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Tangible vs Intangible Selling

Tangible vs Intangible selling is a conceptual question. Every offer is primarily either tangible or intangible. But can an individual salesperson sell something of this type?

Tangible items for sale already exist. They are sitting there on the shelf, or the showroom floor. You can walk over and see them, touch them, maybe even pick them up. Examples are washing machines, automobiles, and jugs of milk.

Intangible items to be sold are not yet physicially present. They exist in the minds of the prospect and, more significantly, the salesperson. Some imagination needs to be used on both sides for this sale to happen. Examples are custom programmed software or being a bestselling co-author in a forthcoming book. Surprisingly, perhaps, a customized sign made for a shop.

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Photo by Designecologist from Pexels

I first discovered I was good at selling the intangible in the mid-2000s while running a metal fabrication shop. Turned out I'd been doing it all along—general contractors would want a custom bracket made of 3/4" steel, let's say, to hold up the beams of the huge open concept cabin they were building. This kind of thing was a gnarly, heavy, this-time-only-angled and drilled connector. Especially with signs, though, specifically the collaboration we'd do with a sign manufacturer, was where it was really pointed out to me that what we were selling was intangible.

The Difference Between Tangible vs Intangible Selling

Alarmingly, the salesperson at the sign shop said, "People have no idea what they want when they come in here. There's no picture in their head of the outcome. They're trusting me to come up with something." She paused, then continued: "And they're handing over thousands of dollars to me on that belief that we'll come up with something good."

"Huh," I thought. I saw her point immediately. In the metal fab world I was more familiar with, it seemed easier. People wanted metal letters, or a gate or railing. Or wrought iron fencing. Or that kind of structural steel I mentioned earlier. That felt necessary. It wasn't hard to visualize what the outcome would look like.

But a sign? That could be anything. Therefore, I realized the prospect was placing a lot of faith into the seller. Should the sign be round or square? How much wood and how much metal? Should the frame be metal, and the lettering routered in relief out of the wood, then painted to stand out? Would there be a picture, maybe of some trees and a mountain? Or should the design go more abstract? Ought we to focus less on imagery and more on style?

The Trust Scale for Selling The Intangible

Subsequently, I realized there was a sliding scale for buyers when it came to trust of the seller's ability to provide a good experience with the intangible sale.

On one side you've got the fully trusting, "I know you: I like you, I trust that whatever you come up with will be excellent and I don't have to worry about it". This could almost be considered abdication of responsibilty; however, I view it more as transference of responsibility, or delegation. Even if the buyer deep down is not in love with the final outcome, they believe the seller knows best.

On the other side you've got minimal trust. "I want to see this every step of the way along. I emphatically want control over what happens." For those selling the intangible, this can be a genuine source of frustration. "Why won't the customer leave me alone to do what I'm good at? Why won't they let me run according to my own internal schedule, rather than trying to worry me along? I know how long these things take. I know the steps to do them in. Why must I explain everything?"

When selling the tangible, you obviously have the thing right there to point at. Features and benefits are available to rely on. If the prospect doesn't follow along, it's readily apparent: you can stop, go back, and find out what's missing.

Selling intangibles...not so much. You must dig. Get to the heart of "Why" this person wants what they want. Likely you'll have to uncover factors they weren't conscious of, preferences they didn't know they had. Unfortunately, it's easy to blow past key sales factors if you don't notice the prospect sitting there nodding mechanically, eyes glazing over.

Deciding whether your firm is focused on tangible vs intangible selling can even have a big tax implication.

Risk Factors In Tangible vs Intangible Sales

In selling tangible offers, you run the risk as the salesperson of falling back on features and benefits. Reliance on these factors is a lower level of selling: it's less effective. Often you'll miss the prospect's "Why" and not get the sale.

As you sell the intangible, you can easily run past the prospect's true reasons for buying. Trying to fit the individual prospective customer into a "one size fits all" process will cause that to happen.

Unless the prospect is well educated about the offer before they arrive, and has a personal sense of urgency about taking action on it, the fact is that the intangible sale is going to take longer. Significantly, what I have observed over a long period in the sales field is this: some people simply don't seem to be able to make the intangible sale.

Whenever hiring into an organization where the intangible sale is a requirement it is not enough that you look at candidates with excellent sales histories. You must find out if they have a history of successfully selling intangible offers.

What Needs To Happen In The Intangible Sale?

A transference of imagination, from seller to buyer, is necessary to make the intangible sale. I'll come back to this in a future discussion, but I want you to understand this for now. Depending on where the prospect is on that line scale I described above, evidently it can take some time to solidify that image and make that transference happen. There's a process to this, of course, but for now all I want you to understand is that this is what happens. Get clear on the concept: tangible vs intantible selling. Which does your organization focus on? Do you have the right people for the role?

>> Jason Kanigan is a sales force developer and conversion expert. Schedule a consultation with him to focus on your specific situation <<

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Jason Kanigan and Matthew North Sales Interview

Jason Kanigan and Matthew North have both been sales pros and trainers for years. Both have Amazon/Kindle books on the topic. And now, they've met for an in-depth discussion of sales approaches, success in sales, sales mindset, and more.

Join us for a truly transformative talk on how sales can be totally different for you and your prospect from the "Herb Tarlek from WKRP In Cincinnati" pushy, false enthusiasm-filled, say-anything-to-get-the-order beliefs and experience you likely had installed about selling as a kid.

Selling does not have to be pushy. Selling does not have to be about you. And selling does not have to be about trying to wrestle the prospect to the ground until they say "Uncle!" and buy.

Jason Kanigan and Matthew North Sales Interview

Jason Kanigan and Matthew North share their views on selling right here:

Jason Kanigan & Matthew North Sales Interview from Matthew North on Vimeo.

If you want to learn how to "be and do" sales differently, then listen up.

We discuss the subject of Authenticity at length in this interview. And ultimately there's nothing more important than your authenticity. Being it, expressing it, living it.

Jason Kanigan and Matthew North On Authenticity In Selling

If you're constantly trying to reshape yourself to please others in the hopes they'll buy, you aren't being authentic...and you won't be having genuine conversations with them. You won't be able to take the risks you must to get to the truth of things.

Selling can be about matching up problems with solutions.

Selling can be about listening rather than talking.

Selling can be about creating value wherever you go, rather than talking everyone you can into being a buyer and then dealing with highly uncomfortable buyer's remorse later on—or the Client From Hell, which is even worse.

Jason Kanigan and Matthew North Interview

 

>> Jason Kanigan is a business strategy and conversion expert with many years of sales training experience. To discuss your concerns about your sales team or your own sales skills, book a call with Jason here. <<

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How To Sell In the New Economy

how to sellThis is an era of cautiousness, and that has changed how to sell in the new economy.

Deals are bigger than before--buyers are packaging things together, sourcing different services they would previously have gotten separately now from one vendor to save money overall.

But that means the risk is greater for the buyers, too. Projects will be either a really huge success, or a massive failure.

So more people are involved in the buying decision.

That frequently makes the sales cycle take longer.

And you had better find out what all these people want. Individually. In writing good fiction, every character should have an urgent personal agenda. It's the same in real life. All those stakeholders have something they want out of buying from you, and it's probably different from the guy or gal sitting next to them at the boardroom table.

And they are coming at you better informed than ever before.

All this adds up to price no longer being the #1 factor in buying decisions.

TRUST is.

So you had better develop trust, quickly.

How to sell in the new economy?

How do you rapidly develop trust? Here are seven factors for effective selling today:

1. Show up prepared. (Know something about their business; have your materials ready.)

2. Be respectful of their time. (Goes hand-in-hand with being prepared. And be there on time. I hope you set up an up front contract on how long the meeting would last...and if you want to change it, make sure your prospect is willing to go along. Up front contracts are a key factor in how to sell.)

3. Don't make assumptions. (Key--incorrect--assumption: You must need what I offer.)

4. Identify their problems and needs. (Find out what's really going on in their world. Don't slap a one-size-fits-all band-aid on and run away with the money bag. Don't look like you're going to do that, either; it's one of the biggest fears business owners have.)

5. Keep track of details. (Write it down! Have it handy. Did they say it? Write it down!)

6. Do what you say you'll do. (You'll stand out hugely. Most people don't do this and yet it's so simple.)

7. Be a problem-solver, not a product-pusher. (Your prospect doesn't care about your software and its features and benefits. They want a problem fixed and a way out of a bad situation.)

Sound simple?

This is how to sell. Really look at what you've been doing. I'll bet you've been missing the mark on at least two of these things. The worst offender? Pushing your product or service instead of being a problem-solver. Your solution may NOT be the best for this prospect. Be willing to spend a few minutes to find out. That attitude comes across instantly and goes a long, long way with prospects and them giving you a little trust. You need that little bit of trust at the very start of your conversations, so that the prospect will begin to open up and share with you some of what's really going on in their world. When you accomplish this, you get farther in the sales process and faster than anyone else who tried pushing a product or service on the prospect right out of the gate.

The most effective and necessary way of how to sell now is to develop trust. You can do it quickly--and the prospect doesn't have to know you or like you yet half as much as you think--but you must do it or you won't have good conversations. And good conversations are what lead to sales.

>> Did you find this post helpful? The effective tips on how to sell are Free here! So please Like, Share or Comment to show your appreciation! <<