Secrets of Selling Services

I've recently read Stephan Schiffman's book on the secret of selling services.  The author's premise is that selling services is different to selling goods because the lack of a tangible artifact makes it difficult for customers to understand and take interest in the purchase - but as I read it occurred to me that there really isn't a difference between the two, and what is a "secret" in selling services is merely something that has been ignored by those who sell physical goods, and greatly to their detriment.

The reason I take issue with the author's premise is this: even when a good is being sold, the customer is still buying a benefit.   That is to say that whether I choose to purchase a lawnmower to cut my own grass or contract a lawn care service to do the job, I am ultimately seeking the same benefit.  The trust I put in a person to perform the task well is essentially no different to the trust I must place in a product to which I would contribute my own labor.

This has been incorrectly ignored for many years by manufacturers of consumer goods, but I don't think it has been ignored by customers.   The price paid for an item far exceeds the cost of the components and materials from which it is made, and even the labor of fabricating it, because what the customer is seeking is the solution to a problem and considers the degree to which he values the problem being solved.

When a product fails to accomplish its intended end, there is the sense that some part of its failure may be attributable to the way in which it is used, and it does seem to be a common attitude among manufacturers that the customer is to blame when the product fails to deliver its benefit.    But I have the sense, just from my overall impression of the way that people talk about products that fail, that the tendency of the customer to accept personal responsibility is fading - to which I would add, rightly so.

Another facet of the author's premise is that a service is bought and paid for on an ongoing basis, and that any failure of a service to deliver the expected benefit will lead the customer to refuse to renew the contract, and even seek to cancel the existing one.    I cannot disagree, but again do not sense that this is unique to services.

Customers will return goods that "don't work" and will certainly consider other alternatives when the good has been consumed or reaches the end of its lifespan if they are not satisfied with the outcome.   A seller of goods who considers each sale to be a one-time purchase, rather than one purchase in a continual chain of purchases, is very short-sighted.  So again, the necessity of customer satisfaction to ensure the continuation of business relations with them is not at all unique to the services sector.

All this considered, I do not have the sense that the author is teaching anyone the secrets of selling services, so much as mulling over aspects of selling services that are reasonably well known, but may indeed be secret to those who are selling goods and who take too shallow a perception of the value that customers seek by purchasing goods, which further blinds them to the reasons customers return merchandise and fail to develop loyalty to them.