Recently there have been two good articles on how both paid search advertising ( part of SEM ), and SEO are becoming more complex. This trend will probably continue. Today, Kevin Lee writes about "AdWords Changes to Affect Google Advertisers". Jim Hedger says in his recent article on "SEO Sales and Services - Consulting Cuts Complexity" that "While there has never been more business for good SEOs with strong reputations, the amount of work needed to be done to provide a strong campaign has never been greater."
This is true, but I hope that all this "easy come" business doesn't turn into "easy go" for everybody's sake. Advertisers (Clients/Buyers) need to be constantly educated, but, I believe, so do Consultants/Sellers in how to build long term customers through "Relationship Selling". This is a book by Jim Cathcart that came out in 1990. Maybe the timing is right in this emerging growth phase of the Search Marketing Industry for all the good SEO's and SEM's, with their many diverse backgrounds, to embrace this concept, if they haven't already.
I have seen in many forums and articles for the search marketing industry the frustration of these search marketers in dealing with some of their less cooperative clients. Jim Cathcart says in his book "When the relationship is right, the details are negotiable. When tension is high, the details become obstacles." Also, "We judge ourselves by our intentions, but others judge us by our actions."
I want to see everybody win, since, theoretically and in actuality, they should all be on the same side! If all players in the game have patience and educate, while cooperating in empathy with each other, this will be "The Key To Getting and Keeping Customers" as Jim's complete book title says.
I don't like seeing a trend to the high turnover that traditional advertising agencies have experienced over the years. It appears that many Search Marketing Consultant Companies need to do a better job with relationship building skills, especially at the "expectations" stage. Randy Schwartz wrote a great article on Agency Turnover in Search Marketing in which he eventually says "The issues outlined above mainly speak to conflicts of communication." Many different issues he outlines come down to improved communication in relationship building.
Jim Cathcart has this "powerful thought" for relationship selling: "If you want to improve your circumstances, begin by improving yourself".
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