One thing I’ve noticed about the SEO industry is that it’s the best networkers and presenters that have the most success. This should come as no shock as building relationships on the web with SEO is often not so different than from in person. For many this means cold calling, speaking locally, travelling to events, and keeping in contact with others in the industry. People like Anne Smarty especially recognized this with MyGuestBlog, and capitalized on it. Rand Fishkin travels and gives effective speeches around the world and was even once trademarked by his shoes. In a world where everyone’s a guru stepping out there and talking about what you do takes some confidence to put yourself on the chopping block. It’s one thing to call yourself an expert on the web and another to do it in front of a thousand people prepared to ask intense questions. Polishing your speaking skills is no different than conversion rate optimization and SEO. It takes a good plan, and the right strategy.
When I do any presentations and sales I follow the G.U.E.S.S.T formula.
Greet everyone with equal enthusiasm, and engage them to build rapport. Many are able to do that with a joke or asking the person a question about themselves. People absolutely love to talk about themselves and their hobbies. Someone who is smiling and enthusiastic usually drops a lot of walls. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a presenter or sales person go right for the pitch without even introducing themselves. Are you trying to sell to me, or do actually care what my needs are? Drop the walls, build rapport.
Understand who you’re dealing with. This comes into the qualification stage with the Who, When, Why, and Where fall into place. If you know the audiences needs it’s much easier to get them to agree and engage actively. This can only end in success. In todays market everyone’s tired of being sold to 24/7. If you just listen to people’s needs and let them talk you’ll go a long way. Give the wrong product/solution because you’re not listening or asking the right questions and lose the audience.
Educate the client or audience based on their needs (who, when, why, where). If you’ve qualified the audience and received all the right information all you have to do is give them the information they told you they wanted. Confident speakers and sales professionals can close sales effectively in little time without confusing the client. The best sales people know the right questions to ask without building walls. Too many slides can confuse and lose the audience, and It’s the same thing with sales if you’re trying to give the client a choice go with one to three items max. You’ll never see Steve Jobs present with 60 slides. If you’ve asked the right qualifying questions you already know the answers and should just be closing with the perfect solution.
Satisfy the audience by asking closing rhetorical questions by applying the solutions/products to their needs. If they agree with you 3 times move on don’t exhaust the subject. The law of reciprocity shows that people are more likely to buy from someone that teaches them something. If you’re listening, and answering their needs then you can Sell without Selling.
Sell them with the polished close. If you’re good at qualifying your audience all your work has been done for you. The audience did all the selling for you, and you just gave them what they wanted. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason.
Thank them for their time. Being polite and showing appreciation goes a long way.
The bottom line is you are a brand. How you sell yourself, and present yourself goes a long way. If you can apply the above your sales conversions will be much, much higher. My close rate is very high because I apply the G.U.E.S.S.T system, and you should too.
