engagement.
L: But, yeah.
B: Yeah. All right. Well thanks for listening today. And we’ll see you on the next edition of Create the Movement podcast.
