|
|
Selling The Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing (Hardcover)
by Harry Beckwith
| Category:
Marketing, Sales, Service marketing, Entrepreneurship |
| Market price: ¥ 248.00
MSL price:
¥ 208.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An absolute masterpiece on service marketing, no, on both product and service marketing! Exceptionally witty and practical. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: Harry Beckwith
Publisher: Warner Business Books
Pub. in: March, 1997
ISBN: 0446520942
Pages: 272
Measurements: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00260
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0446520942
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- Awards & Credential -
One of the best received books on service marketing. |
|
- MSL Picks -
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.
Target readers:
Marketing managers, branding/product managers, sales managers, entrepreneurs, academia, professionals, and MBAs.
|
|
- Better with -
Better with
The SPIN Selling Fieldbook (Paperback)
:
|
|
Customers who bought this product also bought:
|
|
From Publisher
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.
|
| View all 12 comments |
Library Journal (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-17 00:00>
"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. |
Michael Emery (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-17 00:00>
Personally, I wouldn't limit this book to only apply to sales. In fact, Harry Beckwith's information in this book could be applied to literally ANYTHING that involves communication with another human being. As he does in his other books, The Invisible Touch and What Clients Love, Harry gives simple anecdotes to clarify otherwise complicated methods. He shines a comforting light on the intimidating shadow of "sales" and "marketing" to make it far easier to imagine yourself able to do whatever you are using your communications to accomplish.
At the end of each section he even has little one to two sentence "summaries" in bold, so you have a quick understanding of each point he is making.
In short, he has packed 1000 pages of priceless information, into a 250 page, easy to understand, and apply, book. I strongly suggest not only buying this book, but the other two that I mentioned as well.
No matter if you want to be a sales and marketing success, a communications master, or simply someone who wants to better understand what inspires and influences people, this book is one you will be glad that you bought. |
Michael Erisman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-17 00:00>
This book is not an in depth study of marketing techniques, but rather one of the best collections of engaging questions and critical thinking prompts I have read on the subject of business marketing and focus.
For example, many companies focus on improving what they currently do and by doing so they look at themselves solely. This is not out of ego, but rather simply the way we usually operate. However, the internal focus will often result in another company focusing on not improving the service or product by a small percentage, but coming up with something 100% different. This requires that businesses think outside of the boundaries of their own products, services, or methods. When thinking of focus groups, conventional wisdom fails. Groups don't buy products, individuals do. Focus groups measure group dynamics not individual customer insights. A big miss, and yet another example of the hundreds of topics tackled here.
The insights here are nearly always contrary to conventional wisdom, and thus valuable. Whether it is the fact that "marketing is not a department" but the role of every single employee, or how to "position and focus" your organization on the right aspects of service your clients expect, this book has insights into a number of strategic alternatives. The section on pricing also contains some thought provoking ideas.
The book is laid out in a very quick, sound bite style that is easy to breeze through, or revisit from time to time. Overall, I very much enjoyed the presentation and insights throughout. I have about one of every 5 pages dog eared for future readings, an always reliable sign that the topics and information were worth the effort to read or review.
One quote at the end of the book (Page 245) sums up one of the major themes: "Services are human. Their successes depend on the relationships of people. The more you can see the patterns and better understand people, the more you will succeed - and this book was written with the hope that you will do just that." A very highly recommended book, with enough critical thinking prompts to keep one busy for a while just thinking about how to apply them.
|
Roger Koon (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-17 00:00>
Having spent much of my career in the I.T. services sector, I thoroughly enjoy researching other interests and broadening my understanding of topics that can enrich my life and career. In the area of marketing services, this publication provided ample, tangible information on modern marketing and exceeded my expectations in a number of ways.
First, the covers of this book are not too far apart, which is a rare find these days. Often, writers try to impart an excessive amount of irrelevant information in their writings, as though their real ambition is to write the next, great American novel. This book is different.
This publication is short, concise and filled with valuable information. If you are in the business of marketing, you need this book. For anyone in the service industry, consider giving yourself an edge over your competition by reading this insightful book, and putting into action the relevant suggestions of the author.
|
View all 12 comments |
|
|
|
|
