Buying a pay-per-minute phone number for live advice

[SEO Lady]

Hi guys n gals,

It was around 10 years ago someone on UKBF was moaning about people calling his number to ask for advice which borded on a free consultation with the barrage of questions.

There was a thread discussing how potential clients interrupt your work when you are busy and this person went ahead right that day and bought a number with a pay per minute fee which I thought was genius.

I'm looking for a company to rent a number on a monthly basis (the SIM will be on my spare iphone) and I will advertise this accordingly as a pay-per-minute on the spot SEO advice.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Hi @SEO Lady

I rent my number from Soho66 for about £3 per month. It's simple and you can choose the area code. You can also choose to have a virtual receptionist and call recording (which you could potentially send to the person for them to refer back to).

Works for me.

Hope that helps.

Matt

 

[SEO Lady]

I rent my number from Soho66 for about £3 per month.

But do you profit when people call you?
Do you rent the number then get paid per minute when people want to talk about their SEO woes for example?

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Ahh sorry, I got the wrong end of the stick. You need a premium rate number so rent it and then you also take a share.

Try these guys: https://24seven.co.uk/buy-premium-rate-numbers-resellers-guide/

In my experience, customers often like to know how much they are paying. They prefer to book an hour's slot and not worry about cost. This also means they can wire the money direct so you get paid the full amount.

SEO calls can go on for more than an hour so a premium rate number might scare some people off.

Just my thoughts.

Matt

 

[SEO Lady]

In my experience, customers often like to know how much they are paying. They prefer to book an hour's slot and not worry about cost. This also means they can wire the money direct so you get paid the full amount.

SEO calls can go on for more than an hour so a premium rate number might scare some people off.

They think that just because an agency has spent 90 minutes on the phone with them, confused them and scared the bejesus out of them with their extortionate costs that I should also spend 90 minutes on the phone for free and then say "Oh SEO is cheap, £2.50 OK?"

/endrant

... and thank you @WebshopMechanic

Having looked into it it's 2p per minute so £12/hour profit, big cost to the caller, minimum returns to me. It's a no-go

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Yes, no I totally get that. I've learned how to remove time wasters over the years.

The thing is with SEO, you can give people the idea but very few can execute effectively. The key is to give them some help, make them understand the possibilities if they do it properly, and then let them make the decision.

I tend to help people when I can, build a rapport with them and then they often come back when they've thought about it or when the time is right.

There are a ton of bad SEO companies out there but people appreciate the good ones who go the extra mile.

Maybe you just need to qualify these people out at first? If it's a website enquiry then maybe ask for their website address to gain a feel for their business. You can also check their financials beforehand.

Of course, not everybody is your target customer. Maybe make it a little clearer on your website who you target and where your prices start. I am clear about my prices so I tend to attract more of the right type of people these days.

Matt

 

[Highland Spring]

That will be unpopular with your customer, and these days most people expect online chat as an option.

 

[cts1975]

Can you not offer 1 hour zoom consultations and ask the client to prepay for the hour?
May be a simple online booking diary to make it look slick?

 

[Clinton]

That will be unpopular with your customer, and these days most people expect online chat as an option.

They can expect whatever they want. As a business owner you decide what you're giving them and how much you are going to charge for it.

Too many businesses are so focused on getting more sales that they fall over themselves to make it easy for the customer. I don't subscribe to that philosophy. Make it too easy and you get the crap end of customers. Be selective, get the better quality customer, have a less stressful life!

I expect that customers who are willing to pay by the minute are generally better quality customers than those who insist on the first hour being free.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

In contrast to many questions on here about cold-calling, you're taking a call from somebody who is already engaged enough to want your advice prior to the call @SEO Lady

The key point for you is converting the conversation to a profitable client, which may require you to improve your closing skills.

This requires you to ask the right questions early during the call to help you to decide whether:

• you're taking to a potentially profitable client who will agree to your commercial terms
• you're talking to somebody who will not be profitable, but you're happy to provide free advice
• you're talking to somebody who will not be profitable, and you're not happy to provide free advice so end the call

 

[SEO Lady]

Can you not offer 1 hour zoom consultations and ask the client to prepay for the hour?
May be a simple online booking diary to make it look slick?

This has been the norm for me, the additional phone line is a new idea

 

[SEO Lady]

In contrast to many questions on here about cold-calling, you're taking a call from somebody who is already engaged enough to want your advice prior to the call @SEO Lady

The key point for you is converting the conversation to a profitable client, which may require you to improve your closing skills.

This requires you to ask the right questions early during the call to help you to decide whether:

• you're taking to a potentially profitable client who will agree to your commercial terms
• you're talking to somebody who will not be profitable, but you're happy to provide free advice
• you're talking to somebody who will not be profitable, and you're not happy to provide free advice so end the call

You forgot the bit where I ask "What target search terms, products or keywords would you like to rank in Google?" and they reply simply "EVERYTHING!!!11"

Thus the conversation gets immediately sidetracked into finding out what they want with 20 questions - as opposed to starting the call with "Well, I want £xxx this month" and then the caller splutters and gets annoyed like it's the only thing that matters is my bank balance.

I need to get a feel for the personalisty of the client and listen for red flags

• I've tried 5 other SEO's and they are all s****
• The last SEO ghosted me, I don't know why
• Google Analytics? What's that? I need to understand what you do Nina before I pay you so you need to tell me what's wrong with my website and exactly what you plan to do to fix it

No two calls are ever the same, by using a template to enquire of the client what their budget is early on in the call is not conducive to building trust and understanding. You may well be judged as a money grabber first, and not a people person with stellar client relations.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

There was a thread discussing how potential clients interrupt your work when you are busy

I must confess my jaw hit the floor when I read the above! With a scenario that many companies, many salespeople, would give their right arm for, shouldn't you be reversing your SEO skills to narrow the number of people who call, to more speedily work out who the timewasters are?

You talk of starting the conversation with 'I want £xxx this month' as a negative. Agreed but absolutely nothing wrong with asking what budget they have, what sort of numbers they are churning, do they spend money on marketing?

 

[SEO Lady]

You talk of starting the conversation with 'I want £xxx this month' as a negative. Agreed but absolutely nothing wrong with asking what budget they have, what sort of numbers they are churning, do they spend money on marketing?

My target client base must be different to yours. Most of my clients are sole traders.

In my 12 year career when I've asked the budget question there's usually one of 2 replies

1. I don't know! As cheap as possible!
2. I'm not telling you what I already pay, it's up to you to quote me your prices

Response 3 is rare, "Well, we have budgeted for XXX amount per month" or recently in COVID "We have just been awarded a grant for £XXXX how many months would that cover?" which of course is not going to a response for much longer in the future (I hope)

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

My experience over the years is with clients who have budgets from £50 to £500,000. Most have been sole traders.

1. I don't know! As cheap as possible!

Unless said in jest hat's the sort of thing Joe Public would say, not somebody who is running an online business and presumably has an idea of value.

I'm not telling you what I already pay, it's up to you to quote me your prices

This requires the old wedding suit response. Better still if you can relate the same to their business.

'How much is a bespoke tailored suit?'
Single breasted, double breasted, lightweight, tweed, fitted, lined, button hole, casual, smart, formal, one off or daily use etc., What's it for? When is it needed?
'Now shall we faff around here for an hour looking at material pattern books with prices that range from £2 to £120 a metre, that could take 3 months to get in, include a waistcoat, double pockets and fancy lining that you don't want............or will you tell me what your budget is so we don't waste each others time?'

 

[DavidWH]

We come across the same issues, and although in a different sector.

Some excellent advice here, especially over the budget question.

I'm in agreement with @Clinton it's a path we've taken for some time, it's our way or the highway.

I know a gym owner who get's emails and calls taking up his time. All the information is on his website, and he directs them to his site very early on. If they can't be arsed reading it, they're not his type of client.

I know someone else who gets to the budget question very early on, and when they answer I don't know, or cheap as possible, he just chucks numbers at them. How does £2000 sound? How does £1000 sound? How about £500? Once they've stopped wincing at the prices, set their expectations, or send them on their way.

There's an accountant on Linkedin who won't deal with clients who's turnover is less than £500k, and their minimum fee is £500pcm. They're perfectly open about that, and explain why, and seem to be going from strength to strength.

If they object about paying for your service, build up reviews, case studies, and refer them to them.

It's finding ways to extract the information you need, without them getting defensive. I like the question above, how much do you currently spend on marketing.

 

[Uke]

If you’re selling SEO, always get a budget, even if it’s a ballpark figure. If they can’t or won’t give you one, then take it no further.

By getting a budget, you cut down on all the time you waste writing proposals for the idiots that want the earth but then reveal late down the line they’ve only got £100 per month to spend. This then allows you to focus on the prospects who do indeed have a realistic budget (and almost certainly will be better and easier customers to deal with).

 

[japancool]

Premium rate numbers have really fallen out of favour in recent years. You put an 09 number as your tech support helpline and very few people will call it - and if they do, be prepared for angry customers when their phone bills arrive. Especially if they're calling from a mobile, as the networks slap high access charges on to the per minute rate.

Sell your customers a certain number of support hours in advance, then let them call upon those hours whenever they want, subject to booking time in beforehand.