How to Sell the Invisible

I recently read the book Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith. It’s part of my Leaders learning series that I have been embarking on in 2018, and it was also a great suggestion by a friend.

Now I have been in sales basically my entire adult life. I started selling simply enough in retail as a sales associate at The Finish Line, selling sneakers a physical product. It was my freshman year in college, and quickly showed my acumen for sales. Having the highest multiple sales percentage or selling add ons when people only come in for sneakers in the store. Not long after I was training others to do the same then moved into assistant manager role and finally co-store manager.

Then after college I started working in B2B sales selling DHL Shipping service(both a physical product and service a hybrid model) for domestic and international customers. It was a war of attrition with outbound call volume being tracked by a CRM system and a sales quota based on dollars of new customers. I did really well in this position but it was a means to a goal to eventually enter into medical device sales. What I learned here was you were really selling yourself, and on price. People more than likely already had a shipping partner in Fed-ex or UPS, and DHL was aggressively going after the domestic market after years of being the international leader. DHL had a strong base and brand as international shipper. So once you had the business you had to keep it, and of course there were many issues early on.

Next I entered Medical Device sales selling Orthopedic disposables and capital equipment to hospitals and Ambulatory surgery centers. This was a product sale but with a strong relationship part of the sale as well. Adding technology like robotics to the sale makes it a four part sale, of product, clinical, technical and relationship I have done this for the last 12 years.

In the last two years a few friends and I started a consulting company focusing on Business Consulting, Training and Coaching. We are focusing on Medical Device Companies, Medical Practices and Small to Medium Sized business. We work with companies and analyze what we feel are the three main pillars of any business; People, Process and Profit. We then offer suggestions, training or coaching to help the company or individual improve in whichever of three vertical needs improvement.

So how does this tie into Harry Beckwith and Selling the Invisible, because consulting is basically invisible until you produce a product or service. We also have he challenge of building a brand name out of thin air.

Why would anyone know what RTB Limited means or stands for. So it is our job to create that brand name recognition, we are starting to use a skeleton of these tidbits and you can take what you like from it as well. I am aiming to share some value here with my friends. Just as a heads up RTB stands for Ring The Bell, more on that on a later post.

Here is a quick Synopsis of the book. It is kinda of dated with early 90’s references, but still offers great value.

Regarding Your Basic Service

• Assume your service is bad. It can't hurt, and it will force you to improve. (p.6)

• Let your clients set your standards. (p.8)

• Ignore your industry's benchmarks, and copy Disney's. (p.9)

• Big mistakes are big opportunities. (p.12)

• Don't just think better. Think different. (p.17)

• The first rule of marketing planning - always start at zero. (p.18)

• Create the possible service; don't just create what the market needs or wants. Create what it would love. (p.20)

Regarding Market Research

• Always have a third party conduct quality satisfaction surveys. (p.24)

• Survey, survey, survey. (p.25)

• Beware of written surveys; it's far better to conduct oral surveys, as you have a chance to clarify any misunderstandings. (p.27)

• Beware of focus groups - they often reveal more about group dynamics than about how individuals think. (p.31)

Regarding Marketing

• Every act is a marketing act. Make every employee a marketing employee. (p. 38)

• "In most professional services, you are not really selling expertise - because your expertise is assumed, and because your prospect cannot intelligently evaluate your expertise anyway. Instead you are selling a relationship." (p.42)

• Before you try to satisfy "the client", understand and satisfy the person. (p.43)

• Often, your client will face the choice of having you perform the service, or doing it themselves. Therefore, often your biggest competitors are your prospects. (p.45)

• Make technology a key part of every marketing plan. (p.50)

• Study each point of contact with your client - your receptionist, your business card, your building, your brochure, your website, your invoices. Then improve each one significantly. (p.51)

• Be professional - but, more importantly, be personable. (p.54)

Regarding Planning

• You'll never know the future, so don't assume that you should. Plan for several possible futures. (p.59)

• In successful companies, tactics drive strategy as much or more than strategy drives tactics. Do anything. (p.62)

• Execute passionately. Marginal tactics executed passionately almost always outperform brilliant tactics executed marginally. (p.63)

• Do it now. The business obituary pages are filled with planners who waited. (p. 65)

• Have a healthy distrust of what experience has taught you. (p.73)

• Don't let perfect ruin good. (p.76)

How Prospects Think

• Appeal only to a prospect's reason and you may have no appeal at all. (p. 88)

• Familiarity breeds business. Spread your word however you can. (p.90)

• Take advantage of the Recency Effect. Follow up brilliantly. (p.91)

• The best thing you can do for a prospect is eliminate their fear. Offer a trial period or test project. (p.98)

Positioning and Focus

• Stand for one distinctive thing that will give you a competitive advantage. (p.103)

• To broaden your appeal, narrow your position. (p.105)

• In your service, what's the hardest task? Position yourself as the expert in this task and you'll have lesser logic (the idea that if you can do the hardest thing well, you must be able to do everything well) in your corner. (p. 107)

• Don't start by positioning your service. Instead, leverage the position you have. (p.112)

• Positioning statements should address the following six points:

  1. who

  2. what

  3. for whom

  4. against whom

  5. what's different

  6. so...? (p. 114)

• Choose a position that will reposition your competitors; then move a step back toward the middle that will cinch the sale. (p.119)

• In positioning, don't try to hide your small size. Make it work by stressing its advantages such as responsiveness and individual attention. (p. 120)

Pricing

• Setting your price is like setting a screw: a little resistance is a good sign. (p. 133)

• Beware the deadly middle. If you price in the middle, what you are saying is "We're not the best, and neither is our price, but both our service and price are pretty good." Not a very compelling message. (p.134)

• Don't charge by the hour. Charge by the years (of experience). (p.138)

• In services, value is a given. And givens are not viable competitive positions. If good value is your best position, improve your service. (p.139)

Naming

• Give your service a name, not a monogram. (p.143)

• Generic names encourage generic business. (p. 145)

• Never choose a name that describes something that everyone expects from the service. The name will be generic, forgettable and meaningless. (p. 145)

• Be distinctive - and sound it. (p.146)

• In service marketing, almost nothing beats a brand. (p. 151)

• A service is a promise, and building a brand builds a promise. (p.154)

• Invest in and religiously build, integrity. It is the heart of your brand. (p.155)

• A brand is money. (p.160)

• Give your prospects a shortcut. Give them a brand. (p.161)

Communicating and Selling

• Your first competitor is indifference. (p.171)

• Say one thing. (p.171)

• After you say one thing, repeat it again and again. (p.175)

• Don't use adjectives. Use stories. (p.176)

• Attack your first weakness: the stereotype the prospect has about you. (p.176)

• Create the evidence of your service quality. Then communicate it. (p. 178)

• Seeing is believing. Example: even when people know the tricks used by the grocery industry to make ripe oranges appear orange, they still are buy fruit with the most orange-looking peel exterior. Check your peel. (p.188)

• If you are selling something complex, simplify it with a metaphor. (p.194)

• You don't listen to clichés. Your clients won't either. (p.197)

• In presentations, get to the point or you will never get to the close. (p.198)

• Tell people - in a single compelling sentence - why they should buy from you instead of someone else. (p.199)

• You cannot bore someone into buying your product. (p.201)

• If you want publicity, advertise. (p.203)

• Make your service easy to buy. (p. 209)

• Above all, sell hope. (p.214)

Nurturing and Keeping Clients

• Watch your relationship balance sheet; assume it is worse than it is, and fix it. (p.219)

• Don't raise expectations you cannot meet. (p.220)

• To manage satisfaction, you must carefully manage your customer's expectations. (p.222)

• Keep thanking your clients. (p. 223)

• Out of sight is out of mind. (p.229)

What does this all of this tell us, that sales is an evolving practice that changes everyday with the way people buy. Most people research online quite a bit before making a purchase or commitment of any kind. Consider the last time you bought a car? This also include the brand they buy, so building a brand is just as important as having an amazing product and service. I hope this helps some people when reading this review. If you need additional help with People training in Sales and Leadership skill. Please feel free to contact RTB limited for a free initial consult.

Book 10/26 Leaders are learning series; 10% Happier by Dan Harris

As a leader how do you handle stress and anxiety?

My mother always told me “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger”. I agree 100% but not everyone is raised like this or built to handle stress and the mantle of leadership the same way.

In my humble opinion I have been thrust into the world of leadership from an early age. I was the first born of three in a home where my father worked a lot and whether I liked it or not I had to be the man/Big boy of the house early on. Helping with my brother and sister as we grew up. Playing sports I was either selected as leader of a team or in the military always placed in leadership roles

I admit I had a few anxiety attacks when I was young that caused me to have trouble breathing. It could also be the stress of being a kid but who knows. Then as I grew I found sports as great outlet for stress and my anger. I knew I had anger issues so I gravitated towards contact sports like boxing, football, hockey, and rugby. I would immerse myself in these sports and relieve the stresses of the day to get through it.

In college I worked full time while being in the Army reserves and running a retail store with 30-50 employees. The stress was mounting but sports were there to even me out. Then as I worked in high pressure B2B sales and eventually medical device sales it became more and more difficult even with my schedule to use these sports to release the pressure valve. I saw myself getting more and more angry and stressed. I would be up at night thinking and ruminating on the events of tomorrow. Do I have enough people on my team for case coverage, do we have the implants we need is everything going to go the right way? I would be planning like a chess match many steps ahead. The lack of sleep was literally killing me, because many times I had to pull over and take naps on the side of the road so I would drive into the guard tails or off a cliff.

Then I remembered a library class from high school where we meditated. I remember it well because we all laid on the ground and focused on our breathing and imagined ourselves as tanks filled with water. On each breath more and more water would leave our bodies and we would relax our heads, shoulders, chest and so on until we reached our toes. It was very relaxing and this memory trigger prompted me to start meditation again.

This started me down my meditation path, before reading this book. I have been doing this for years, but a suggestion for a book recommendation from friend is always a good idea to take you never know what you will learn.

The book spoke more about Dan’s journey as a local anchor person to working at ABC and having a panic attack on air. From there he talks about his journey as a combat correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan Post 9/11. During these tours in combat zones he became accustomed to the excitement and adrenaline, so when he came back to the states he started using Cocaine to help bring back the endorphins of a combat zone. After he came down from these rushes he became depressed and anxious of things he could not control.

Eventually he found meditation and with it he feels 10% happier. So how does this book help Leaders well it is no secret that leaders are generally under a lot of stress, so how do you deal with it. If this is your first opportunity to lead maybe you are not used to stress and don’t know how to handle it. Ancient warrior like the samurai used meditation regularly to maintain balance and so should you. Part of my discipline regime is meditation.

• Wake up 0530

• Workout 30-45 mins

• Meditate -5mins

• Read with morning coffee 30mins

• Shower

• Get to work!

Adding this small part to my day help regulate me and get my day started. I sometimes add in again at the end of the day to help me sleep. Hey you never know this small addition to your daily routine could make you 10% happier too.

What is Soft Skills Training?

Soft skills are a combination of people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career attributes, social intelligence and emotional intelligence quotients among others that enable people to navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills. 

Many times companies neglect these skills in there employees growth. These soft skills can be developing new leaders through executive coaching or leadership and development training. It could also be investing in Sales and Presentation skills training or just giving your team a better grasp of the financials they are responsible for. Knowing how to work and build relationships and network internally and external to the company. Some companies are caught between a rock and hard place where they do not have the internal departments to spend time on these tasks or expertise. This is where companies like RTB Limited come in. Outsourcing of these training and coaching services enables companies to invest time and money into the growth and development of their most valuable assets their employees. 

Recent data shows the benefits of investing in soft skills training and executive coaching. This investment whether from the top down, middle or bottom-up leads to better results. From The Executive coaching level, you will see better teamwork and potentially better sales results. If you invest in the middle of your company you can see future leaders flourish and grow and be the next team that takes your company to higher results. If you invest in the bottom half or your company even in manufacturing employees feel more engaged and output increases. https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/how-to-measure-the-impact-of-soft-skills-training/

Talk to your HR department to see if they are ready to help invest in your professional growth. We can help you Ring The Bell to a successful career.

Soft Skills training at an Engineering company in Philadelphia