FEAR AND THE SERVICE SALE

Fear and the service sale
25 June, 2007
By Robin Robins

Part 1 of 2
You can't see them. You can't touch them. And most of the time, we don't even know if we got a good one when it's delivered. What is it? A service.
Services are invisible, intangible things that we all spend a HUGE amount of money on, both in business and in our private lives.
In this country, there is a revolution going on in the way businesses operate. Almost every single company is now a service based business.
Even traditional manufacturing companies that produce tangible goods are quickly finding out that, in essence, they ARE in the service business after all.
For example, industrial giant General Electric generates over 40% of its revenue from services. Starbucks, presumably a coffee company, does not really make coffee; they only package, brew, and sell it. Starbucks is a service company. Software companies create and sell software, but a critical part of that manufactured product is the services of documentation, training, support, and upgrades.
Computer resellers who focus on product sales are now being FORCED into a service model in order to stay alive. Anybody can buy a computer anywhere. Computer hardware is a commodity, and like all commodities, it's shopped mainly by price. What consumers want now is help choosing the right products to support their core business functions, installation, set up, and maintenance. They want service, and that's what they are willing to pay for.
The problem is, most computer resellers and manufacturers are stuck in a product marketing model because that's all they know.
But marketing a product is far different than marketing a service. A product is tangible. You can see it, touch it, taste it, or smell it. You can highlight its characteristics. You can hear the hum of the engine or see the speed of the machine.
A service is intangible. It doesn't even exist when you buy it.
When you buy a service you are actually buying trust; you trust the company or individual you are hiring will do the right thing and deliver what you are expecting.
That's the single biggest challenge with selling services.

You are trying to convince a person to trust you to deliver some type of work or result sight unseen. As if that isn't hard enough, we live in a world chock full of shady politicians, scams, spin doctors, rip off artists, and bad service companies that only add to the challenge.
That's why most companies choose a computer service provider based on word of mouth referrals. At least if you didn't screw Joe over, maybe there's a good chance you won't screw me.
In addition, your average customer is completely techno-phobic which just adds to their fear and distrust. If you were selling a service they were familiar with and understood like coffee or a cleaning service, they would feel safer.
They could tell whether or not you did a good job. They know what the job entails. Ultimately, they could taste the coffee or see the cleanliness and know whether or not it was up to par.
Trusting someone to do the right thing or to give you the best advice when you haven't a clue what that is becomes an anxiety filled decision.
This all adds up to a very fearful, very timid consumer who doesn't believe a word you say and holds you guilty until proven innocent.
In many cases, the prospect may even feel it's safer to do NOTHING rather that trust your recommendations even when they desperately need the solution you are proposing.
So what is a service company supposed to do? You take the fear out of the buying decision.
More specifically, you have to go to work on building that new prospect's confidence to the point where they feel as though they cannot lose by hiring you.
If you can do this effectively, another really magical thing happens: you can easily charge more for your products and services.
Most customers would be willing to PAY MORE for a service or a product they didn't have to worry about than a cheaper service that they were unsure of. This is true in practically every business or industry.
Robin Robins is President of TechnologyMarketingToolKit.com. With more than 14 years experience in direct sales and marketing, which include business to business and business to consumer sales Robin Robins runs an elite sales and marketing coaching program for computer resellers, solution providers, and technology service companies focused on helping them to significantly increase their revenue and profits while reducing the number of hours they work in their business. Author of the new e-book and marketing system called, "The Technology Marketing Tool Kit", she can be reached at http://www.technologymarketingtoolkit.com or e-mail your questions to ask@technologymarketingtoolkit.com.

Working at home is effective?

You say "working from home" -- managers hear "taking it easy"
26 April, 2007By Chris TalbotWhat does the phrase "I'm working from home today" mean to manager? New research from Mitel has found the phrase strikes fear into 21 per cent of managers, who mentally translate it to mean "I'm taking it easy today."
Mitel found that 37 per cent of managers feel that if allowed to work from home, staff will use working hours to carry out personal activities, such as taking a longer lunch, while 30 per cent believe employees will use the time to arrange their social life.
However, 68 per cent of employees believe that by working from home they would actually take a more flexible approach to work, enabling them to be more productive (41 per cent) and end up working longer hours (28 per cent).
When it comes to attitudes towards teleworking, 18 per cent of employees would like the opportunity to work from home two days a week, and 55 per cent said they believe it is an acceptable option for any level.
"Managers must understand that every individual has a different style of working, so by allowing your staff to work how they feel best able to achieve results can only benefit their well-being and most importantly increase their productivity and ultimately customer service," said Dr. David Lewis, a psychologist and employee productivity expert, in a statement. "It comes down to a matter of trust. If you trust and respect your employees to get the job done, they will trust and respect you in return and do the best they possibly can, regardless of whether they are in the office or not."
While the worker of the past fully expected to spend eight hours (or more) per day in the office, that's not necessarily true anymore.
"In fact, many businesses are finding potential recruits demanding flexible working as part of their package alongside salary and traditional benefits. Businesses must keep up with, and adapt to, ever evolving working practices if they want to continue recruiting and retaining the cream of the talent pool," Lewis said.
While many employers are still operating under the misconception that technologies enabling home-working are unreliable and slow, this is simply not the reality.
"With high speed broadband currently accounting for 70 per cent of all household Internet connections, and a wealth of telecommunications technologies, such as IP telephony, now an affordable business standard for seamless connectivity to the office, the technology to enable home working is now more sophisticated than ever," said Graham Bevington, managing director of Mitel, in an interview.
"Through the use of virtual teams using instant messaging to communicate, having the ability to set up video and conference calls and share documents from the network, there is no need for employers to panic that people working from home or outside the office cannot contribute to the business as a fully functioning member of the team. Flexible working practices are becoming an integral part of a successful business strategy and can be a critical tool in the fight for a competitive advantage in the global marketplace," he added.