The transformation from a manufacturing-based economy to one that's all about service has been well documented. Today it's estimated that nearly 75 percent of Americans work in the service sector. Instead of producing tangibles--automobiles, clothes, and tools--more and more of us are in the business of providing intangibles--health care, entertainment, tourism, legal services, and so on. However, according to Harry Beckwith, most of these intangibles are still being marketed like products were 20 years ago.

In Selling the Invisible, Beckwith argues that what consumers are primarily interested in today are not features, but relationships. Even companies who think that they sell only tangible products should rethink their approach to product development and marketing and sales. For example, when a customer buys a Saturn automobile, what they're really buying is not the car, but the way that Saturn does business. Beckwith provides an excellent forum for thinking differently about the nature of services and how they can be effectively marketed. If you're at all involved in marketing or sales, then Selling the Invisible is definitely worth a look.


From Library Journal
"Don't sell the steak. Sell the sizzle." In today's service business, author Beckwith suggests this old marketing adage is likely to guarantee failure. In this timely addition to the management genre, Beckwith summarizes key points about selling services learned from experience with his own advertising and marketing firm and when he worked with Fortune 500 companies. The focus here is on the core of service marketing: improving the service, which no amount of clever marketing can make up for if not accomplished. Other key concepts emphasize listening to the customer, selling the long-term relationship, identifying what a business is really selling, recognizing clues about a business that may be conveyed to customers, focusing on the single most important message about the business, and other practical strategies relevant to any service business. Actor Jeffrey Jones's narration professionally conveys these excellent ideas appropriate for public libraries.?Dale Farris, Groves, Tex.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Advertising professional Beckwith startles and disarms all potential doubting Thomases with one fact--that by the year 2005, 8 out of 10 Americans will be working in a service business. Chapters here are remarkably short; they are intended to convey one point (summarized in one sentence in boldface italics) and are blessedly free of jargon. Hints and tips cover the conventional four Ps of marketing--product, promotion, place, and price--in an irreverent and iconoclastic manner; nothing is sacrosanct. Stories from every corner of life illustrate and drive home messages. In a quandary about pricing? Read the Picasso story to remember, "Don't charge by the hour; charge by the years." About the value of research? Forget questionnaires and focus groups; instead, ask individuals what improvements are needed--not the dreaded "What don't you like?" A very human, much-needed book to savor and be refreshed by. Barbara Jacobs


Download Description
You can't touch, hear, or see your company's most important products. . . . So how do you sell, develop, make them grow? That's the problem with services.This "phenomenal" book, as one reviewer called it, answers that question with insights on how markets work and how prospects think. A treasury of hundreds of quick, practical, and easy-to-read strategies, Selling the Invisible will open your eyes to new ideas in this crucial branch of marketing, including:*Why focus groups, value-price positioning, discount pricing, and being the best usually fail*The vital role of vividness, focus, "anchors," and stereotypes*The importance of Halo, Cocktail Party, and Lake Wobegon effects*Marketing lessons from black holes, grocery lists, the Hearsay Rule, and the fame of the Matterhorn*Dozens of proven yet consistently overlooked ideas for research, presentations, publicity, advertising, and client retention . . . and much more.Based on the author's twenty-five years of experience with thousands of business professionals, this book delivers its wisdom with unforgettable and often surprising examples--from Federal Express, Citicorp, and a growing Greek travel agency to an ingenious baby-sitter, Fran Lebowitz, and the colors of oranges and lemons.The first guide of its kind and a book already causing a sensation in the business community, Selling the Invisible will help anyone marketing a service, a product, or a career. Read it, and you almost certainly will understand why two advance readers call it the best book on business ever written.

ANNOTATION

Geared toward marketing professionals and managers, this field guide explains how markets work and prospectors think. With practical, down-to-earth advice, it discusses a variety of topics in short sections, averaging 1-2 pages in length. These topics include: "How to Narrow the Gap between Your Position and Your Positioning Statement," "The Essence of Publicity" and "How to Save Half a Million."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A treasury of hundreds of quick, practical, and easy-to-read strategies - few are more than a page long - Selling the Invisible will open your eyes to new ideas in this crucial branch of marketing including why focus groups, value-price positioning, discount pricing, and being the best usually fail; the critical emotion that most influences your prospects - and how to deal with it; the vital role of vividness, focus, "anchors," and stereotypes; the importance of Halo, Cocktail Party, and Lake Wobegon Effects; marketing lessons from black holes, grocery lists, the Hearsay Rule, and the fame of Pikes Peak; dozens of proven yet consistently over-looked ideas for research, presentations, publicity, advertising, and client retention...and much more.

SYNOPSIS

Part of iPublish.com's Portal Biz Book series of books tailored for readers on the go, Selling the Invisible is the first book to address the millions of people who work in America's service economy--proprietors, top executives, and sales and marketing professionals who sell the "invisible," that is services rather than products.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

It's unfortunate that the author, founder of Minneapolis's Beckwith Advertising and Marketing, and his editor didn't spend more time on this book, intended to help service businesses sell their products. They could have eliminated the endless repetition; for example, we are told four times that clients aren't buying a service provider's expertise but are buying a relationship. A tightly focused, engaging book would have offered more useful advice. Beckwith underscores the concept that a brilliant marketing plan is virtually useless if your service is less than first-rate. He talks about the importance of pricing the service to correctly reflect the value of what is offered and why small firms should not be afraid to trumpet that they are small. But by the time we have heard again that McDonald's is really selling not food but entertainment, we aren't as receptive to Beckwith's message as we might be. BOMC alternate; Time Warner audio. (Mar.)

Library Journal

"Don't sell the steak. Sell the sizzle." In today's service business, author Beckwith suggests this old marketing adage is likely to guarantee failure. In this timely addition to the management genre, Beckwith summarizes key points about selling services learned from experience with his own advertising and marketing firm and when he worked with Fortune 500 companies. The focus here is on the core of service marketing: improving the service, which no amount of clever marketing can make up for if not accomplished. Other key concepts emphasize listening to the customer, selling the long-term relationship, identifying what a business is really selling, recognizing clues about a business that may be conveyed to customers, focusing on the single most important message about the business, and other practical strategies relevant to any service business. Actor Jeffrey Jones's narration professionally conveys these excellent ideas appropriate for public libraries.Dale Farris, Groves, Tex.

Michael Pellecchia

Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing is about marketing services rather than products. As founder of Beckwith Advertising and Marketing in Minneapolis, he has had some stellar clients, including McDonald's, Shearson Lehman Hutton, Smith Barney, Chase Manhattan Bank and Musicland. Beckwith's distinct personality comes through in this collection of very brief essays. His stories, many from his personal experience, remind me of the friendly arrogance of other legendary marketers such as David Ogilvy and Stanley Marcus. Sure, some of the anecdotes merely come from other business books, such as the oft-told tale of how Swiss watchmakers invented the quartz digital watch but lost out to the Japanese, who successfully marketed the watches. But one chapter is by itself worth the price of the book--the 25 pages on "Planning: The Eighteen Fallacies." In this chapter, Beckwith debunks commonplace notions such as strategy, patience, intelligence, facts, memory, experience, confidence and other purported positives in business. Another great chapter on branding is called "Monogram Your Shirts, Not Your Company."

Terry O'Keefe