Introduction

The author opens with a narrative, in which a client is struggling to understand what the salesman is offering him. When selling a physical object, it's easy enough to point to the "thing" - but when selling a service, there's no visible or tangible starting point for the conversation, and it's more difficult for the prospect to grasp.

They are not getting a tangible object for their money, and they may have a hard time conceiving why they would pay you to do something when they could do it for themselves. And even if they are convinced they need a service, they don't have a clear sense of what makes one option better than another.

There are a number of businesses that are services: accounting, legal advice, financial planning, training, etc. and the number is growing, particularly in the software field, where firms are entering into a longer service relationship with clients rather than shipping a disk in a box.

In his conversations with other salespeople, he finds it's a common problem. They really aren't sure what to say to prospects, or how to describe their benefits in a way that is sensible and appealing. It's even more difficult when selling is competitive, and you must explain why using your service is better for the client than a competitors, why an upgrade is better than the standard, and why paying to have it done is better than doing it yourself (or not doing it at all).

The author thinks he has a solution to these problems, hence this book.