Secrets of Selling Services: Everything You Need to Sell What Your Customer Can’t See—from Pitch to Close

INTRODUCTION

It was an odd situation.

In fact, I couldn’t remember when I’d last run into the problem. During four decades of selling, I’ve encountered almost every conceivable reaction, from clients who acted as if I’d brought them Aladdin’s magic lamp to others who clearly couldn’t wait to show me the door. Emotionally, they’d run the gamut from eager enthusiasm to the sort of gloom-and-doom pessimism that would make Eeyore seem in comparison like a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys.

But in all those years, the clients had understood what I was selling. I didn’t think it was particularly complicated. Yet here was this pleasant young man, dressed in a neat suit and tie and sitting behind an orderly desk, staring at me as if I’d asked him to ...