As SEOs we run into many types of clients. Some are great and some are not so great. One of the worst is the unmotivated client.

You know, the client that you email and get no email back or you call and get no call back. This can get very old, very fast but remaining attentive to the project is critical to keeping your clients happy. Even though they many not be responding, you NEVER want to be in a situation where your non-communication gets thrown right back in your face.

So, here are a few things you can do to keep you unmotivated client projects on-track and on-time.

Email … Contantly!
This is a continued barrage of emails that makes your presence known. You will find yourself wanting to stop but keep on going. After days or weeks of emails the client will finally get the point and either follow through on their end or commit to when they will have the work done by.

CC Your Boss AND Their Boss
This is a passive aggressive scare tactic but it works.

No one wants their boss to know that they are dropping the ball on something that is important to the success of their website. Nor, do they want their boss to potentially get a call from your boss about the status of the project and have to report on all the past due items on their desk.

Assign Deadlines
This can either be done with a project timeline layed out early on or off the cuff as approval/reviews are needed. Most people require deadlines because it forces accountability for their portion of the project to be on-time. If they can not follow through by assigned dates it is easy to see where the fault lies.

Stress the Importance
You can potentially do two things here:

1. re-stress the business case for why search is important to the client’s business
2. stress that without their input the project is at a halt

Both or either of these friendly reminders should do the trick to keep any client on track.

Call Them to Get Commitments
Ahhh such a novel idea – pick up the phone! With this you could catch them off gaurd and there is no way for them to dodge your request. So, get the commitment you need out of them that will get you what you need for your project.

Last Ditch Ultimatums
I hate this one but sometimes you have to bring out the big guns.

Here you will let the client know that they have exceeded the acceptable time length that you can wait for a response and you will now continue forward with the project with or without their input. I like to give them one last chance by assigning a date when the ultimatum takes effect, say another week or few days out.

Finally, you could always threaten to get Jasper involved….. you don’t want to get Jasper involved.

How have you been able to motivate the unmotivated client? Any other tactics you could share would be appreciated!

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• Dear Jim Guthrie