BOOK SUMMARY 73 Selling the Invisible
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Summary written by: Ingrid Urgolites
"Services are human. Their successes depend on the
relationships of people. People are human – frustrating, unpredictable,
temperamental, often irrational, and occasionally half mad. But you can spot
some patterns in people. The more you can see the patterns and better understand
people, the more you will succeed – and this book was written with the hope
that it will help you do just that."
- Selling the Invisible, page 239
Selling
the Invisible is a collection of little examples and
metaphors Harry Beckwith uses that show the most and least effective ways to
market and sell services. The stories have a central theme; success is about
creating a strategy, a foundation based on measuring and evaluating the needs
of the customer and adapting accordingly. Implementing tactics are the
structure; they are about creating and maintaining relationships based on
chemistry, popularity, and the client’s beliefs. Understanding people by
identifying patterns and nurturing relationships is how real success happens.
The Golden Egg
Sell the Relationship
"Clients
are experts in knowing if they feel valued. In most professional services, you
are not really selling expertise – because your expertise is assumed, and your
prospect cannot intelligently evaluate your expertise anyway. Instead, you are
selling a relationship. And in most cases, that is where you need the most
work."- Selling the Invisible, page 42
Beckwith
uses an example of how the failure of a business is similar to the failure of a
marriage. People stop communicating. Asking is the first and most essential
step. Ask first, “who is the customer” so you can identify your focus. Then
ask them what their needs are. Only then are you are qualified to
show them you can meet those needs. Follow-up by asking for candid feedback,
preferably have a third party surveyor ask. Continuously re-evaluate by
repeating the process and make necessary accommodations or changes. When the
act of repeating the process does not happen, this is the inflection point; the
relationship ends and the service provider asks why. It is because the work to
maintain the relationship was not done, and the client considered other
prospects. Our clients are inundated with possibilities now more than ever
before. Focusing on maintaining that connection is paramount.
Gem #1
Understand the Person
"Before
you try to satisfy ‘the client,’ understand and satisfy the person"- Selling the Invisible, page 43
Beckwith
includes examples of pitches that fail because the salesperson talks about
themselves and their service or product and not about the client. I recently
answered the phone and it was a telemarketer selling a natural gas service. His
pitch included much information that he had practiced, and he delivered it
well. When he let me speak, I explained I do not have natural gas, only
electric. He did not ask what I needed. He wasted time for both of us. People
think about themselves, not about you, and you do it too. It takes practice to
learn to think about them and not about you. When you talk about them, you
learn what their needs are. Try this today: only talk to people about them. Do
not talk about yourself at all. Think about them, who they are and what they
want. Ask what you can do for them. How does that change your
relationship? Now think about how much better your business relationships could
be if you put this into practice every day.
Gem #2
Communicate Clearly
"Sometimes,
it’s all in how you say it."-
Selling the Invisible, page 193
Beckwith
uses examples of how a salesperson can complicate the sale by giving the
customer too many options. A salesperson who shows a customer three
shirts instead of the exact shirt he asked for or makes the customer question
the value of an extended warranty and offers a variety of financing options
often loses the sale. This is called the hard buy because the customer is
confused and cannot intelligently choose. He contrasts this to an easy buy
where the salesperson identifies the customer’s needs makes the offer and the
price clear and builds trust by reducing the customer’s risk. He may even offer
the customer the ability to sample the service or product first, eliminating
the requirement of an unearned long-term commitment. People buy when it is
easy.
Using
metaphors and simple stories to explain your service is another effective tool
that Beckwith uses throughout the book. People believe the things they
understand, and it is about their beliefs. If you want them to believe in you,
give them stories they can relate to. Focus on simplicity; it is better to say
too little than too much. The more you say, the harder the service or product
is to buy. It becomes unappealing because it is too complex to understand. If
it is hard to understand, it means it is hard to buy.
In
addition to making your offer clear and easy for the customer, Beckwith talks
about selling who you are. He says life is like high school, it is a popularity
contest. It is about chemistry between you and your clients. He says when
surveyors ask why clients are loyal to a company they usually answer that it is
because they “just feel comfortable” with them. Do your clients feel
comfortable with you? If not is it because of the chemistry in the relationship?
I
enjoyed this book. It has a plethora of great advice, and I have only touched
on it here. I focused on the relationship aspects of marketing services and
products because this is the biggest problem I am encountering now. Although no
one questions that I do my job well, I found myself in a situation where the
chemistry in a client relationship was wrong from the beginning. In spite of
the effort I put into doing a great job, the relationship failed, and I had to
endure the consequences. When I asked myself what went wrong, the one thing
that stood out was that communication broke down on all levels, and that
happens when people do not feel comfortable with each other. Even if there are
no apparent conflicts, without good communication people do not share
understanding. They make assumptions and problems develop; the relationship
will always fail. I can see the same pattern in the stories people tell me
about their lives. As Beckwith points out, recognizing the patterns gives you
the advantage that helps you make the best decisions. A building consists of
thousands of tiny bricks that all fit together, just like your organization. A
few of them out of place begin to cause cracks in the structure and eventually
the building will fall. Fixing the little things while you can prevents big
losses later.
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