SEOClerks

How to deal with skeptic and struggling clients in this Freelancing world?



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How to deal with skeptic and struggling clients in this Freelancing world?

DON'T WASTE TIME TRYING TO CONVINCE A SKEPTIC BUYER!! - It's vital for your own success.

Never do this. Not on SEOClerks. Not anywhere. A potential client is one thing but
someone who's skeptic for starters, will consume tons of time. It's not worth it. Not even if it's a chance to get your very first sale.

You should always be polite and helpful but answering questions from people
who never seems to be satisfied, no matter how many questions you answer.. Usually never is.

Stay away from struggling clients. You will most certainly, at least at some
point, end up with buyers who doesn't understand how things works.
People new to SEOClerks for instance. They ask you how they leave feedback &
where they give you information and all that.. Stay away because this is
time consuming and not worth it.


The coin is two-sided so in case you feel you have time for this, then proceed
since you'll never know if that specific buyer MIGHT be the one who'll place
multiple orders per day after that. You might stumble across the golden egg.. but
it's more likely you won't.

With all this being said, you should obviously try to help people and direct them to proper forum sections, to the support or to the FAQ section for information and answers to their questions etc. This will also help you to build up reputation and might lead to a good business relationship further on. Just remember to stay away from putting in unnecessary time answering hundreds of questions unrelated to your services or business. Time is key in this business and time is therefore also money.

Do you agree?
How do you deal with skeptic or struggling clients?

Best Regards,
hitmeasap

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TommyCarey
I deal with a lot of sceptic buyers every month How to deal with skeptic and struggling clients in this Freelancing world?

I stay polite and helpful throughout our discussions just because it could come back to bite me in the behind later on down the road. Always be nice, and it will possibly result in referrals and people talking nice about you online How to deal with skeptic and struggling clients in this Freelancing world?

When I'm looking for clients for my SEO company I ALWAYS get people contacting me and asking the basic questions that automatically set off red flags.

Red Flag Questions I Get:
1 - "Can you get me ranked in a few days?"
This shows that the potential client does not understand that SEO/Online Marketing is not an overnight type of service, rather than a branding game that takes a few months to see any results. If this client signs up they will most likely only be a client for 1 month since they won't see an instant ROI (return on investment). This client may even file a chargeback after the first 30 days because they think you're a scammer and selling them snake oil even though you did all the work and they just didn't understand what they were buying.

2 - "You're a search engine optimization company, can't you place me at #1 right now?"
This is one of the biggest red flag questions since the potential client is so eager to get to #1 and make millions that they want it right now. And when you don't show instant results, they will get upset and post everywhere that you're a scammer, even though you're not. Avoid these types of clients even if they agree to pay for your highest priced services. It's not worth the headaches and possibly charge backs (which are very likely).

3 - "Can you remove my clients website from the search results?"
This is the type of client that would rather focus on hurting someone elses website rather than help their own. Increasing the rankings of their own website would benefit them much more than hurting their competitors rankings. And there isn't even solid proof that running a negative SEO campaign will hurt your competitors rankings so much that they will be removed from the search results completely.

4 - "Can I pay you $XX a month instead of $XXX?"
This type of question isn't always from a bad client. This just shows that the client may be willing to pay you, but won't be able to for long. They have a limited budget and are hoping that your services will increase their rankings quick enough for them to recoup their payment, which isn't always the case. Now some of my services are $500+ and I get people asking if I can do a $50-$100 campaign for them. I usually agree to do it, but I take remove a lot of the work that is in my normal campaigns. I let the client know what I will be taking out and that by doing this they may not rank as quick and they definitely won't rank for as many keywords.

5 - "Can you rank me for all of my 500 keywords?"
I sure can! But most of the clients who ask this have asked other SEO companies the same question and they're just trying to find someone to take on 10 times the amount of work compared to what you normally would take on per campaign. Increasing my normal work load from 50 keywords to 500 for one campaign will guarantee that I don't make a single penny from this job. And if you're good at something, never do it for free ;)


Dealing with skeptic clients isn't always the case. People who sell on SeoClerks tend to have their services right to the point in the description. They let the buyer know how long it will take to finish the job, what they should expect in the report, if there is a guarantee, and many more things. I would assume that they only time someone would deal with a bad buyer is if they didn't provide a satisfactory job and the buyer want's a refund.


Thanks,

Razzy



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EliteWriter
Oh my! Those were indeed some very silly questions. I enjoyed reading them, but I am truly sorry you had to deal with such people. And from my experience, it seems that no matter how long you take and how patient you try to be, it is often all for nothing as they just cannot seem to understand a thing!



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anwebservices
You are absolutely right, but for beginners it's hard. If i remember my self as beginner, you know how you have to play polite with everyone to get your first thumbs up and recommendations, even when you have such picky or troublesome customers. And beginners also don't recognize them so fast as when you get experienced. But really, sometime it's better to miss the sale then go trough all that explanation and "playing dumb" games, because some customers are not only skeptic, but also playing dumb on purpose as trying to get something for nothing. But thanks to Seoclerks and it's great support team which are really helpful if you get played with....



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hitmeasap
I understand what you mean by "playing dumb games". However, it's a few years ago for me now since my very first sale online so it's hard to remember exactly what I did, but I do know this.. I was beating myself up because of all the time I spent trying to convince sceptic buyers. Which is the reason I'd never go back to that point again.

Sceptic buyers are the worst and they literally steal my precious time.. Which I sadly didn't realize at the point when I first started out. I did everything I could to land my first sales and to feel that I could achieve something good.. Nowadays, I would never try to convince a sceptic buyer and it's easier for me today to spot them too. Just let them be and wait for the real deal. I find it easier and way better too.

Cheers,
hitmeasap



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EliteWriter
I must say that I had some negative experiences before, but on SeoClerks I never had a problem. It is a secure platform and I feel confident that if something were to happen with a buyer I am going to be protected. There was in fact one occasion when there was a buyer who was trying to get the service without paying for it, and they handled it before I even knew that there was something wrong. I remember that I got an email that the order that had been placed was cancelled by administrators as they detected something fishy. Upon further explanation I discovered that the payment method for this order had been fraudulent in some way. The buyer, or the real owner of the payment source had filed a chargeback for the funds. This automatically canceled the order and I was sort of saved from working for nothing, and I really appreciated it. In two years of being here I only had positive experiences thanks to a great support team who are friendly and helpful in every way. I am honored to be a part of this site because you do not find this easily and anywhere. Seoclerks is simply the best!



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EliteWriter
This is an interesting topic about something that many freelancers have to live with. Unfortunately I got my share of skeptic clients too, and there were quite a few who made me feel at a loss as to how I could possibly untangle myself from them. There are those who keep begging for a lower price. I sometimes used to offer discounts, only to end up with them begging for more! That is something I cannot stand as haggling with prices is not something that you go to do in a shop for example, so it is not fair that they expect to get the price they want simply because you are a freelancer.

Then there were those people who could not stop asking questions, most of which were banal.

And then there are those in the category of being a downright nuisance. They keep asking when they will be getting the work, or if you can offer a sample, and if you can do this and not that... ultimately making you want to scream and log off! However beginners in freelancing cannot afford to do that. You need to maintain a good image and poise and handle them as best as you can, even if it seems impossible sometimes!



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Corzhens
That advice about staying away from struggling clients surprised me. Based on the salesmanship course during my college days, any prospective client or existing client is still a client that can bring business to you. Maybe what you really mean are clients who are picky and choosy with the way they deal business. If they have their own system and method that is contrary to good business practice then I’d say it is best to just ignore them.



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