Google Places Pages Claimed Double – Frustration Quadruples

google places

When I first read the latest statistic that the number of Google Places profiles had doubled, I was shocked!  By doubling, that means that 8 million accounts (out of 50 million) are now claimed which works out to only 16% – really?

Only 16% Of Google Places Pages Have Been Claimed.

If you read anything about internet marketing, it seems most ways to make money “online” are tied to Google Places optimization, Google Places reputation management, or video creation to sell services to local business.

With all of this activity and article writing around Google Places optimization, how did it only double?  In short, we feel Google Places claimed profiles doubling means frustration has quadrupled and we will now explain how.

How did frustration around Google Places quadruple?  Here are the 4 ways that frustration around Google Places has increased:

• There are twice as many businesses frustrated with their Google Places ranking
• There are twice as many businesses frustrated with their online reviews
• Marketers are frustrated they can’t overcome local objections
• Google Places optimization is tedious work without shortcuts!!

Each of these 4 different frustrations could, and likely will, become an individual article topic for us because of the depth of knowledge that can be shared within each area.  For today, we will cover how marketers are frustrated because until a sale is made, the tedious Google Places optimization work is not an issue.

Businesses Are Frustrated With Their Google Places Ranking

Let’s start with some facts about why Google Places optimization is critical for any local business to actively manage since they lead to overcoming objections.  First of all, it is a statistical fact that print yellow pages are dying across all age groups except “boomers.”  One thing we like to ask potential clients is, “do you know where your print yellow pages are?”

The other question we like to ask if print yellow pages are used for an objection is to ask “which print yellow pages” since we receive several different versions at our homes.

Unless the business owner does not own a smart phone, have access to the internet, or fall within the boomer generation, it is likely this anecdotal situation drives the point home.  The world has changed and if sales people are able to show business owners this fact, it makes overcoming objections much easier.

One of the most common objections local business owners use is that their business is built on word of mouth advertising.  This frustrating objection has been around decades before I starting selling TV advertising in 1991.  It finally has begun to lose its power.  We help our sales people, or white label web development partners, overcome that objection by showing the business owners their online reviews if they have negative ones and/or show them the reviews of their competitors.

It is usually easy enough to find a business in their category using proper Google Places reputation management techniques correctly to show how word of mouth works today.  We then drive this point home by asking if they were searching for business services and found this word of mouth advertising information online, which company would they select?

Unless the owner is dishonest, it becomes a no-brainer.  Ultimately, we help the local business owner know they can actually manage their word of mouth – something never possible before which normally gets the attention of most owners.

Many business owners will use the objection that their business already has someone, or a company, working for their business that is focused online marketing.  The best way to show a small business owner that you’ve done your homework and they need help is to show the owner how poorly their business ranks on Google Places.

Additionally, showing how their business website looks/works on mobile phones is an eye-opener for many owners.  As we know, more and more people are searching for services at the exact time they need them while most business websites are not mobile friendly at all, especially sites full of “flash” design elements.

We have just provided a few quick examples of how we train our independent reps and white label partners overcome objections for people trying to sell Google Places optimization services.

Our company was created because we found it difficult to find a reputable company that would fulfill Google Places optimization services for our web development businesses, so built the resources ourselves and have independent reps and white label companies sell our services.

This is a guest post from Rob Schmidt who is the sales/marketing leader for http://2020local.com/. His phone number is (480) 256-2254.