Building strong and lasting relationships with your existing SEO clients is just as important as getting new ones. But how do you do it and go beyond the status quo? One way is through cross-selling SEO services.
This doesn’t just build strong and lasting relationships with your current clients. It also builds your agency’s authority and reputation and enhances your online presence. Here are some tips on how to cross-sell SEO services to your existing clients.
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Cross-selling vs upselling
Cross-selling and upselling are valuable strategies for building up your SEO agency and increasing your revenue. They are fundamentally the same in the sense that they are both about selling SEO services, but they have key differences, particularly in their focus.
- Cross-selling focuses on offering additional and complementary services. Cross-selling is about offering additional and complementary SEO services, usually related to the existing client’s current SEO strategy. For example, if your client gets your on-page SEO optimization package, you can cross-sell your content marketing or link building package to double down on their SEO. Upselling, on the other hand, is about encouraging clients to upgrade their current package.
- Cross-selling is more client-centric. You can say that cross-selling is more client-centric while upselling is more revenue-centric. Cross-selling involves identifying the client’s evolving needs and providing solutions. And upselling involves increasing the monetary value you get from your client by making them upgrade their packages. This is not to say that upselling is a scam, as it can also address the evolving needs of your client. It’s just that cross-selling does it better.
- Cross-selling is better at diversifying your SEO services portfolio. Cross-selling is about offering a wider range of digital marketing products and services, such as content marketing, social media management, press release services, and even web design. It positions your agency as a one-stop shop for a client’s digital marketing needs.
How to cross-sell SEO services
1. Identify your client’s needs
If you want to sell additional and complementary services to your existing clients, make sure you understand what they need first. If your SEO products and services provide value and position themselves as the solution to their problems, they are more likely to be availed by your clients. Identify client needs by looking into data and metrics, doing research on the market, and asking the clients themselves.
- Dive into data. Data and key performance indicators are great because they are tangible information that you and your client can reference. Being data-driven makes your cross-selling more effective because you have numbers to back you up. Analyze the performance of your client’s website, social media profiles, business profiles, and SEO campaigns. These are usually the areas where opportunities can arise.
- Do market research. What are the current trends in your client’s data, industry, and locality? What are their customers discussing and what do they think about your client’s products and services? What about the competitors? Look into these questions to have a better understanding of the market. From there, you can know what your client really needs.
- Get insights directly from your SEO client. You may be the SEO professional, but your client has a part to play too for a successful agency-client relationship. Talk to your client to understand them better. You can do this directly with emails, phone calls, and physical meetings. And you can do this indirectly with questionnaires and surveys.
2. Highlight the benefits of your other SEO services
Make a compelling case for your existing clients to explore your other SEO services. One way to do this is to highlight the benefits of these other offerings. Your clients are already familiar with your agency and your work. They already trust you. Now provide more value to them by expanding the range of products and services they avail and improving their SEO situations further.
- Tailor to their specific needs. Each client has a unique set of needs. If you can address the specific needs of a client, they are more likely to entertain your cross-selling proposals because they know you are trying to help and not just increasing your revenue at their expense. If a client, for example, has seen success in on-page SEO but struggles with off-page link building, position your agency as someone who can be successful with off-page link building as well.
- Emphasize the competitive edge. The online world is extremely competitive because businesses are competing with the same number of eyes and wallets. Your clients already know this, but it’s the SEO professionals who know how to achieve a competitive edge online. When you are cross-selling SEO services to existing clients, highlight how the additional and complementary services can help them outperform the competition, capture more market share, build their online reputation, and achieve their other business objectives.
- Share a narrative. Can you really address their specific needs and make them more competitive with your other SEO services? Remove the doubt in your clients by sharing past results from other clients. Show real-world examples of how these services have transformed the businesses of your other clients. Use data and metrics to make the narrative even more compelling and tangible.
3. Customize your SEO solutions
Another way to make your clients feel like you are really tailoring to their specific needs is to offer customized SEO solutions. You are not just cross-selling one-size-fits-all SEO services but actually flexible and customizable services that can help their businesses succeed even more. They highlight your commitment not just to your own revenue but also to your clients’ actual success.
- Have a client-centric approach. This can’t be stressed enough – understand your specific client first before offering anything. Conduct a thorough client assessment by analyzing their current SEO situation and performance and reviewing their SEO strategies and campaigns. You are better equipped at cross-selling when you have a client-centric mindset. Your clients also feel your client-centric approach, so it’s not just for you.
- Provide customized packages. You can cross-sell SEO services to existing clients by packaging multiple SEO services that your specific client needs. For example, if your client is an e-commerce website, you can create a unique e-commerce SEO package for them that includes keyword research, on-page optimization, and product listing improvements.
- Take note of evolving needs over time. Sure, you can successfully impress your current clients and cross-sell packaged SEO services to them. But your cross-selling journey doesn’t end there. It’s actually a continuous journey. Always communicate with your clients, so you can see their business evolution and changing goals over time. As their business changes, so do their SEO needs. Your agency should be ready to cross-sell at any time.
4. Showcase past success
Leverage your agency’s track record to convince your existing clients to avail your other SEO services. They are already your clients, so they are more likely to trust you and invest in your additional and complementary suggestions. By showcasing your past success, you are increasing the chances of them actually availing these new services even more.
- Share case studies and testimonials. Here’s the format of case studies that attract clients: outline SEO challenges, explain the strategies you have used to solve these challenges, and show the tangible results. The format may sound simple, but it creates a powerful narrative that your agency is a successful problem-solver. You can also add client reviews and testimonials to strengthen your case studies.
- Use data and analytics. When sharing case studies, make sure you use numbers to make everything tangible – from the problems to the solutions. Conversion rates, organic traffic, and search engine rankings are good key performance indicators you should look into. Also, use charts and graphs, so your clients can visualize the numbers better.
- Show before-and-after comparisons. Display the transformative action of your SEO services by showing before-and-after comparisons. Charts and graphs are great here too if the SEO services you are cross-selling involve more data, like keywords and rankings. And more active visuals are better if the SEO services involve design, like web design and structure.
5. Keep your client happy and engaged
Sometimes, effective cross-selling is not just about the act of cross-selling itself, but what you do before you make a cross-selling proposal. Take care of your clients first and they may become easier to convince. Clients who are happy and engaged are more likely to be receptive to your cross-selling efforts. To keep clients happy and engaged, you should actually be providing high-quality SEO services, involving them in the process, and taking care of them and building relationships with them.
- Provide exceptional SEO services. When clients see the positive results of your agency’s work, they naturally become more interested in your agency’s other offerings. You are already providing good value to them, so they may want to get more value, even though they know it may require more SEO investment. Again, the need for exceptional SEO services and results highlights the importance of truly understanding the needs of your clients. If you know their pain points and objectives, you can tailor your SEO strategies and executions accordingly, giving you better chances of success.
- Keep open lines of communication. You have to be proactive when communicating with your clients. Regularly update them about their SEO campaigns, share important industry insights with them, and address all of their concerns. Don’t wait for them to ask for these things. Have the initiative and they will see your commitment to their success.
- Make a loyalty program. Incentives and programs are great at keeping your existing clients happy and engaged. These make them feel more prioritized and valued, and they are going to get value in return too – in the form of exclusive benefits, discounts, and other advantages. Clients who feel valued may expand the products and services they avail from you.
6. Make a killer SEO pitch
Sometimes, clients just don’t know what they need or want. You have to lead the way. Show them something, and maybe they employ your SEO products and services. Actively cross-sell these products and services by pitching them to your existing clients.
- Make a comprehensive SEO pitch. Your clients don’t want to receive a templated SEO pitch. Personalize your pitch by addressing the needs of the specific client you are pitching to, presenting your SEO services as a solution, and assuring your client with flexible price packages and past results. Clarity, transparency, and genuineness also go a long way. Make sure to use simple but clear words, address their concerns, and don’t appear like you are pitching just for the sake of getting sales.
- Try doing an SEO elevator pitch. An SEO pitch doesn’t always have to be a comprehensive message you send via email or a presentation you deliver in a meeting. It can also be a brief proposal you can deliver in a few seconds or minutes. An SEO elevator pitch has the same components as a comprehensive SEO pitch, but it’s much more catchy and engaging because of the time limit. With enough practice, SEO elevator pitches can seriously improve your conversion rate, client relations, and lead generation.
- Follow up. Your SEO pitch may be impressive, but it will be useless if you don’t follow up. Many clients and potential clients may require some time to think before they decide to employ your SEO products and services. Make sure to give them ample time to decide and follow up promptly. The complexity of the project, the size of the client’s business, and the client’s time availability are some factors that may affect the length of time they need to decide.
Cross-sell SEO services and provide more value to clients
Mastering the art of cross-selling SEO services to your existing clients can be the game-changer your SEO agency is looking for. Instead of constantly looking for new clients, taking care of your current clients and providing more value to them may be the better business model for you.
To succeed in cross-selling SEO services, truly understand your clients, address their needs, and position your agency as an entity that can fulfill these needs and solve their problems.
