Selling the invisible is critical to the industrial and high-tech business-to-business firms I serve, often we are involved in conceptual sales of high-ticket items. How do you handle this kind of sale? I offer a few suggestions in "How Business To Business Sales And Marketing Management Sell The Invisible"
Harry Beckwith also wrote a popular book on the topic (Selling the Invisible, Warner Business Books, 1997) which inspired some of the advice I share with readers, the rest came from hard earned experience selling in the field. The key is to make the invisible tangible to the buyer in terms of their own experiences.
Too often sales people want to talk about what the product does, what it will look like, how many lines of code it will have, how long it will take to develop, and all the other "details" of the product; without getting down to what a customer really wants from the product.
Many clients I talk with have a mental block about this, always going back to what they are most comfortable with -- their product. In my May 1, 2006 edition of Inside Strategic Relations newsletter I wrote about the difficulty of selling the invisible:
When you read this news release, "How Business To Business Sales And Marketing Management Sell The Invisible" think about the importance of making what you sell real to your buyer (even after the sale.) What are some of the ways you "make it real" for the customer in your conceptual selling?"... because what you offer isn't something that can be touched, felt, or even seen until after services are rendered." (from Strategies For Selling Consulting Services Or Any Other Intangible Easily In Less Time)
© 2006-2008 JWH Consolidated Inc, All rights reserved.
