If you are reading this ebook, you are likely familiar with WiFi marketing and all the amazing business benefits it can bring to your local clients. If you don’t know what we mean by WiFi marketing, we explain it in the next chapter.
As the title says, this ebook focuses specifically on selling WiFi marketing services to your clients. They will probably not know what it is and will try to object, but once you present it to them the right way, and once they get a taste of it, getting them on board will be easy.
When it comes to you as a reseller, WiFi marketing gives you an opportunity to create more revenue streams, potentially sell more of your existing services, and grow as a successful entrepreneur.
The following chapters will focus on practical and highly actionable advice to help you succeed in this endeavor. We will go through the process of finding leads, how to qualify them, and how to pitch the service to them. We will cover all the questions you need to ask and how to counter any possible objections they might have.
Of course, we won’t leave you at that point—we’ll tell you how to close the sale once the lead becomes interested, and how to make sure this blossoms into a mutually beneficial partnership.
When you’re done reading this ebook, you will be left with a step-by-step plan that will allow you to find plenty of potential customers, initiate contact, sell, and expand your business as a result.
Are you ready for all this? Then read on!
If you are already familiar with the concept, feel free to skip to the next section. But if the title of this chapter made you go “huh?”, then please stick around and learn about this new concept in local marketing.
Most brick-and-mortar locations, from tiny cafes, restaurants, and hotels to huge airports and shopping malls offer free WiFi networks to their visitors. There are a few business benefits to this, the main one being that over 50% of customers stay longer at locations that provide free guest WiFi. And that’s where these businesses stop.
WiFi marketing helps brick-and-mortars monetize that free guest WiFi and turn it into a business growth engine. In simple terms, here’s what a guest experience would look like at an establishment with a WiFi marketing solution.
Step 1
Connect
A guest connects to the venue’s free WiFi without a password, which means the staff no longer has to be bothered by guests asking for the password.
Step 2
Login
In order to use the free WiFi, the guest is asked to log in using either their social media account, email address, or their phone number.
Step 3
Engage
The venue (or their marketing agency) can create a fully immersive guest WiFi experience with videos, images, social widgets, and more.
Step 4
Automate
Using the customer data gathered from the login process, the venue can automate their communication with their customers. ‘Smart’ triggers are set up based on specific actions. For example, special promotions and other messages can be displayed when the guest connects or disconnects from WiFi.
For the business, this means they can stay top-of-mind, increase the number of repeat visits, and strengthen customer loyalty through highly targeted ads, emails, and text messages. They can now gather customer data that really matters for their growth.
A cafe can invite their past guests to come back and check out new items on the menu, an airport traveler can get a message about special duty-free deals next time they travel through—the opportunities are endless! But that’s not all because the benefits of WiFi marketing go beyond automated communication.
WiFi marketing analytics allows local businesses to understand their customer audience and make informed marketing decisions. Depending on the methods used, businesses can gather data about the customers’ gender, age, locations they visited (if the business has more than one), how often, and how long they stayed. Specific targeted offers can be sent to customers based on the number of visits to incentivize them to keep on coming back for more.
These are huge untapped benefits that most local businesses are just sitting on. They all have free WiFi and absolutely no idea about all the possibilities that can come out of it. And yet, this can be a game-changer for the way they run their business and its growth. They can build meaningful customer relationships, significantly increase brand recognition, and cultivate a deeper understanding of their customer base.
That’s why, if you provide services for brick-and-mortar businesses, getting into WiFi marketing can give you an enormous competitive advantage. Once your customers see the results you can get for them, they will get hooked. The rest of this ebook will help you understand how to better package and sell the service, where to find leads, and how to convert them.
Think about the ideal customer to whom you can sell WiFi marketing. It will help you narrow down your customer persona and design a personalized approach.
Ask yourself the following questions:
By answering these questions, you’re setting yourself up for creating an effective pitch to target customers. Write down these answers and save them. This is how you will be able to get them interested and want to do business with you.
Now that you’ve defined which business type would best benefit from WiFi marketing and why they should choose your services, it’s time to figure out how to generate leads! Hint: it’s much easier than you could ever imagine.
The great thing about finding leads that can benefit from WiFi marketing is that they are everywhere. Anywhere you go, you will find leads. Just like a quick search online will give you hundreds of leads as well. How is this possible? We tell you everything below.
Google Maps is the perfect tool for our first lead generation strategy called CITY + NEED = LEAD. What you’ll need to do is also add these words "and free WiFi".
Let's say your city is Chicago, your need is food, but now your second need is free WiFi. Go to Google Maps and search for "pizza near Chicago and free WiFi".
This will bring up a lot of locations. If you click on any of the results and look at their listed amenities, you will find that they offer WiFi at their location.
Similarly, you can use Yelp, Facebook and TripAdvisor to find leads as well.
The opportunities are endless!
You can find a goldmine of WiFi leads pretty much everywhere you go. You just have to pay a bit of attention to spot them.
You see these signs everywhere, almost every business has one. For example, a laundromat might have free WiFi, the local restaurant that you go to for lunch likely has free WiFi, it’s everywhere if you know what to look for.
So, as you spot the sign when you walk by, go in there and speak to the business owner right away. Tell them you saw this sign outside and you know that they are giving away free WiFi, but are they getting anything back for it? This kind of question will make them wonder: what can they possibly get back for that free WiFi and how? That’s a great opening for you to do your magic.
There are more places to find great leads, like www.wififreespot.com. There, you will find a list of every single location offering free WiFi—not just in the US but pretty much everywhere. Let's say you live in the state of Virginia. You can find a huge list of local businesses there, including their phone numbers and addresses.
Some of them are big chains, but a lot of them are small local businesses, mom-and-pop kind of shops. Let them know that they're listed as a resource in the free WiFi directory. People are looking at this, they're coming to their location, and they’re using their WiFi. Ask them: what are they getting back in return? Chances are, it's nothing.
Another great place to find leads is your local Chamber of Commerce. Almost every municipality has a Chamber of Commerce. If you don't know if you have one, go to www.chamberofcommerce.com and search for your area.
Let's say you're searching in Chicago. You will see a list of different chambers. You can reach out to them and tell them about this new cutting-edge service you would like to share with their businesses.
Maybe you have experience with restaurants. You can go to a Restaurant Association and tell them that you understand their business, you used to be there, so you can share something valuable and personalized with them.
Chambers often have events every month where they get together as many people as they can. These events are so amazing for generating leads because many aspiring business owners go there. The chamber managers are really just local business owners that volunteer, so if you can get to know them, you can present to them in an informal setting.
To start getting out there and selling, you need to find the low hanging fruit businesses. What are those? Those are businesses that are already offering WiFi, that already have a WiFi sign in their front window. They are doing it, but they're not doing it right. Once you go in there, they will sign up with you because they will realize that this can be a game-changer for them.
The other source of low hanging fruit is your personal network. You can tap into it by going on Facebook or LinkedIn, or sending out emails. Tell people you've recently started offering WiFi marketing. Explain to them what it is, what the benefits are, and you can get leads from your personal network.
Then, start hitting the phones and the streets. Target cafes, restaurants, businesses, people catering to businesses, people catering to tourists, and BIAs (Business Improvement Areas). Make a list of 20 potential businesses in your area that you can contact before you pick up the phone. You can start to reach out to one or two, but every day you should have a list of at least 20 potential businesses.
Keep track of it either in a CRM system or in a spreadsheet, or whatever works for you. That's a great way for you to connect with people in your area. Always find out who the decision-maker is at the business—make sure you're talking to the right people. The only person you want to speak to is the person who can actually make the decision. After that, you call or email that decision-maker and set up an appointment for your presentation.
Here’s your step-by-step action plan:
Connect with clients through email, phone, LinkedIn, Facebook, or just walk into local businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops, and social gathering locations (movie theatres, bowling alleys, stadiums/arenas). Make sure they are a fit and are worth your time.
Start by asking these questions:
The next question will help you further qualify leads and choose the right sales approach for the type of client you are dealing with.
Are you aware of how WiFi marketing can help you connect with your customers and improve revenues through:
Getting answers to these questions will help you tailor your presentation to address the prospect’s specific needs. They will appreciate the personalized approach and will be more receptive to what you’re telling them.
These types of business owners require education on the importance of offering free WiFi and are a tougher customer. They will need a bit more persuading; however, it’s not impossible! We’ll show you how to get it done! It’s important for them to understand the benefits and features of free WiFi and WiFi marketing in relation to their business.
If the customer is not aware of how WiFi marketing can improve their revenue, follow these instructions:
1. Mention some of the below statistics to educate them on positive consumer sentiment around free WiFi. Pick those that apply to your prospect’s target audience.
2. Explain the benefits of how WiFi marketing can help provide their customers with a seamless WiFi experience, and how the right solution will give them total control over their WiFi marketing endeavors with a white-label solution.
3. Mention that thousands of customers have taken advantage of this technology in their industry to improve their marketing efforts and increase customer loyalty.
Now that your opening arguments are in place, the following lessons serve as a guideline for identifying common pain points, providing solutions, and handling common client objections.
Local business owners often face dilemmas about:
In order to identify your prospect’s exact pain points, ask them the following questions:
Once you’ve identified their main pain points, it’s important to deliver solutions to their problems.
Use the following table of WiFi marketing solutions and stats to address each customer pain point:
Common pain points
Your WiFi marketing solution
Facts that can assist you
Acquiring new customers
By providing free WiFi services, you are giving consumers a reason to choose you over your competitors, which will increase the number of new customers.
79% of even the least WiFi interested shoppers, age 45+ are positively influenced by in-store WiFi availability (Source: Accenture)
48% of consumers say they are more likely to shop at a store that gives them access to free WiFi (Source: WiFi Alliance)
Increasing revenue from existing customers
Because of free WiFi, customers will spend more time at the business.
When customers stay longer, they spend more money.
72% is the success rate of businesses that offer free WiFi to boost sales. (Source: IGR)
⅓ of consumers said they would stay in the store longer if free WiFi was available (Source: WiFi Alliance)
50% of small businesses surveyed said that customers spent more money when Free WiFi was available (Source: BI Intelligence)
62% of local business customers spend more time in-store if WiFi is available (Source: iGR)
Encouraging repeat business
Using Facebook retargeting or automated follow-up campaigns (via text and email), a business can inform customers about upcoming promotions, sales or discounts to entice them to visit more frequently.
30% of consumers said they are more likely to return to a store that offers a seamless WiFi experience. (Source: WiFi Alliance)
Boosting revenue
Once a customer has logged into your WiFi, the WiFi marketing solution will capture the consumer details. Now they can be used for retargeting.
74% of people would be happy for a retailer to send a text or email with promotions while they’re using in-store WiFi. (Source: OnDeviceResearch)
Standing out from the competition
Considering that the availability of free WiFi has moved from a nice-to-have to a consumer expectation, offering free WiFi will help differentiate your prospect’s business from a less savvy competitor.
79% of mobile consumers are influenced by the availability of in-store WiFi. (Source: JWire)
1 in 10 people admitted to leaving a venue because there was no free WiFi access.
(Source: Telecom Paper)
Improving social awareness and reputation
With a WiFi marketing solution, customers log into the free WiFi using their favorite social media channel, their email address, phone number, etc. They can be automatically redirected to the business’ Facebook Page, for example, to leave a comment or ‘Like’ the page.
Campaigns can also be set up to redirect the user to a review site such as Yelp or TripAdvisor.
56% of social network users have stated they would use their social profiles to log in in return for a customized experience with a brand. (Source: CMO Council)
Some common objections you might face with the business owners who don't yet offer free WiFi at their locations:
Let’s look at each one of these.
Objection #1: "Free WiFi is going to attract squatters."
Your response: use this opportunity to convert squatters into customers!
Squatters who are looking to use your free WiFi service need to log in with their information. You will instantly capture their details for later remarketing efforts.
You can also set session time limits so they won’t be able to use your services beyond a certain time period.
Objection #2: "By offering the free WiFi, I leave my network vulnerable."
Your response: by adding a login layer, you will limit the number of users who connect to unprotected networks. No more handing out or posting your network’s passwords.
Objection #3: "What if I have customers that don’t use social media?"
Your response: that's okay. The WiFi marketing solution gives you the ability to offer login via an email address. There is also an option to allow users to log in via SMS, where they can be sent a unique PIN code to log into your WiFi. You will still get their contact information.
Objection #4: "It’s too expensive."
Your response: you already pay for an internet connection at your location to run your business operations. WiFi marketing is an add-on to your existing connection and provides a measurable return on your investment.
Let me assure you that when you see an increase in revenue and growth in your customer base, you’ll be happy you chose a WiFi marketing solution for engaging with and remarketing to your customers.
These types of business owners already understand the importance of providing free WiFi to their customers which makes the sale so much easier for you. All you have to do is sell the value of the solution, not the idea!
In order to identify your customer’s pain points, ask them the following questions:
Once you’ve identified their main pain points, it’s important to deliver solutions to their pains.
Local business owners that currently provide free WiFi commonly face the following issues:
Delivering a solution means showing the business owner how your product/services can help eliminate their pain points.
The most important factor for a local business is to engage with their consumers in order to encourage repeat business to boost revenue and sales.
Monetizing their free WiFi
Business owners often provide free WiFi for their customers but aren’t getting any value in return. With WiFi marketing, they can capture leads and social data from customers who’ve connected and create automated follow-up marketing campaigns guaranteed to drive in-store or online traffic and boost revenue.
Not enough customers
Implementing a WiFi marketing solution will allow your prospect to build better relationships with their customers, thus being able to advertise better, create ‘bring a friend’ campaigns, and overall improve their communication, becoming more attractive for new customers.
Don’t understand their customers / Unaware of customer needs
The WiFi marketing solution includes in-depth real-time analytics in the dashboard. You will be able to see who has connected, including their social information if they logged in using one of your social apps; how many connections were made in a time frame that you can specify; new vs. returning visitors; and even campaign specific statistics.
Don’t know how to engage with their customers
Allow customers to get social with the business. Customers can log in to use free WiFi through their favorite social media channels. Knowing where your customers hang out online the most will allow you to market accordingly.
Improving social awareness and reputation
With WiFi marketing, customers log into the free WiFi using their favorite social media channel as one of the options. They can be automatically redirected to the business’ Facebook Page to leave a comment or ‘Like’ the page.
Campaigns can also be set up to redirect the user to a review site such as Yelp or TripAdvisor.
Then, moving forward, automated marketing campaigns can be set up to continue brand to consumer communication beyond a single visit.
56% of social network users have stated they would use their social profiles to log in in return for a customized experience with a brand. (Source: CMO Council)
Some common objections you might face with the business owners who already offer free WiFi at their locations:
Objection #1: "My current free WiFi offering works fine."
Your response: although offering free WiFi may have proven to be successful for you so far, WiFi marketing will allow you to personalize the consumer-to-brand experience by understanding the wants and needs of your customers and keeping constant engagement and communication beyond a single visit.
WiFi marketing is guaranteed to grow your customer database, help you improve your social media and online presence, and will help boost revenue by enticing customers to visit in-store with personal, timely and contextual promotions.
Objection #2: "I’m not interested in your WiFi marketing services."
Your response: most of our customers felt the same way when I first spoke to them. But what they found is that I can actually help you get a positive ROI for your marketing budget by implementing a WiFi marketing solution for your business. If you aren’t satisfied with the results after the first 30 days, you can continue using your current free WiFi service.
Objection #3: "My customers are loyal. Why do I need your program?"
Your response: WiFi marketing includes in-depth real-time analytics in your dashboard. You will be able to see who connected, including their social information if they logged in using one of your social apps, how many connections were made in a time frame that you can specify, new vs. returning visitors and even campaign specific statistics.
You can also create automated follow-ups with connected customers so you keep your business top of mind for them.
Objection #4: "It’s too expensive."
Your response: you already pay for an internet connection at your location to run your business operations. WiFi marketing is an add-on to your existing connection and provides a measurable return on your investment.
Let me assure you that when you see an increase in revenue and growth in your customer base, you’ll be happy you chose a WiFi marketing solution for engaging your customers and remarketing to them.
Regardless of the scenario, the following should always be your response.
"Based on your answers, WiFi marketing is a great opportunity for you to grow your business."
Ask the following set of questions which will help you prepare your proposal:
Prepare a proposal according to what was discussed.
A few days after your meeting with the prospect, always make sure to follow up!
Following up is the second most important part of the sale! (Closing is #1!)
Reach out to the prospect and keep them engaged. It will not only help build rapport but also put you one step closer to closing your first sale.
Consider this schedule for following up with your prospect: 1 day after the meeting, and 5 or 7 days after the meeting.
A few points to address during the follow-ups and demonstrate what WiFi marketing solution is already doing for them:
Continue to follow up with the customer until a decision YES/NO has been made.
So, your first customer has said "YES!" to implementing a WiFi marketing solution.
Congratulations!
Prepare your proposal
Based on what was discussed in the meeting, prepare your proposal outlining the details of the services you will provide to your client.
In-person or online meeting
If you are meeting them in person, print out a copy of your edited WiFi marketing proposal. Contact your prospect via email or phone to set up a time to meet to discuss the proposal. Discuss every detail when you meet and have them sign the proposal. You can also meet prospects online with a virtual meeting software such as Zoom, WebEx or Google Meet.
Via email
If you are not going to meet them in-person, you can send them an email with the proposal attached. Answer any questions that might arise. They can either print out the proposal, sign it, then scan it and send it to you. Or you can make it even easier for them and use a service that allows you to sign documents electronically like www.docusign.com.
Sign up the client and then repeat the process for all potential clients.
As MyWiFi Networks offers a 100% white label WiFi marketing solution, here are some case studies directly from MyWiFi resellers who implement WiFi marketing solutions for their clients.
Summary
Being a small family owned and operated business, The Grilled Gecko Caf’e was a great local seaside cafe with good local customers. However, being in a tourist location, they saw an opportunity to capture not only local customer data but visiting customers as well.
The Challenge
Tony, the owner, was already offering free WiFi but had to give out a password. The problem was there was no way to track the visitor information, or how many people had the password. Also, a shared password created an open network susceptible to hackers, and WiFi usage outside of normal business hours.
Solution
The reseller was able to turn Tony’s existing WiFi into a WiFi marketing portal. Now, Tony didn’t need to give out his password anymore and he was collecting valuable social data with every login. With the marketing router, the reseller set up some visit-based automations for The Grilled Gecko Caf’e, including asking for TripAdvisor, Google, and Facebook reviews, based on how many times the customer has visited.
Results
Summary
Being a busy city bar, Naked for Satan wanted a way to collect more customer information other than the “sign up for our newsletter” on their website. They saw an opportunity to use WiFi marketing as a way to help build their database.
The Challenge
Naked for Satan had a fast internet connection but didn’t have an unlimited plan with their provider. The main challenge was to find a way to limit the customer’s internet time or usage without limiting their experience at the bar. They knew they couldn’t give out a password as they would have no way to control the amount of data the customers could use each session.
Solution
They spoke with the reseller’s team to see how they could help. The reseller did a site survey and quickly realized the bar didn’t need a WiFi overhaul. With a simple plug and play router, they were able to turn the bar’s existing WiFi into a WiFi marketing portal. Now the bar had no need to give out their WiFi password and could control the amount of time and data each customer could use.
Results
Summary
Being a winery, Montalto Wines wanted a way to collect more customer information. WiFi marketing was a great solution to help build their email database.
The Challenge
Montalto already had a fast internet connection and infrastructure, with Ubiquiti UniFi access points. The main challenge was to find a way to limit the customers’ internet time or usage and to find a way to use their current WiFi network without any additional installation or hardware costs.
Solution
With a call to the winery’s IT team, the reseller was able to overlay their cloud based solution to the location’s existing Ubiquiti access points. With ZERO extra hardware cost, the reseller turned Montalto’s existing WiFi into a WiFi marketing portal. Now the winery was able to control the amount of time and data each customer could use and gather the information they needed.
Results
Summary
Enzo’s on the Beach is located in beautiful Hervey Bay. Enzo was on holiday in Bali and noticed that every restaurant he visited offered free WiFi, and being located in a tourist hotspot, he saw an opportunity to use free WiFi with WiFi marketing to help the restaurant grow its database.
The Challenge
Enzo had an unlimited internet connection, however, he didn’t know where to start with creating a free WiFi zone for the restaurant. While he was away, his PA received one of the reseller’s marketing emails at the same time as Enzo was asking how to do this.
Solution
With a simple plug and play router, the reseller had Enzo’s new Guest Wifi up and running in less than 20 minutes. They were able to turn his existing internet into a WiFi marketing portal. Enzo was now able to offer their customers a way to stay connected while in the comfort of the restaurant.
Results
It’s clear that selling WiFi marketing services and solutions can be quite a lucrative business venture. You can find leads everywhere, and getting them to come on board is rather easy, especially if you give them a free trial. The benefits your prospects will see will do the rest of the sale for you.
One thing to remember, WiFi marketing won’t work without you hustling. You have to get out there, walk into places, talk to people, gather leads, contact them, follow up, and so on. We will provide you with all the tools you need to succeed, but your success depends on you alone.
WiFi marketing brings real value to brick-and-mortar businesses, especially during these times when they constantly lose to their online competitors. It gives them the opportunity to reach out to their customer base in a personalized manner and build relationships. Up until now, only digital businesses had this advantage.
You’ve got a great service at your fingertips that can make a true difference for the businesses in your community and beyond. Let them know it exists, show them what it can do for them, and build a great business for yourself!
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