local marketing consultant questions checklist
Questions to ask prospective local clients

As a local search marketing expert and business owner, you are attending to many duties.

And, while we must clearly distinguish between “busy work” and “actual work” (productivity), the lines may seem blurry at times. Your main job should be focused on revenue generating duties. Your own work around products/services, pricing, placements and promotions must be clear, ongoing and distinctive.

But, when the calls come in from your advertising and inbound marketing activities, it’s very clear that you must strategically align yourself – quickly – with the request. You should not be a sales-person, but a strategic partner.

This means, among other things, that you understand what their business is about, what their goals are, and much more.

When you ask or interview them after setting an appointment (yes, recommend that!) with superior intelligence, understanding and diagnostic-type questions, you’ll be able to offer them the right solution.

You’ll be seen as an authority and not a pushy sales person.

What are some of these questions that you should ask?

Here you go – the top interview questions for potential clients in the local online marketing space:

By the way, I also recommend that you ask from a perspective of “how I might help” versus “boy, this client looks great – I hope I get this deal”.

The mindset shift on this approach is huge.

For one thing, you’ll not seem “needy”, which they can detect a mile away. That means you’ll often not get the account – even with the right questions.

Here are top 14 questions to ask your prospective local client:

  1. What marketing techniques have you been using? And of those, what has worked… and what hasn’t?
  2. How much traffic do you get from the web right now?
  3. How many leads do you get a month (daily) right now?
  4. What percent of revenue comes from the web versus offline?
  5. What is your current monthly spend to acquire traffic right now?
  6. What is your current conversion rate on average (%). And if multiple products, which ones sell the best (consistently)?
  7. What is the average revenue per sale?
  8. What is the average profit per sale?
  9. What’s the frequency of purchase of existing clients/customers?
  10. What is your mid and long-term value of your customer? (3 mos, 6 mos, 12 mos, lifetime)
  11. What is your niche? And, what special niches do you serve – and would like more of ( + expansion)?
  12. How much time do you spend in your business each day, week?
  13. What are you known for? What do people come to you for?
  14. Are you only local, or national?
  15. What top 3-5 keywords are you trying to get found for?
  16. Who are 3-5 competitors in your market right now?
  17. What is your biggest pain-point that you are trying solve now? (Have them give you THE #1 problem or challenge)
  18. Why did you start your business in the first place, and how long have you been operating it (and in the marketplace)?

What you’ll find is that most will not know the answers to these, and some will be “guesstimates”.

That’s ok. You still must ask them. It will tell you a lot about where they are at in their business, and how they think about the online game (and also offline) and their business overall. And, if you want to send a few questions (email) to start, that’s ok – but set the appointment, and go through them fully.

Help them with this and don’t just email the list over and “get back to me”.

What did I miss?

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Entrepreneur Magazine says Jon Rognerud is one of the most sought-after Digital Marketing Experts. His clients extend from high-end brands and middle-tier businesses in both B2B and B2C. His SEO website optimization book, "The Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Website" from Entrepreneur Press is in bookstores now.