Qualify, Qualify, Qualify Do you ever wonder how some WebCenter owners are able to close such a high percentage of their walkthroughs? Would you like to sell more Web sites but actually do fewer presentations? If you want to be more efficient and productive selling sites, you need to start qualifying every single one of your prospects. Sure, it sounds simple, but do you know how to qualify your prospects? Do you understand why it is so crucial to your success? Every business owner you meet is a potential customer, but only some will wind up buying a Web site from you. Qualifying your prospects helps you identify the businesses that are more likely to buy a site, as well as the ones that have little or no chance of ever resulting in a sale. With just a few simple questions, you will be able to decide if you want to invest more time and effort into the prospect, or if it will be better to just move on to the next lead. By qualifying each business owner, you are ensuring that you only work with solid prospects that have a higher probability of closing. Qualifying prospects is a relatively quick and easy process. When you first meet a new prospective customer, you need to determine if he or she fulfills the three basic qualifiers: need, power, and money. Within the first 10 minutes of your conversation, you should be able to answer these three questions: · Need - Can I show this person how a Web site will improve his/her business? Can I think of a few specific ways that the business will benefit from establishing an online presence? · Power - Can this person make decisions regarding the purchase of a Web site? Can he or she at least influence these decisions? · Money - Does this person actually have the money to spend on a Web site? (This one can be tough! Try looking for evidence to support this: a large ad in the Yellow Pages, print mail marketing campaigns, local TV commercials, etc.) If your lead has the need, power, and money to buy a Web site, you've got a qualified prospect; if the lead isn't qualified, don't even bother wasting your time! There are thousands of other prospective customers in your area, so don't be afraid to just move on to the next lead. It doesn't matter how great your sales pitch is, and it doesn't even matter how low you drop the price; if you aren't speaking with the right people, you will have a very difficult time selling Web sites. Improve your chances for success and qualify all of your prospects.       Did you know that Google's search index includes data and information from over 8 billion Web pages?

Horrible Site = Great Prospect Still having trouble finding new prospective customers? Have you already gone through the new businesses you found through the local Business License Department? Have you already approached the businesses in your area that are spending big money on advertising and marketing? Well, if you still need more prospects, start searching for the worst-looking Web sites you can find. Businesses with bad Web sites can make excellent prospects. Not only do they understand the importance of establishing an online presence for their business, but they also know how frustrating and expensive it can be to pay someone else to build and maintain a Web site. And since they have some experience dealing with poor-quality Web sites, these business owners are more likely to appreciate all of the awesome tools and features that our Web sites offer. Basically, all of the difficult work is done for you; it's just a matter of showing them the software, and negotiating the price. So where can you find these businesses with horrible Web sites? The best place to start looking is on any of the major search engines. Pick an industry from the list of industry-specific templates in the Web site builder, and search for keywords related to that industry. (The more specific the keywords, the more focused your search results will be.) At that point, it's just a matter of sorting through all of the Web sites until you find a few really awful sites. (It shouldn't take too long!) If you only want to focus on businesses in your area, make sure to include the name of the city or geographic area with your search terms (e.g., "scuba diving Las Vegas"). Many search engines, like Google (http://www.google.com/lochp) and Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), offer a local search feature that will restrict the search results to the area you specify. One last bit of advice: try to be tactful when discussing how bad the prospect's site is. Chances are the business owner already knows the Web site is bad; telling them how horrible it is probably won't help you build rapport. Instead of saying "You have one of the worst-looking Web sites I have ever seen! Have you ever thought about getting a better one?", try starting out with something more constructive like "I came across your Web site when I was searching for [scuba diving] in [Las Vegas], and I have a few ideas about how my company can help you maximize your online business." There are tens of thousands of horrible Web sites out there, with hundreds more being built every single day. If you're willing to put in the work to find these sites, you can tap in to an almost endless stream of new prospective customers.             Do you have any questions about selling Web sites? Online marketing? Tools or features in the software? If there is anything we can do to help make your business more successful, please e-mail us at newsletter@mawebcenters.com.