Believing Without Seeing: How to Sell the Nonexistent

According to "The Service Sector of the U.S. Economy,", anyone who joins the workforce today has about an 84 percent chance that they will be working in a service organization. This means that every day, millions of companies--including my B2B digital marketing agency, StringCan Interactive--attempt to sell billions of intangible things: services! Ever since I began managing and working in a service consulting industry, I’ve met a lot of people who own and/or work in service industries too.

Whenever we compare notes, it becomes obvious that service businesses have one main loss: since your services are intangible, your prospective buyers can’t evaluate a tangible product to help them make their buying decision. Buying something that doesn't yet physically exist can feel odd and uncomfortable for your buyers, and this can cause many interested buyers to never take action. Make your prospective customers feel more comfortable buying your services with these tips I've personally learned throughout the years:

Improve Your Company’s Visual Aspects

Since you have few physical products for prospective customers to critique, it’s crucial that everything physical about your company is right on par. Allow your potential buyers to make visual connections with physical things that relate to your company. For example, since your website often forms your prospective buyers' first impression of your company, make sure that yours is attractive and functional!

Also, keep your office appealing and organized so that every time a buyer walks in, they know that they are dealing with a structured and organized company. It’s also extra important for service companies to dress professionally and appropriately because your appearance helps serve as a reference point in their minds. At my digital agency, we always send an email to the team to notify everyone when a client (new, current, or future) is coming in. This way, we can make sure the office is spotless and we can be even more on point with how we dress that day. This has worked really well for us, and could work for you too!

Build Relationships and Be Friendly

If you want your buyers to believe that your services are valuable, they first need to believe in you! Reach out to your audience and engage in conversation with them. Forming these relationships will help others learn to like and support your company, which can lead to no cost brand advocates, more sales, and lifelong partnerships.

It will also help you form trust with your buyers so that they have full confidence in you and your company. Take advantage of social media platforms to connect your company with buyers and B2B businesses. Even right here on LinkedIn is a great place to start! Also, being a friendly and confident person online and in person can encourage interested customers to trust and buy from you. The more approachable and likeable you are, the better people will respond to you.

Send the Right Messages

While it’s important to be friendly, don’t stray away from the fact that you’re also a businessperson. When you work in a service industry, it’s more important than ever that your prospective buyers believe that you take your job seriously. If your buyers don’t think that your job is your main priority, it will be much more difficult for them to buy a service from you. One way to show that you're dedicated to your work and your company is simply by always answering your phone professionally rather than casually.

Also, prospective customers will definitely appreciate it if you can be easily available and flexible with meetings and phone calls. At StringCan, we make sure to send the right message by always "going the extra 1%" for our clients. Going that extra mile sends a message to them that we are dedicated to our work and services. Living by this philosophy has also helped us build trust with our clients.

Monitor Your Actions

As most buyers know, a service industry becomes successful by taking the right actions, rather than by building the right products. Because of this, your daily actions matter more than ever! Smart potential buyers will read into how you handle certain situations and respond to them because these behaviors likely influence how your services perform.

If you don’t carefully read or respond to your emails, or if you’re constantly rescheduling meetings, these are red flags to customers. Do your daily actions reveal to buyers that you have a strong work ethic? Do you spend your time wisely and prioritize your tasks? Consider these questions to ensure that potential buyers will trust your actions, and they will trust your services more as a result.

Selling services rather than physical products is a major challenge that service industries aim to accomplish almost every day. But thankfully, there are several ways for service companies to overcome this obstacle, including my favorite ones listed above. What's your favorite tip I offered? Comment below!