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Sales Training: Selling Intangibles

Selling intangibles presents a particular problem to the salesperson, because the nature of the product means that it is unseen. Tangibility - being able to see exactly what you are buying - is part of the preference make up of most of the population (typically, studies estimate that 75% of the population have preferences for Sensing).

Also, the sales pitch that you offer will, by definition, be something that may require the cooperation of the prospect’s imagination. Everyone, all types, possess the ability to imagine what your product or service might look like after they have bought it. The problem is that the prospect may imagine your offering in a negative way, seeing potential flaws or consequences, and imagining reasons for not buying.

There may therefore be a natural reticence to buy from you, because the product you are offering can’t be seen, and how it is imagined by the prospect may be somewhat negative.

We have been selling intangibles since the early 1990s and, after an initial learning process, achieved a high conversion rate of prospective sales. The main lessons we learned were:

The ‘delivery’ expert (in our case, the consultant) has to do the main selling activity

Eg: you might use cold calling agencies to identify interested parties, but the consultant who will do the work has to attend the sales meeting. Also, the experts should attend the stands at conferences.
Intangibles are sold primarily on the basis of rapport/trust

The first task in the sales process is to establish some rapport with the potential client. Finding prospects using networking gives a head start in this respect, as you will have been introduced by someone you both know.
As much risk should be removed from the transaction as possible

You can do this by offering the product/service on a sale or return basis, or providing a free trial, or breaking the product/service down into small chunks so that the initial purchase is a low-risk ‘taster’.
The product has to be “made tangible”

Produce documentation, testimonials, case studies, plans, statements of ‘deliverables’ or ‘outcomes’, etc., to give your intangible produce as much tangibility as you can achieve.

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