If you sell services, you’ll be out of business in a short time, because people don’t buy services. Find out what successful service businesses sell…
If you think you sell services, think again.
And if you still insist that you want to sell services, then you’ll be out of business in a short time.
Why?
It’s because people don’t buy services.
If people did buy services, then all service businesses should have become multi-million dollar businesses already because people always need help with something.
Some people are so lazy, they want you to do everything for them. While others are so busy, your service helps them accomplish more.
But as you already know, not all service businesses have all the clients they want. Not all of them are making the kind of money they want to make.
And some are about to “close up shop”.
So what makes the struggling service businesses different from the ones who seem to have it all?
Why do clients rush to Bob, a service professional when there’s Jack standing next to him who offers the same service?
The Malta Guinness And Water Story
Now imagine you have a table in front of you and on it, there are two empty glasses side by side and two bottles – one bottle of water and one bottle of Malta Guinness. Pick the bottle of water with your right hand and the Malta Guinness with your left.
Now fill those glasses till they start overflowing.
One question: Which one overflowed first? The glass of water or the glass of Malt?
It’s the glass of Malt. The foam starts to come out even while the content of the glass is still little. Sooner or later, that foam would dry up and it’ll be almost as if the glass never overflowed.
That’s how a lot of service businesses are in their marketing.
They create a lot of hype about how they’re so great and why their service is the best in the industry. You see all their “foam” in search engines results, on every blog and their remarketing strategies are just awesome.
But when you finally come in contact and get close to them, all that foam dries up and you realize the ugly truth – they really don’t care about you but about how much you’re going to spend with them.
The content of their message is poor, fake or even non-existent.
On the other hand, when a glass of water overflows onto a hard surface, the water stays there until you dry it up.
Those are the businesses that make the most impact.
People Want To Know That You Care About Them
It’s not enough to just help people solve their problems. You need to show your clients that you care about their success as well. This is actually what will make you over-deliver in your service.
In Steve Jobs’ speech about “The Crazy Ones”, he wanted to change the direction that Apple Inc. took in their marketing. So, he created a marketing message that their customers could believe in.
Apple Inc. went beyond features and benefits to actually tell people why they existed in the first place.
That’s when their brand perception became authentic and less like foam. After several years, the message that flows from the company to the media still hasn’t dried up.
How authentic is your message.
Redefine What You Sell
Apple Inc. sells their laptops to the crazy ones who believe they can change the world. While their customer list is not full of only crazy people, I bet it is dominated by a large percentage of such people. And they’re there because they believe in the message and then in the product.
Why do you sell that service? What kind of people do you sell it to? Is it just people with money in their pockets, or those with money who have a world view about something?
Showing that you care in your service business doesn’t necessarily mean giving more service than was paid for. You can’t afford to do that every time. Instead, it means believing in what your client wants to achieve.
When a client brings a project to you, I recently learned that a good starting point is to ask them why. Why do they want to do that project and why do they want to achieve that result?
Then in subsequent meetings, whether physical or virtual, echo their answers back to them in your messages. Focus on creating that initial emotional connection with what you’re offering. This way, when a similar service business tries to dazzle them with their shiny objects, your clients won’t bat an eyelid because you’ve laid the foundation.
And I believe that this, combined with the results you get for your clients, is what would make them hire you for subsequent projects.
People like to surround themselves with other people who believe in them. Do this for your clients, and you’d have won friends.
Do you have a message? How do you build relationships with clients? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Original image credit: www.bsdzine.org/