Wouldn't you want to do a "Reference Check" on this Vought F4U-5N "Corsair" (Performance-Fighter) WWII aircraft (at MCAS, Miramar, Ca. = "Top Gun") before you flew in it? (click to enlarge photo) The same thing goes for choosing a SEO Agency Consultant firm as a long term partner.
This "Best Practice in Agency Search & Selection" Report by Salk & Reynolds Management Consultants (Prepared for the Institute of Communications and Advertising - "ICA") was directed at traditional ad agencies. I feel it can easily be adapted to SEO firms-agencies and their prospective clients. Therefore, I will take the liberty of inserting the appropriate keywords in "parentheses" in place of what is in the report.
To start, it says: "No (SEO) agency search is complete without reference checking. It maintains honesty in the process. It will identify issues and problems and also confirm, or deny, the subjective opinions and interpretations of the (SEO buyer)." It then goes on to say: "Which (SEO clients or former clients) should you choose? Consider asking the (prospective SEO firm-agency) for a list of client companies that are similar to your own - think particularly of size, complexity and similarity of service model or (online search user) relationship. You may want to broaden this reference list with (clients) chosen at random from the (prospective SEO agency's total list) of clients, or check with a recently departed (former client) if one seems particularly appropriate. This latter needs to be treated with care as there is usually two sides to every story. In any case, the (prospective SEO agency) needs to be advised in advance as to which (clients or former clients) will be asked to provide references, so that they can be notified by the (prospective SEO agency) to expect your call."
It goes on to give more great advice such as:
"Ask open ended questions such as the following: 1. What are your overall impressions of the (prospective SEO agency) as your (SEO) agency? 2. What are their strengths and weaknesses? 3. What do you like best about the (prospective SEO agency)? What do you like least? 4. Can you comment on their contribution at a strategic (improvement of "leads to sales" = conversion rate) or (long term linking policy) planning level? 5. Comment on their capabilities in (client) account management, creative (competitive strategy), (offline) media (marketing help for improved online results), (SEO) administration. 6. Comment on their service to you as a customer. 7. Comment on the visibility of senior management on (your SEO client) account."
That same report said earlier on: "In any case, treat the reference check as you would a record check on a new employee hire." So, here is a Northern Arizona University document on "Factors to consider while Checking References ". It has many good "bullet points", but here are some of my favorites: 1. "Try to establish rapport with the person you are calling. Many times a freer exchange of information comes about when the individual you are calling identifies with your organization, and/or your position." 2. "Let the person talk freely in answering for as long as he/she wishes without interruption. An interruption could shut off further information." 3. "Follow up and probe when you feel the reference is reluctant to discuss certain factors. An explanation of why you are asking a specific question could elicit the information you want." 4. "Be alert for obvious pauses in answering when you ask questions: often these are a sign that further questioning may bring additional information you may not have otherwise received." 5. "Do not hang up until you are sure that you are clear about the opinion of the person contacted. Ambiguous answers are common. The person called may provide very little useful information. One technique that often works is to summarize the conversation by making either of the following statements: “I take it that you do not recommend the (SEO agency) candidate for the position?” or “I take it that you highly recommend the (SEO agency) candidate for the position?” Sometimes one or the other of these summary statements evokes the responses you need."
This last advice I found is on "How to Perform Software Vendor Reference Checks", but it too can be applied to prospective SEO Agency reference checking. I especially like these points: 1. "It’s a good idea to ask (SEO agency) vendors to provide you with references early in the selection process, such as the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase." It says to request a long list of client references because, 2. "This request prevents (SEO agency) vendors from providing you with only the hand-picked names of their most satisfied users (clients)." 3. "Speaking with several people from each organization also minimizes the impact of users (clients) whose opinions are overly critical or too generous,.." 4. "References should be contacted by phone and asked to schedule an appointment for the conversation. Do not assume they will be available on short notice to discuss the (prospective SEO agency) vendors with you, though you should be prepared to ask questions if you have caught them at a good time." 5. "When scheduling appointments, provide a time estimate for the conversations so the references can block out time on their calendars. In most cases, you should allow about 20 minutes for each call." 6. "After the call, be sure to send thank-you notes (e-mail is okay), asking if you can recontact the references later should any new questions arise."
The bottom line is that the SEO agency-seller should be able to check references (especially credit-financial ones) relating to the SEO buyer. The SEO buyer (due to "Caveat Emptor") needs to be diligent in trying his best to get OBJECTIVE, "NON-INFLUENCED" IN ANY WAY, OPEN, HONEST, COMPREHENSIVE, AND COMPREHENDABLE OPINIONS relating to his final two or three SEO agency-firms that have already agreed, upfront, to seriously considering a "SEO Performance-based Pricing = Pay For Some Kind of Performance (Actions-Leads)".
This is very near the end of this multi-part (hopefully informative) series.
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