Selling the Invisible
Do you sell the invisible? A service with benefits impossible to measure or hold?
Some services have results that can be seen. A cleaning service gives you mopped floors and dusted furniture. A bookkeeping service gives you journal entries and balanced books.
But for people buying the services of a consultant, coach, therapist, or counselor ... the benefits happen inside. The benefits are invisible.
When services with concrete results fail, we see the lack of results. The house isn’t clean or the financial books don’t balance.
But when services with invisible results fail, it's hard to see. Customers question: am I getting what I paid for, is it making a difference, is it all in my head?
Because of this, selling a service with invisible benefits is incredibly difficult. Here are four ways to help...
1. Improve your service.
Time and energy spent improving your service will never be a waste. Improvements here will boost word of mouth and make marketing easier. This job is never done—a constant pressure on improvement will prevent you from incurring an improvement debt.
Understand your customer better
Train employees
Build systems to streamline the experience
Create feedback loops
2. Claim one space in your customer’s mind.
To own a space in your customer’s mind you have to decide what that space is … what that ONE space is. Most avoid this difficult decision because it feels like giving something up. But every organization has limited resources and choosing a focus is necessary to cut through the noise and speak to your prospects.
Which service is the most helpful point of entry?
What does this service do?
Who is it a great fit for?
How are we different than others?
What is our unique point of view on this challenge?
3. Sell a relationship, not expertise.
Beyond a binary “are they experts or not?” evaluation, your customers are unable to gauge your level of expertise. Yet, your curse of knowledge compels you to overwhelm them knowledge. Instead, focus on the relationship—this is what they’re really buying.
Understand what they value
Show you genuinely care
Adapt to their needs and pace
Don’t rush the relationship
4. Reduce the perceived risk.
As customers move toward a purchase, they are also moving toward risk. Will this purchase be worth their money, time, and energy? Will it provide the transformation they’re looking for? They key here is to provide reassurance and safety. Don’t sell—support their journey.
Acknowledge doubts and fears
Be explicit about how the service is delivered
Show a structured, repeatable process
Offer a trial engagement
Transformation starts today.
If you sell the invisible, I applaud you. It’s a challenging but rewarding endeavor. Rather than selling “a thing” to make your customer’s life better, you’re offering transformation itself.
3 ways I can help:
Brand Strategy: Build your brand holistically to create favorability with your target market.
Brand Identity: Confidently market, internally and externally, with a toolbox of visual and verbal assets that make your brand distinct.
Brand Marketing: Establish a distinct relationship with your current and future customers.
