Selling the invisible.

Undoubtedly the hardest aspect of the selling web & interactive services is that you cannot simply hand the client an actual product, anytime, even after the project is complete. Graphic designers have it slightly easier in that they can hand a prospect their portfolio and the prospect can touch it, feel it, marvel at it the wonderful printing techniques, and I think you get the point.

So how do you convince someone to buy something from you when you cannot hand it to them? The same way the dentist convinces you that you need a tooth pulled. First, no one questions a dentist and his abilities, he is admired, trusted and to some people, down right scary. But even fear instills power. So do you start carrying a gun to meetings? No, but you can instill a fear of choosing the wrong firm (not yours) for the job.

Another reason the dentist does so well is because of his knowledge, his experience. Knowledge is power, excuse the pun. When a CEO, Marketing Director, or even a small business owner, goes to make a decision on developing a website, most of the time they will know next-to-nothing about everything in involved in producing one. It is your job to be the instructor, to be knowledgeable of every aspect from concepts to programming to beta testing. Our developers will tell you, I am anything but a programmer, but I have forced myself to learn the lingo, understand the concepts and methodologies of programming, so that I can inform my clients of the best practices.

So how do you effectively sell the invisible? Simple, make the invisible, visible, make it you. Your knowledge, your experience and some personality doesn’t hurt.

Fire your clients

“Your fired”, a term made so popular by Donald Trump, however he uses it towards his would be employees. I suggest it works well for clients as well.

All too true with the technology industry and more specifically the web design industry, is the huge barrier between clients and firms. Knowledge is that barrier.

I spend so much time educating clients on the business of the web. So much in fact that for some clients I have contemplated adding a line item to their proposal for “education & training”. How frustrating is it to build a phenomenal website with a client-friendly content management system, only to find out two months later they want a quote for updates?

Then there are those clients that maybe watch one too many infomercials, and view the web as their ticket to millions. The first conversation goes something like this, “I have a great idea for a website that combines MySpace with eBay and has cool features like eHarmony”. What is that? A site that you can take a compatibility test, make them your friend and if you don’t like them anymore you can put them in auction? In all serious, I have had plenty of conversations that have sounded like that, and they all end with me quickly hanging up.

So where do you draw the line? What brings you to the point of no return? It all boils down to time and money. Are they waisting too much of your time without making you enough money? As much as your client cares about ROI, you have a bottom line too.

The web isn’t for everyone.

Probably one of the hardest things to deal with new clients is educating them on what they really need in their website. Now, lets get one thing clear, almost everyone would benefit from having a website, but that doesn’t mean they need the best website available.

Probably the biggest stumbling block for new clients is whether or not to build an ecommerce website. For most new clients considering ecommerce, it is usually a case where they have spent years developing a new product or service, and they have preconceived their product will be the next George Forman grill.

It’s really hard to tell a client, that they should take it slow, maybe build the first phase of the website as just a product awareness site. Build the demand for the product, then fullfill the demand.

Some web professionals may not agree with this tactic, but think of this way, would you rather an angry client, or a successful happy client that is eager to bring you more work? I don’t know about you, but I like happy clients, and for those clients that are destined to fail, wouldn’t you feel better if you didn’t contribute to that?

So this is a blog.

Well, its about time I sat down and began composing my thoughts on business, more specifically my own business which is a small web & interactive design firm. The firm’s name is Inovat, and it started about 5 years ago.

The firm is currently, and probably will forever be, located in a small town called Elizabethtown, PA, USA. Elizabethtown is probably most commonly known by the town it borders, Hershey, which is of course the home of the great Hershey chocolate bar.

So, currently my position at Inovat is in developing strategies for our clients online presence, promote the firm and it’s work, and manage the operation of the business. My business partner, Nick, handles the business finances, employees, and the new property management group of Inovat.

So, all of that being said, this is a blog, and I am going to write about everything that pertains to my business, my clients and what I have learned.