How do you handle this situation?

virginia-seo · 07-18-2004, 05:36 AM

Say you've got a client that sells widgets in market A. You get a call from a potential client that also sells widgets in Market A. They are competitors. To keep from having a battle over one company getting better rankings than the other, do you just no do the potential client?

Also, if you have a nationwide client selling widgets and then get a call from someone selling widgets locally, do you take them on? You can pick more locallized search terms for the local client. Or could this have the potential of blowing up also?

While no one wants to turn away business, I know we don't want to have a reputation for not giving it our best for any of our clients. I would hope companies would understand if we don't do competitors in the same market for this reason.

Thanks for your advice.

nandini · 07-19-2004, 10:04 AM

I think you should never cater to two competitors at the same time.
Its against the morals also.

My philosphy says..
When we work for someone, We become an extension of our clients management team through our services.

You just can`t do proper justice to two people who are competiting for the same thing at once. Refuse the person who approach you later, and tell him the exact reason. Also tell the first person too....

-- Just my opinion ---

thebassman · 07-19-2004, 06:57 PM

Yeah, I agree... I would only work for 1 company in one industry... and just tell them why... they'll understand.

al2six · 07-21-2004, 04:31 AM

are we talking about seo? because if you're doing design work or something, i see no reason why you can't design 2 sites that are in the same industry. however i can see a conflict of interest when you're trying to get 2 sites ranked highly for the same keywords

virginia-seo · 07-21-2004, 05:29 AM

Yes, I am talking SEO. And since we pick the keywords, and do out best to pick the best ones for our initial client, and make changes as deemed necessary, I didn't see how we could do this either.
Thank you everyone for your help.

sweatnspice · 07-21-2004, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Also, if you have a nationwide client selling widgets and then get a call from someone selling widgets locally, do you take them on? You can pick more locallized search terms for the local client. Or could this have the potential of blowing up also?

Either way I don't think it's a good idea to take on anyone in the same market, or anyone that wants to target the same keywords.

Why not refer the second client to another SEO? - You'll gain a reputation as an honest business person by telling the second client that you cannot take them on for client competition reasons, and you would gain a freind in another SEO by refering clients to them. They could do the same for you. Quid Pro Quo