The One Thing SEO Agencies Need To Know About Winning Enterprise Clients

One of the first questions my boss would ask when I was working at an agency was “What’s your budget?”

It’s an innocent enough question and worth asking, but for business clients it’s putting the cart before the horse.

As an agency, cash flow management is one of the most challenging aspects of the job.

Asking each prospect for their budget is a practical way to plan for scalability. It allows you to compare your income with capacity and predict when to increase the number of employees.

But here’s the thing: this approach doesn’t work for enterprise clients.

Here’s why:

• You don’t understand how we calculate internally (and when these conversations take place).
• You don’t know how we orchestrate quarterly plans.
• In some cases, we don’t know what we should do other than knowing that “SEO is important.”
• And because of the above, dependencies are unknown.

We would often get feedback from failed presentations like this:

• “You were one of the most technically oriented fields; it was clear that you know your business.”
• “Your analysis was far deeper than anyone else’s.”
• “We decided to go with someone else who had done it before.”

We would collectively put 40-80 hours into the game and still lose.

So what went wrong?

• Was it our positioning?
• Are we just included in the Request for Proposal (RFP) to make the procurement process look less biased?
• Or was it something else?

The transition from the agency to the client side opened my eyes to what I didn’t know. Unless you’ve worked in a large organization, you don’t know what you don’t know.

00Winning a business SEO account is attractive for many reasons:

• Great for cash flow: Businesses tend to pay the entire quarter or year in full and in advance.
• Authority: A business client strengthens the reputation of your agency.
• Broader experience: Working with enterprises exposes your team to large-scale operations.
• Future Opportunities: Having a business client attracts more business and medium clients.

But landing a contract goes beyond a jazzy pitch deck, a well-rehearsed presentation and impressive case studies.

Agencies that win and keep the company’s business have a competitive advantage: They understand how business planning and budgeting cycles work.

In other words, they have empathy.

And that’s what we’re going to cover today so you can waste less time and make more money speaking the language of business SEO.

We’ll unpack why agencies miss enterprise RFPs, how enterprise budgets are finalized, and my 3A framework (audit, align, advance) to position yourself as the right partner at the right time.

Why Agencies Lose Business RFPs

You have invested 40-80 hours in creating the perfect pitch. Your analysis was deeper than anyone else’s. Your technical expertise shined.

Feedback? “You were one of the most knowledgeable agencies we’ve seen.”

And yet, you didn’t get the job.

It’s frustrating, but it often boils down to this: you were the right partner – but you missed the mark on timing or positioning.

Time: It’s more than budget cycles

Company budgets are locked in during annual planning cycles, usually in Q3 or Q4 of the previous year.

If your proposal ends up outside of these cycles, there is no room for additional funding, no matter how compelling your proposal is.

However, timing is not just budget. Quarterly planning meetings often dictate tactical changes based on performance or changing priorities.

Agencies that do not align with these rhythms miss the opportunity to position themselves as timely, relevant partners.

Positioning: expertise without superiority

Getting a business RFP isn’t just about showing off your technical skills.

The people evaluating your presentation they can include marketers, department heads, procurement specialists and executives – each with different priorities and levels of SEO knowledge.

Agencies often stumble when they assume that their technical brilliance will speak for itself. Overwhelming proposals with jargon or overly complex solutions can alienate decision makers.

The key to positioning yourself as the right partner is to:

• Simplify your message: Translate SEO strategies into business results that resonate with different stakeholders.
• Show empathy: Answer challenges in their language, whether it’s return on investment (ROI) for executives or reducing workload for department heads.
• Build trust: Show that you’re not just an SEO expert—that you’re a partner who understands how to achieve your broader goals.

By understanding this dynamic, you’ll not only craft voices that resonate—you’ll avoid the frustration of hearing, “We went with someone else who’s done it before.”

Budget talks take place a year in advance

By the time you receive an RFP or Request for Quotation (RFQ) from a company, the budget has already been set. Businesses plan carefully, usually finalizing budgets during Q3 or Q4 for the next fiscal year.

Every dollar is earmarked, and leadership has already approved how the funds will be distributed.

Anatomy of a company budget

Business SEO budgets do not exist in a vacuum. They are part of a larger conversation that aligns product, marketing and sales goals with tactical activities.

For example:

• Product teams: Prioritize new features or site improvements.
• Marketing teams: Focus on campaigns and content creation.
• Sales teams: Advocate for lead generation and conversion support.

In-house SEO professionals they must champion their initiatives by linking SEO results to those larger goals.

For agenciesit means entering a game that is already in progress. If your pitch is not in line with these pre-set goals and budgets, it is unlikely to succeed.

What does this mean for you?

Most agencies approach business clients reactively, responding to RFPs after budgets have been finalized. This is a missed opportunity.

To win business clients, you need to:

• Understand their planning cycles: Get involved in Q2 or early Q3 to influence the next budget cycle.
• Talk about strategic goals: Show how SEO supports broader product, marketing and sales goals.
• Build relationships before the RFP: Connect regularly with key stakeholders to position yourself as a partner – not just a supplier.

How quarterly planning fits in

While annual budgets set the framework at a high level, businesses adjust tactics during quarterly planning.

If your presentation aligns with a new quarterly priority—like shifting focus from content to technical SEO—you can join the conversation even midway through the year.

For example, in-house SEO may detect a drop in organic visibility during the first quarter and advocate for technical improvements in the second quarter. If you’ve positioned yourself as a trusted advisor, you’ll be their first call when additional budget becomes available.

How to Win Business Clients: My ‘3A’ Framework

Audit: Start with a trial budget to discover hidden possibilities

Sometimes businesses come to you with a vague sense of urgency: “We know SEO is important, but we’re not sure where to start.” This is not a red flag – it is an opportunity.

Instead of jumping straight into a full proposal, suggest starting with a revision. A test SEO audit budget allows you to:

1. Identify pain points they haven’t articulated yet.
2. Highlight quick wins to build trust immediately.
3. Map out unknown dependencies that could disrupt the larger project later.

An audit positions you as a strategic advisor, not just a supplier. This shows that you understand the complexities of their business and want to align your recommendations with their priorities.

In addition, by starting small, you reduce the perceived risk for stakeholders who may be hesitant to commit significant resources immediately.

Here’s how you can present it:

“Before we make any big decision, let’s start with the audit. This will give us a clear map of what works and what doesn’t and where the biggest opportunities lie. It will also help us understand how to align with your broader business goals.”

Plus, you get paid.

Alignment: Build trust and resolve dependencies before introducing yourself

Requests for business proposals often feel like a rush to the finish line: make the offer, close the deal, and go for execution. But rushing is one of the fastest ways to lose your job.

Before your presentation, take time to:

• Build trust with key stakeholders. Spend time understanding their challenges, their team dynamics and their priorities. This is especially important when stakeholders are not sure what they need.
• Resolve unknown dependencies. Use interviews, discovery calls, or smaller projects (such as an audit) to uncover potential barriers, such as IT constraints, compliance requirements, or overlapping vendor responsibilities.
• Comply with the scope of work. Make sure everyone understands what success looks like. If different departments have conflicting expectations, resolve them now—not after the project has begun.

Throwing back is not procrastination. It’s about preparing the groundwork for your proposal to resonate.

When you take the time to do this, your promotion becomes less about selling your services and more about demonstrating how you will solve their problems.

Upfront: Perform with confidence once you get buy-in

The biggest mistake agencies make is advertising too early. A great proposal made at the wrong time is still a loser.

To win a business client, wait until:

• Mapped dependencies: Understand the internal and external factors that could impact your success, from IT constraints to stakeholder buy-in.
• Understand stakeholders: Find out who should sign the project and what their priorities are. Tailor your presentation to address their specific concerns.
• Aligned with the budget cycle: If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know if the client has been allocated a budget – or if you need to prioritize your work for the next cycle.

When pitching, focus on providing a solution – not just a service. Show them how your expertise fits into their broader goals, aligns with their budget, and solves the challenges they’re struggling with.

Your introduction should feel like a natural conclusion to all the conversations you’ve had with them so far. It’s not about convincing them. It’s about confirming that you are the right partner to help them achieve their goals.

In Završna

Winning business SEO clients isn’t just about being the most expert or having the best case studies – it’s about timing, trust and alignment.

Start small, align early and always put yourself in their shoes. Empathy beats business SEO.

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