Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing | 
 enlarge | Author: Harry Beckwith
Publisher: Business Plus
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  140 reviews
Sales Rank: 3494
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 0446520942
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.8
EAN: 9780446520942
ASIN: 0446520942
Publication Date: March 1, 1997
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Amazon.com Review
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.
Product Description
A comprehensive guide to service marketing furnishes tips and advice on how one can apply one's business knowledge to any area of sales and marketing, from a home-based consultancy to a multinational brokerage firm.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 135 more reviews...
 Worth the price for 1.5 pages rated below September 7, 2008
It's a good read, but there is a page and half that has had a major impact, showing me where I have a huge blindspot in business and how I stop my own progress. This page and a half is possibly the most important material I've read in a book in several years (for me it applies directly).
The author talks about the Fallacy of Planning in a business setting. He ranks plans in this order:
1. Very Good
2. Good
3. Best
4. Fair
5. Poor
Why is Good ahead of Best? Simple, to arrive at Best takes orders of magnitude more planning than Good. Also, who defines Best? How much time is spent creating the Best plan? Will Best stand the test of time? Can everyone agree on Best? Would Good work just as well as Best in the real world? Is Best satisfying the client's need better than a Good plan?
Choosing the "Best" plan leads to Paralysis by Analysis. Good plans allow for quick action and constant improvement. The most successful people in the world have acted on Good plans that they have refined over time. An actionable plan is more successful than a plan that never leaves the drawing board!
Personally, I've fallen into the Best trap many times. There is no such thing as a "Best" plan. Going forward the "Best" plan will be the "Good" plan that I can put into action and refine over time!
A lightbulb went off in my head when I got this concept. Thank you Harry for this valuable lesson.
 A Great Book. September 2, 2008
Great advice on how to sell a service.
I have a Moleskine full of notes from this book.
I have a photography business and I'm implementing the tactics from this awesome book now!
Very Well Done - Get This and Potter's "Winning" Book August 28, 2008
Now, this is the book to get from Beckwith - don't waste your time with "What Clients Love" (60% of that book is in here and the rest of it is largely a promo for why you need hire a professional branding firm).
This book has lots of good gems that you should be able to put to use right away, including:
- the three stages of a service company and the relationship to positioning and sales
- tips on customer/client surveys
- why, when selling a service, you're actually selling a relationship and what to do
- how prospects decide
- why the there are really 2 aspects you bill for: the commodity (such as hammering a nail) and the expertise (knowing where to hammer)
And so on. Very well done.
As a side note, what this book will not do for you is lay out a plan for you to compete in this "invisible" market effectively; for that, take a look at Potter's "Winning in the Invisible Market."
learning that YOU are your best resource! August 22, 2008
This is not about tricking people... It's about the idea that your very best resource is YOU, and how to sell THAT. It's intangible, so it feels like you can be "selling the invisible."
Excellent book in helping you to find your confidence in business or other.
Simple Yet Profound August 11, 2008
This book is a winner! Harry Beckwith does a masterful job of illustrating his points with simple, real-life stories. I took lots of notes and recorded a number of useful anecdotes to help me improve my communication and results with prospects and clients. The insights provided on surveying clients, the concept of "lesser logic", and the "Halo Effect" will enable me to evaluate my current strategies and make needed changes. I am also recommending this book to all my coaching clients as we look for new and creative ways to market their businesses.
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