The following is a guest post by Matt Mehlhope, an ethical SEO evangelist, lover of caffeine and owner of Forge Search Marketing. You can follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Within the SEO industry there is little discussion about how companies actually go about interacting with their clients. It is surprising how one of the most seemingly obvious activities is overlooked when it comes to discussion, even though it is one of the most important facets that distinguishes the success of a company. In this article, we aim to show you several tools for interacting with your clients in a professional and effective manner, yielding a happier clientele and a more transparent line of communication.

Presentation

In some cases, a deciding factor for a client using your company versus another company is how information is presented to them and how professional those presentations are. Clients often associate your first impression with what it will be like to work with you for months or years to come making your initial presentation critical to your success.

Crystal Clear Conversation

Obviously you are going to be having conversations with your clients; it is surprising how many companies have these conversations using cell phones or in less than ideal environments where there are a lot of distractions and background noise. The client will not think that their time and money is being well invested if their conversations with you are plagued with distraction. Distractions are only useful if your intention is to give the client the impression that you would rather not wholly devote your efforts to their goals. So here are a few suggestions for general conversation:

Skype
With a reliable internet connection and a great microphone or webcam, Skype can be one of the easiest, clearest, and most cost efficient tools for frequent conversation with clients. Long distance and monthly high cell phone bills are being eliminated in favor of VOIP. A great HD webcam for around $60 can allow for clients to have a full screen,high quality, face to face conversation with you. Skype recently announced that it will be shipping 5 million web-enabled TVs in 2010, increasing the access to video conferencing and opening it up to a less techno-savvy audience.

VOIP Phone System
If your SEO agency is of a decent size and it has not converted to a VOIP phone system yet, you should consult your budget and see if it allows for such. The initial investment is worth the saved costs in long distance communication with the additional increase in quality in comparison to an analog line. Transferring calls, creating a company directory, saving contacts, conference calls and utilizing multiple phone numbers becomes amazingly simple and yields an exceptional increase in productivity.

Bluetooth Headset
If you’ve decided to forego the land line or VOIP routes and instead have chosen to use your cell phone for business, it is wise to invest in a good Bluetooth headset for a variety of reasons. The most important reason is the increase in clarity that quality Bluetooth headsets provide as a result of better speaker and microphone components, in addition to background noise cancellation technology. Things as small as shuffling paper or typing on a keyboard can be highly distracting to your client on the phone, so by having these reduced or even cancelled out completely allows for a better overall conversation.

Meetings and Visuals

Aside from having general conversation, you are going to be presenting a variety of materials to your clients such as proposals, strategies, and reports on a regular basis. If you’re an SEO specialist, chances are you aren’t an amazing graphic designer, but that doesn’t mean your presentations have to look amateur. Below are some tools and resources that will not only allow you to easily create great looking presentations, but will also allow you to give those presentations in the most effective manner possible.

PowerPoint and Keynote Templates
While PowerPoint and Keynote are industry standard tools for creating slideshow presentations, effective use of their design tools is not common. Sites such as GraphicRiver provide some attractive Powerpoint and Keynote templates that takes your presentation from “average” to “memorable.” Professional templates are an inexpensive way to give you the edge over the other companies if your prospective client is shopping the competition.

Webinar Software
Whether you’ve already adapted the versatility of Skype, have chosen to go with more enterprise routes such as GoTo Meeting, or even Cisco’s robust WebEx software, webinars are the premiere solution when it comes to long-distance meetings and presentations. With the ability to give a presentation bundled with videoconference capability, webinars are becoming the primary meeting medium for businesses of all sizes. In our article on working with our SEO company in Lexington, KY, we expressed how webinars are one of our favorite ways to interact with our clients.

Daily Tasks and Interaction

The vastness of information that the SEO industry is burdened with organizing and refining for the benefit of companies and consumers alike is undoubtedly one of your company’s greatest challenges. The hardest part about conveying information is keeping it all organized so that it can be properly utilized. By incorporating the following tools into your business, you can keep key information at hand and give your clients a favorable experience.

CRM System
Whether it is simple solution such as Highrise, or an enterprise level solution such as Salesforce and Microsoft CRM, a customer resource management system is a must for any business serious about keeping their clients’ information organized. If you need to know how much “ACME Corporation” wants to spend on their campaign, or what you last talked about with “Jane Smith” a few months ago, a CRM system is the most efficient and easily organized way of storing detailed client information.

Project Management
As dynamic as SEO campaigns are, new plans and changes are continually being implemented. To maintain a clear line of communication tools such as Project Bubble and Basecamp are great for helping you to stay on top of the tasks at hand while allowing for transparency in what you are working on. By keeping clients involved in their campaigns, you are able to clearly demonstrate where their money is going to use as well as reinforce their trust in you.

Invoicing
Invoicing can be an absolute hassle if you’re dealing with several clients with down payments, advertising fees, project fees, maintenance contracts, etc., so having a system to handle this work for you is essential. Several of the CRM and project management tools mentioned already have invoicing tools (e.g. ProjectBubble can invoice, Basecamp can be integrated with Freshbooks, and Salesforce has apps for invoicing), but if you’re looking for something standalone, you can use solutions such as Freshbooks, Blinksale or LessAccounting.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has not only given you some resources but also some insight into how you can streamline your interaction with clients and give them a more transparent experience. Remember, the work you do as an SEO company is only part of the job, the remaining part is to please your clients and make sure that you are at the top of their recommendation list. It’s not just about the work you do; it’s the experience you provide!

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