Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith is my first marketing book (outside of search engine marketing). It has a lot to offer. A few of its many new concepts:
Better strive for “excellent” rather than “best” - people don’t believe “best”
If you want to sell… raise the price - you’ll have to listen to the cd for the full explanation
Give one compelling reason - don’t try to satisfy everyone, focus on ONE good thing (fantastic example with an airline)
Keep people informed of your work - if you don’t want your clients to forget or regret, keep them in the loop
You owe your clients - they risk giving you work, they risk their reputations on you, and they think you owe them, and they’re right
Keep your promises modest and clear - try promising a report by 1pm and delivering it by 11am
Brands “replace” warranties - in services there’s no product to return, but people want a to know they’re going to get a good service and the closest thing to this is the brand
This week was pretty crazy. To be exact, an offer from the dream workplace place and the promise of pay negotiations at my current place. On one hand I have a chance to work in a fantastic environment, surrounded by hundreds of people my age who are enjoying what they do, I save forty minutes on a commute, get free meals and all sorts of cool perks, the ability to get home before late at night, with my job left at the job, and a decent wage. On the other hand I have a chance to grow as a programmer, carry more responsibility, help build a new company, work on a very promising, interesting, new product, and see firsthand what it takes to build a business, and most importantly help the team. On one hand I think my boss is among the most interesting, intelligent, and inspirational people I’ve ever met, and I feel indebted towards him for giving me a chance to learn and grow there. On the other hand, I wonder if I’m growing in the right direction; all my friends who work at the other place (I actually have quite a few), have time and energy for pursuing other dreams. This is a problem, it’d be better to devote all your time (including work hours) into pursuing your dream, but I’m scared that I’m not getting anywhere closer to pinning it down yet. Decisions decisions.
Beans, a very cute and to the point story about an already successful business owner trying to figure out what’s missing. The interesting thing about this story is that the guy asking for help already has everything in place. It’s pretty cool to hear about how a stewardess couple gets its business going and truly lives doing something they’re passionate about (the wife retired, but still helps out). In the end, the consultant brings out the framework of the four P’s: passion, people, personal and product, and tells Jack how they apply to his business. What’s neat about this book is that it’s told as a story rather than in concepts. It’s not super deep or super long, but it has some nice simple insights. The parts with the consultant feedback were alright, but I found the parts about Jack the most interesting and educational–and I think that’s what the authors intended.