I was recently discussing a digital marketing project with a prospective client. We were scheduled for about a 30-minute meeting. He came across as very defensive and hostile, which raised some red flags for me. However, I didn’t want to get up and walk away.
The client’s website was very basic. He had very little digital marketing done for his brand, even though his business had many locations.
Client: Now, I’ve heard a number of proposals from you marketing people, so just let me know what you have to offer.
He was already very negative. I described some of my knowledge and services in a friendly and informative manner.
Client: Well, would you be able to update the website? Provide content? Partner with others? I’m not naive to this you know.
He hissed that last part.
I briefly explained more about my skills and experience, and how I could help or partner with others. This included website updates, writing articles, and more.
Client: (sneering)I had a small agency working on my website, but they have other clients, so they couldn’t help me as much as I would have liked. Well, how would you create videos, how would you get people’s permission? What about e-mail campaigns? How would that work?
I was starting to grow weary of explaining the entire realm of digital marketing to this client in a span of 30 minutes.
Client: What about content? How would you write that? If I were to build out a team, who should I hire for the team? How about photos? What about partnerships? What’s PPC? How about SEO? You know, our competitors, they’re all about the money. We actually care. What would your budget be for working on various projects?
I also remembered that I saw on some reviews of his business that some people commented that management was all about the money, which I thought was interesting given his criticism of his competitors.
The guy’s face became more and more red with tension and anger as he asked more and more questions. I tried to keep things basic and let him know some options. Red face; red flag.
Working with this guy would be a nightmare. The client was having a very hard time grasping everything I was talking about and was ready to take that frustration out on me. That told me everything I needed to know.
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