Commando Consulting: October 2008 - Website Landing Page Optimisation For Premium Management Consultancy Firms For Effective Lead Generation

by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur

Summary: When you look at most consulting firms' websites, you can see they are everything but client-centred. Everything you find on the landing pages of their websites talks about who they are, what they do, how great they are and how uniquely different their services are, but they miserably fail to mention what clients actually get if they hire these firms. So, this month I thought we could take a closer look at how to structure the copy on the landing page of a premium consulting firm, so that landing page also acts as a filter to screen out price shoppers who ask for proposals to collect ideas and then seek out the cheapest service provider to get it implemented. Audio Version (MP3): 46:57 .

I've recently conducted some sales workshops for two engineering consulting firms. One of their biggest problems was that they spent so much time and effort on cold prospecting slavery, while their marketing, that was already costing them money, utterly failed to generate high-calibre sales leads.

We did an extensive diagnosis, and it turned out that their business development processes were in the wrong sequence, so eventually, the intended sales workshop turned into tweaking their marketing efforts and designing a brand new process to handle incoming enquiries from buyers.

It is customary among many consulting firms that as soon as enquires come in, they instantly dedicate human effort to them and deal with them on an individual basis. The problem is that these enquiries are not yet qualified, and a large percentage of them are plain garden-variety tyre-kickers, that is, low-level purchasing managers who are collecting information but are not in the position of making buying decisions. And often they have no intention to buy anyway. They're collecting information, so they can threaten their existing service providers to lower their fees or face instant replacement.

And I believe when consulting firms jump on opportunities too early, it positions them out of the premium range and into the "budget alternative" category.

And I think we have to start our discussion with...

Some Landing Page Design Considerations For Management Consultancy Websites

Most Visitors Are NOT Real Buyers

In hundreds of consulting firms, thousands of lower level managers are required by their bosses to solve certain problems, may they be internal issues or client issues.

What do these managers do?

They can't hire help because they don't have authorisation to spend money. So, all they can do is to scan the horizon, well, the web, in an attempt to find solutions to their problems.

So, they land on your website, but what they find there is not a potential solution but lots of chest-beating how great your firm is. So, since they can't find solutions they need, they move on and never look back.

Mike Schultz and John Doerr of the Wellesley Hills Group have done several studies in this area, and it turns out that one of the top reasons why consulting firms lose clients is because they don't listen to clients.

And this non-listening starts on their websites too. Most consulting websites are self-centred not client-centred.

Most Visitors Who Are Buyers Are NOT Ready To Buy

Visitors scan consulting firms' websites with either of these two purposes...

1. Investigating the firm for possible engagements


2. Looking for free information which they can instantly use

Visitors are hardly ever ready to pull out their credit cards and buy some consulting.

If we buy into the idea that buying consulting is basically buying care, protection and guidance from an individual or a group of individuals that we trust and respect, then I think we all can see the flaw in consulting websites that are pitching their wares right on the landing page.

And all that initial pitching achieves is to piss off potential buyers who then leave the website never to return ever again.

From another Wellesley Hills Group study, "How Clients Buy: The Benchmark Report On Professional Services Marketing And Selling From The Client Perspective", we can learn that almost 80% of buyers visit potential service providers' websites.

Now if we know the number is so high, we might as well create website landing pages that are attractive to buyers who are on the prowl for consulting help, and we can create landing pages that draw visitors deeper into the website and offer them valuable information.

So, the question is...

Are You Giving Good Guidance On Your Landing Page?

Just like in a face-to-face discussion with buyers, it's a good idea to have a set process for the discussion.

Think of doctors. From the moment you enter the clinic, there is a set processes which patients have to follow, otherwise they get kicked out. (I mean some of the best clinics whose employees don't take shit from know-it-all belligerent morons who believe that their payments also give them the right to dictate how the clinic is run).

Having worked with lots of high-end private clinics during my bioengineering years, even on the famous Harley Street in London, I observed this process...

1. Patient arrives for her first appointment


2. Patient checks in at reception and picks up necessary paperwork to fill in


3. General assistant checks paperwork and forwards it to the appropriate doctor's office.


4. Upon being called, patient enters the office where a specialist nurse checks the paperwork and administers the initial diagnosis


5. The nurse vanishes and briefs the doctor


6. Doctor enters and performs the appropriate diagnosis, examination and prescribes course of remedy

And patients cannot skip 1-5 and see the doctor upon entering the clinic. And what if patients don't like the process? Well, tough titties. They can bugger off and find a low-level clinic where they can dictate the terms and tell doctors what to prescribe.

So, similarly, we have to provide guidance on the landing page, so visitors can follow a path of readership we've set and are tracking.

So, sit down with your key people and your webmaster, and invest some time to design a process which you want visitors to follow and just draw it out in a box-and-arrow diagram.

And now let's look at...

Eight Specific Considerations For Consulting Landing Pages...

1. The Landing Page Is A Sales Letter

Many consulting firms fail to understand that the landing page is supposed to be a sales letter with the sole intention of initiating the commencement of relationships with visitors who fall into the firm's Perfect Client Profile (PCP).

It's not copy to inform, entertain or educate, but copy to sell the appropriate visitors on taking a very specific action.

But, we're not selling for money per se. We're "selling" free information that is specific and relevant to the target market. In order to initiate trust-based relationships, we have to go first, and demonstrate that we know what we're talking about and that we can be trusted.

Since we want only those visitors to take action who fall into our Perfect Client Profile (PCP), we have to write both the landing page and all the other pages in a certain way, using a specific structure and style.

The structure is pretty established, based on specific direct response marketing principles, and copywriters can help you here, but the style must come from you. That's why you have to closely collaborate with the copywriter, and avoid the "tell me what you want and get out of my way" type copywriters.

Also, selling professional services requires a different copy type from selling vitamin pills or secondhand coffins.

I also suggest that you stay away from copywriters of advertising agencies for most of them don't understand direct response marketing. They are experts at creating "awareness raising" flashy, glitzy and glamorous ads for commodities, but they are not in tune with marketing and selling professional services.

If you put out copy that is written in the style of commodities, you can easily shoot your reputation in the foot and kick your credibility in the arse.

There is one more thing...

Some copywriters write for the consumer market, that is, their stuff is read by individual end users, shoppers. You need someone who can write for the B2B market where you have buyers not shoppers. Here are some vital differences between buyers and shoppers.

No emotional involvement: In the B2C world, since people buy entirely for their own personal reasons, they are 100% emotionally involved and, more often than not, entangled in the process. That's why traditional emotionally manipulative techniques like "Create pain and agitate it", "Find their hot buttons and keep pushing them hard again and again", "Scare them shitless and sustain terror" work on them.

Buyers are much more rational and you can't dazzle them with traditional shopper type emotional bullshit. In the B2C world, if you can't blind your prospects with brilliance, you still can dazzle them with bullshit, and most of them will fall for it.

Business buyers are ready to buy: While shoppers are shopping around, checking prices and collecting "more information", etc., buyers are shopping for something very specific, and they want to complete their purchases as soon as possible. For shoppers shopping is a social event. For buyers it's a practical event, merely a means that support an end.

Shoppers buy lots of stuff they don't need for any practical reasons, but want. Or let's use the word "covet." They may buy ribbed condoms in a fancy package because it looks so cool. But for a hooker who's selling her professional services to ribbed condom owners, decisions are made drastically differently.

Unlike shoppers, buyers are skilled professionals: B2B marketing messages are for skilled and sophisticated professionals. While B2C buyers respond positively to some hype, buyers despise it and ignore the whole message when they notice even the traces of hype and bullshit. This is exponentially valid for marketing consulting services.

Buyers read all relevant information: Since, unlike shoppers, buyers are not impulse buyers, they take time to read and digest long and detailed information packages. Their mantra is, "The more I know the better decision I can make, and the bigger bang I get for my buck!" Therefore they read long sales copy if it's written correctly.

But they hate the typical "fluff" language that can intrigue so many shoppers. Most buyers are turned off by typical advertising-type, colour-rich materials that smell "advertising." They want information about what they are about to purchase.

B2B buying is a multi-step process involving several people: While in the B2C world one copy is supposed to do the job, that is, to sell stuff, the B2B buying cycle is a multi-step process with several decisions makers in the loop both on the buyer's and the seller's sides. While a typical B2C sales cycle is 1-60 days, the typical B2B sales cycle can be as short as 30 days or as long as three years from first contact of enquiry to the signing of the agreement. It takes several well-planned steps to turn an enquiry into a paid contract.

B2B buyers buy both for personal and company benefit: Shoppers buy for personal benefits, but buyers buy both for personal and company benefits. Buyers acquire products and services to benefit their companies. This means the merchandise must make or save money or save time for the company. But B2B buyers also buy for their own benefits. As humans, we all are selfish. Buyers want to improve their personal situations in their companies by making the right buying decision, "Using this IT system can save money for the company and make me look like a hero in my boss's' eyes."

But buyers are scared too. When shoppers make mistakes, they lose a bit of money. When buyers make mistakes, the whole company looks at them as if they were idiots. Upon making a mistake, buyers lose face, which is riskier than losing money. And B2B buyers also have their jobs to protect.

B2B buyers are usually accountable to someone: This someone may be a higher level manager or the board of directors. Shoppers do whatever they fancy doing as long as their bank accounts [options: Spouses, parents, etc.] allow them to. No one holds them accountable for their actions.

The rules for B2B practice development are different from B2C consumer development. You know, both the toothbrush and the toilet brush are brushes, but with different mandates. Interchange them at your own peril, and you have to spend a small fortune on mouthwash.

2. Develop Most Wanted Response

Even before you write the copy for your website's landing page, find out what action you want your reader to take. As I've mentioned in many places in my writings, plan the process backwards...

Repeat and referral client => First time client => Buyer is ready to start => Buyer is ready to discuss first engagement => Buyer re-visit website to evaluate the firm for engagement => The firm builds buyer's trust through valuable information => Buyer receives value from firm => Buyer reads newsletter issues => Buyer reads white paper^[1] => Buyer subscribes to the firm's newsletter and receives a bonus white paper relating to one of her key frustrations => Buyer visits the firm's website => Buyer browses the net for some help on a peripheral issue.

The MWR makes your website very specific, and offers initial guidance for visitors, just like the guidance the patients get in a clinic.

3. Stay With ONE Offer On Your Landing Page

Many firms make the mistake of getting visitors to their websites, and start bombarding them with a motley array of various service offers.

The problem is that visitors get confused about what your firm does and may not even read your stuff. They get visually overwhelmed by the variety of stuff on the page, and they often just move on. We have to remember that at that moment visitors are browsing consulting websites because they have specific problems.

For instance, white papers can have as high as 78% download rate. And white papers are read by high-level decision-makers, that is, real buyers.

Now, with this in mind...

Based on your Most Wanted Response (MWR), you can develop your landing page. However it's important that you focus the whole landing page on that one single action.

It's also important that your MWR is related to your high-end premium services. This way buyers start getting to know your firm from the "top end".

Let's say, you have various packaged knowledge programmes, including HR, time management, team development, etc. And your high-end consulting service is strategy consulting, probably the most expensive type of consulting on the planet.

In this case you can write a white paper on strategy issues how they impact your target market. For instance...

"Seven Incorrect Assumptions High-End Furniture Manufacturers Make When Formulating Their Organisational Strategies"

Don't expect buyers to hire you for consulting right away. They probably start with some packaged knowledge, but, thanks to your white paper, your firm will become known as a strategic advisor for high-end furniture manufacturers.

So, what does your landing page focus on?

One thing and one thing only: To compel visitors to request your white paper before leaving the landing page.

There are two ways to do this...

1. Offer the white paper for instant download: This approach allows more people to avail themselves of your report. Many of them may not be buyers for you, but this way the report passes through more hands and eyeballs.


2. Offer the white paper but request contact email in return for the value you offer: This is a filter stage. The idea is that if you offer people value in the report, they can offer you their email addresses. When you use this approach, you can insert a compelling section in your report that sells readers on your monthly free newsletter. Now with the help of the newsletter, you can stay in touch with a prequalified group of people.

In the first option you have more but less qualified people. In the second option you have fewer but better qualified people. Then alternate the two approaches and track your results in your analytics programme.

Don't be tempted to present more than one offers. Readers get profusely confused and take no action whatsoever. Just like a dog that is given two almost identical bones. It will die of starvation, but in its confusions it won't touch the bones. Stay with one offer.

4. No Pitching On The Landing Page

The landing page is not for pitching but for offering something valuable to your target market. Remember, your visitors arrive at your website in search of specific information. In most cases they are not ready to buy from you yet. If all they find is a pitch, they are likely to hightail away from your site straight into the welcoming arms of your competition. And that would be a disaster, wouldn't it?

5. Using Your Website With Direct Mail Or Other Outgoing Promo Materials

When you organise a large marketing campaign, be it direct mail, email or even smoke signals, always use a specific response vehicle^[2]. Give readers a reason to contact you right away. And this is when you lead them to a specific landing page that is pertinent to the MWR you're seeking in your campaign.

Let's say, your firm offers multi-faceted consulting services, but in this specific campaign you want to focus on your HR consulting arm.

Now for this specific campaign you would set up a landing page that emphasises your HR stuff and the MWR for that page could be...

1. A downloadable MP3 file of one of your HR-related keynote speech, entitled: Jamming The Revolving Door: 21st Century Recruiting Practices For High-End Coffin Manufacturers To Attract And Retain Top-Tier Talents.

Or...

2. A complimentary CD/DVD of the recording of one of your HR workshops. The title is something similar.

Before you roll this all out, test the title in Google AdWords. Use the split testing features in Google Analytics.

If all you need is an email address for your follow-up system, then use option 1. But if your follow-up is direct mail, then use option 2 because that gives you a chance to get a name and a mailing address.

6. Write A Very Specific Call For Action

After explaining the benefits of your response vehicle and all the value your reader will garner by mentally digesting your stuff, you want to give very specific instructions on how request this information.

It's important to consider that when people are browsing, they may have several windows open, and don't pay 100% attention to your page. Therefore it's vital to give very clear instructions how to request the stuff you offer.

And yes, sometimes the price of clarity carries the risk of insult, and some readers may get pissed off about how detailed you are about requesting your stuff, but these readers, in most cases, are not serious anyway. If they feel that your precision of explanation is an insult on their intelligence, then they would cause trouble later, especially when they become clients.

In the military we learnt that the lack of clarity can cost lives, so I prefer to risk the insult of my precision at any time of the day.

7. Careful With Those Links

Since your landing page is the main entry to your website, you want to make sure visitors read your landing page before navigating away to other pages. For this reason, get rid of the links in your copy.

Product marketers recommend eliminating the menu system as well, so visitors have nowhere to go, but that doesn't work on consulting websites. While products are often purchased on the first visit, buying consulting services takes a number of visits.

But I do agree that you have to minimise the number of links on the landing page, so visitors can read it uninterrupted, and make an intelligent decision. And let's not mess up their reading and comprehension processes by unnecessarily exposing them to more and more links.

And wherever you put in links, provide clear instructions why to click on it and what will happen when visitors arrive at the linked page.

8.Get Rid Of Those Splash And Flash Intro Pages

You may have seen landing pages with one splash image or Flash intro that says...

"Enter your email address to enter website"

Be careful here because buyers pack up and leave. If we have real value to offer, we don't have to hide it behind fiendish sign-up forms. Let's make it open, let's write it in our unique styles and let buyers cherry-pick whatever they like. Certain buyers, hopefully the savvy, value-focused buyers will return, and the rest will bugger off once and for all... to all of our great delight.

On Summary

I am fully convinced that a consulting websites must be structured differently from any other type (affiliate sites, retail sites, etc.) websites.

Consulting firms are professional knowledge firms, selling customised intellectual property whose systematic application improves the client's condition.

And this approach requires a different kind of relationship from what we can find between buyers and sellers in coffee shops or a grocery supermarket.

David Maister, author of The Trusted Advisor, describes the relationship this way...

"The trusted advisor relationship takes place between two individuals and is, therefore, highly personal in nature. It involves emotion as well as intellect. It is dynamic and fluid. Building a trusted advisor relationship involves not only straightforward discussion, rigorous decision-making, and conventional consultation, but also moments of revelation, late-night inspirations, odd actions of connection, and moments of epiphany.

At its core, trust is about relationships. I will trust you if I believe that you are in this for the long haul, that you are not just trying to maximize the short-term benefit to you of each of our interactions.

Trust is about reciprocity: you help me and I will help you. But I need to know that I can rely on you to do your part, and that our relationship is built upon shared values and principles."

And you have to think of this kind of relationship when crafting your landing page. It has to make the right impression. An impression that is congruent with your values and the market's expectation.

And the best way of starting new relationships on the right foot is by offering value first, and let prospects evaluate you based on the value you offer and the process through which you offer it.

Footnotes

^[1] Upon reading the white paper, the buyer learns that this seemingly peripheral issue can easily escalate into something mission critical. According to Marketing Sherpa's research, white papers and case studies are the most read documents by economic buyers. Now the bug is planted in the buyer's ear, and he starts thinking about possible consequences. Please not that this is not scaremongering but presenting the reality in your report. Continue where you've left off...

^[2] Your response vehicle is the stuff people request when they act upon your Most Wanted Action. It's usually a white paper, CD or DVD. This is not promo stuff. It's too early for that. This is valuable information for your reader, which establishes you as a trustworthy industrial expert, not merely another pain in the arse peddler. Continue where you've left off...

"Dynamic Duo" Mentor Programme... ...has 1 opening for July and 4 for August 2010. Click here to continue to read the fiendish details.

Recommended Reading

Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration

By Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman

Consulting firms all over the world are dreaming about building cohesive teams that are naturally inspired, energised and excited to work on sexy projects with great clients and produce incredible margins, but when it comes to implementation, almost of these firms go to leading business schools and hire the top few percent of MBAs in stupidly large numbers. These hiring managers get so blinded by credentials that they fail to pay attention to ability.

In the Manhattam Project, for instance, it was interior decorator Edward Norris and chemist Edward Adler who developed a nickel mesh barrier. It was based on Norris's electrodeposited nickel mesh he'd designed for his innovative paint sprayer.

And since schools are not famous for teaching teamwork, these newly minted MBAs start their new careers without vital skills. And the situation gets worse because most firms prefer prima donna individuals with incredible billing abilities as opposed to people who can form incredibly high-performing teams.

Organizing Genius introduces us to some of the best and most accomplished teams, ranging from the Disney design team through the Apple team to the team of the Manhattan Project.

The authors crystallise 15 attributes of Great Groups which can be applied to consulting firms too with great success.

The 15 lessons are practical and the stories are intriguing to compel firm leaders to implement them in their firsms.

Place your order with Amazon.com for Organizing Genius. You'll be glad you did.