Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing

About a month ago, my boss asked me to order this book for her. She'd heard it was life-changing. Every day at lunch, she'd read a couple chapters, often commenting on what she'd learned. When she finished, she handed it to me, telling me that I needed to read it to prepare for the marketing we're about to start for our office. As luck would have it, the office closed the following day due to about eighteen inches of snow, so I got the chance to finish it pretty quickly.

Selling the Invisible is a quick read. It's chopped up into tiny sections, each summarized with a compact piece of advice at the end. I had some concerns about whether this book would be relevant to my work in a doctor's office. I shouldn't have worried. Beckwith's show more advice is applicable to just about every industry you could possibly imagine.

Reading the book, I learned a lot about how prospects think. I was surprised that I'd never thought about marketing this way before. I am, after all, a prospective client for a lot of services. I'd just never thought about what it was that made me choose which service to go with. Beckwith's advice is a lot of common sense, but it's likely things you haven't thought about before.

There's plenty of good information in here. You'll learn how to attract a client. How to keep a client. How not to scare a prospective client away. How to differentiate yourself from your competition. How to develop your brand. How to sell something based on promises alone. It's very useful as a starting point.

Really, the only problem I had with it is that it's seventeen years old. In this day and age, social media marketing is hugely important. More important in most industries, at least, than advertising in trade journals and on the radio. Because of that, I felt that a lot of the information, though good, was outdated. It would be interesting to see the book updated with information on where to start with online advertising, and what to do in terms of getting set up on social media.

But all in all, it's a solid introduction to the world of marketing for someone like myself, with no experience in selling anything. show less

Short book packed with ideas on how to sell services. Many of them generic, however there were a few I found very valuable. One that stood out for me was: You are selling a relationship not your expertise. The reason is that most of your prospects cannot evaluate your expertise so it is assumed. They can however, tell if the relationship is good. This is the kind of book I will listen to again.

The best business marketing book I've read, it is crammed full of insightful writing.

Very good book on communication and relationships. Well written and flows very well. Provides sound principles for marketing. Great insight on how to read customers and have a better understanding of what they are thinking. Great book for anybody in the service industry. I recommend

One of the best marketing books I have ever read. It really opened my eyes to marketing. A must read. I thoroughly enjoyed its brief chapters that allow for quick reading.

I have read this book, a very good book and I keep a copy for reference

Suggests very practical things for selling services

I included this book in my book: The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. www.100bestbiz.com.