When advertising locally do you often have to meet with your clients or can you just do everything by phone email ect? I'm planning to sell website design and hosting to local businesses but I do not have the resources to meet with them.
Do clients insist you meet with them or can I get round this?

Many website design business who sell on the internet don't meet with their clients and they seem to getting very good business, some dont even use phone just email.

Well I am quite the contrary to you. I request to meet with clients. With all the fly-by-night hosts these days, it is really nice to have a personal face to remember and contact about your website. I do have local clients that are managed fully through email though.

Well I am quite the contrary to you. I request to meet with clients. With all the fly-by-night hosts these days, it is really nice to have a personal face to remember and contact about your website. I do have local clients that are managed fully through email though.

Thanks for your reply. Do you still think you would get the sales if you didn't request to meet with clients and just done everything via phone and email. Btw I agree with you its nice to meet with clients and I plan to do this when I expand.

For local clients, I think it'd be an easy way to secure the deal if you met in person.

I think I could still close the sales without meeting, but it is a heck of a lot easier to do in person.

When advertising locally do you often have to meet with your clients or can you just do everything by phone email ect? I'm planning to sell website design and hosting to local businesses but I do not have the resources to meet with them.
Do clients insist you meet with them or can I get round this?

Many website design business who sell on the internet don't meet with their clients and they seem to getting very good business, some dont even use phone just email.

I meet with the local ones when warranted and fly to the larger clients if they aren't local.

But it depends on ROI and how big the accounts are. Also, if you have a lot of free time and no clients, what else would you be doing except for hustling for business? :)


Lawrence

You can meet with local clients and come in with a prepared sales-oriented agenda; your purpose might be simply to get a deal signed. If you offer design services, come in with forms and templates that they can pick on the spot. Otherwise, you might spend a lot of time in meetings without results.

I have found that you should try to pre-qualify on the phone.

Some are really just shopping. The more serious ones will want to see you anyways - the ones kicking the tires will try to dissuade you from "stopping by."


Lawrence

I find that local clients want to deal with local people and the best way to assure them of that is to meet, so many things can be faked, voip for local phone numbers, mail boxes for local addresses etc etc, I tend to meet with local clients, local being within a 150 mile radius. Wouldnt be the first time ive drove 120 miles to meet a client just to seal the deal

When advertising locally do you often have to meet with your clients or can you just do everything by phone email ect? I'm planning to sell website design and hosting to local businesses but I do not have the resources to meet with them.
Do clients insist you meet with them or can I get round this?

Many website design business who sell on the internet don't meet with their clients and they seem to getting very good business, some dont even use phone just email.

Why don't you have the resources to meet with them? Are you going to have the resources to offer 24/7 support?

When your market place is 'local business' then the first advantage you have over the many millions of cyberspace competitors, is that you are local & are able to meet face to face.
If your not prepared to meet face to face, you may as well be based in Outer Mongolia
Being local is only a USP if there is an advantage for your clients, otherwise your just another one of the millions of faceless 'Webby Businesses'

When your market place is 'local business' then the first advantage you have over the many millions of cyberspace competitors, is that you are local & are able to meet face to face.
If your not prepared to meet face to face, you may as well be based in Outer Mongolia
Being local is only a USP if there is an advantage for your clients, otherwise your just another one of the millions of faceless 'Webby Businesses'

I totally agree. If you can't meet with them, there pretty much not local anymore

How exactly do you not have the resources to meet with clients locally? Are you a one man show? If so, you have all the resources you need right there. Yourself. If you really care about landing sales and your business go meet them. If you do not have a car, you do not need to get into business. If you can't afford a car you can't afford a business. Plain and simple with that one.

I at least meet with every client myself within the first week of them signing up, if I'm not the one that went out and got them.

I have a large client that I meet with weekly that is located about 200 miles away. But its worth it. For them to be able to put a face with a name that they are talking to goes a LLLLOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG way.

We start out by getting the list of new businesses each month from the Chamber of Commerce. Mail them a pamphlet centered around their specific type of business and how it would benefit them to have a site (based on research). We then email them and let them know it's coming. After 7 days someone will call them and set up a meeting.

I would say 75% of the people that meet with us go with us (which makes another local company go bats :D, they're actually located about 1.5 miles down the st. lol.)

Of the people we do not meet with, we get 0% sales lol, if we don't get a meeting we don't waste our time.

If your problem is manpower (you're by yourself) and you have a car of some sort. I'd suggest you get yourself an iPhone or blackberry so you can keep track of your servers. And just drive and meet them.

We also get sales from flyers standing outside of WalMart lol, face to face is what will set you apart from HostGator.

hi

i recommend face to face meeting, we will do that..

In person is great - it isn't very often that I have had to do it, but it does happen every now and again.

It is usually a client that is not very technical or one that needs a design included and would like to take notes, etc.

i am intrigued as to how you dont have the resources to meet with clients. Like many people here I am the sole full time worker for my biz, when i started out properly i went and got me a good phone (blackberry) and a decent car. You really dont need much to meet with clients

Mark;6223998']i am intrigued as to how you dont have the resources to meet with clients. Like many people here I am the sole full time worker for my biz, when i started out properly i went and got me a good phone (blackberry) and a decent car. You really dont need much to meet with clients

Yes, me too - echoing what others have said.

Local is probably the easiest USP when starting out.

Meeting face-to-face is also pretty easy locally, but i'm not sure why someone wouldn't have the time.

If you don't have the time to meet with a client, or the money to back it up, not sure what kind of business you plan on running long-term.

An answering machine / answering service is fine if you feel you don't want to "miss any calls." But again, why would they want to call you?


Lawrence