Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing

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. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

“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. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Harry Beckwith graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1972. He then attended the University of Oregon School of Law, where he was awarded the school’s highest honor of Law Review Editor-in-Chief. Beckwith formed Beckwith Advertising and Marketing in 1988. The firm specializes in marketing, marketing communications, and media relations for services.