Are You Selling A Service Or A Product?

john elliott

I'm selling a product

John

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Ed the Roofer said "John too, in his crass and blunt demeanor.............."

DecksEtc

I sell both. No choice on your poll for that.

Gordo

Both.

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Looks like some pros were here.

A.W.Davis

Though right now I mainly sell my services, I am trying to train myself in all fields to better direct my customers on a great product.

Nothing worse than being the general contractor on a job and the homeowner asks for suggestions and you cant give them a good answer... ...........

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

mahlere

Honestly, unless you are a manufacturer, you are selling a service. The product is only part of what you sell. It's your time, labor, experience and knowledge that you are selling.

You may install only one product (corian for example) but unless you are making money from the manufacturing of that product, you are still selling the service of installing that product.

The railroad companies thought they were in the train business. They didn't realize that they were in the transportation business until it was too late....

john elliott

What actually constitutes a product is open to discussion. In my cases I manufacture cabinets and install them, so one could say that the cabinets are the product, and the installation is the service.

When it comes to the selling aspect though, it seems that the modern interpretation of 'product' is to look at it from the customer's point of view. In my case, the product is a kitchen, and that is what they are buying. How it comes to be, who made it, how it came to be hanging on their walls isn't what they are buying, it's the finished item that they are concerned with.

The concept extends to such things as lawn mowing. From the point of view of the contractor, he is selling the service of running a lawn mower over the lawn. From the customer's point of view, he is buying the product of a mown lawn. How the grass got shorter doesn't matter to the customer.

I think this concept makes a lot of sense. I used to hate it when I saw finance companies describing their output as 'products' but I see what they mean now.

On the other hand, I also see the sense of describing the service industry as providing services rather than products. I think the difference between the two is really a point of view thing.

John

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Ed the Roofer said "John too, in his crass and blunt demeanor.............."

Plan 9

What I do is produce custom, hand crafted, one of a kind electrical installations. What I actually sell is good feelings. Customers are looking for validation, approval and ego gratification. When you do a good job, they take the credit for choosing you. They feel good when a professional concurs with their opinion.

Notice when you tell the waiter your order, he says "Good choice". He's attempting in a very transparent way to reassure you, offer you validation.

The customer is making a huge investment and deep down is terrified and timid. They need to be made to feel good about hiring me, they need to feel good about themselves.

I sell good feelings.

Danahy

There are some good points in this thread. Technically there are alot of things we sell to the customer, and knowing what they are is a good way to focus in on what makes you different than your competitors.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I realize I sell

1) The service of changing rooms into a new colour
2) I sell paint, sort of... The paint store sells it to me cheaper, and I get to charge retail (that would be a product)
3) I sell a finished product
4) I sell a positive experience for the customers
5) I sell my customers on selling me to generate referrals (not sure what category that is..I'll call that advertising / branding (me being the brand))

I suppose there are more if I were to continue to dig up things... but to get back on topic... sign me up for "Both" should that be an option in the polls.

Danahy

Good analogy. Hope you don't mind, but I'm adding that to my vault.

rservices

Service all the way

I spent 25 yr's in restaurant management, in a twisted comparison I have taken a lot of those values in to my trade. in most areas you can throw a ball and hit anoughter restaurant, well with the number of indepentant contractors out there it is easyer to find a contractor then it is to drop a spoon on the floor.

I focus on the specal needs of restaurants, I couldnt tell you how many times I have seen a contractor walk into a restaurant a 12:00 and want to look at the roof, or some other thing that they called them out for. I belive the average contractor doesnt understand the beating a restaurant goes thru.

Thats what I sell.

And useing their own selling technquies I increase my own sale.

say they bring me in for tile work ...ok thats dinner
now lets talk about the door that doesnt close right,,,appitizer
and how about some power washing...desert

hell super size that sucker

mdshunk

Depends on what sort of job I'm doing. If I'm on a service call where a simple adjustment or re-setting is needed, or doing troubleshooting only, I'm selling a service.

If I'm doing a service call where material is needed, I'm selling both. Both the labor required to effect the result, and the material required to do so. I mark up both, therefore I'm selling both.

If I'm doing a bid job, I'm selling a product (ie- a wired warehouse). The labor required to bring about that product is incidental to the manufacture of that end product.

In reality, it matters less whether you consider your various sales a 'product' or a 'service'. The standard rules of markup and profit still apply, whether the components are intangible like labor and insurance, or tangible like guns and butter. I suspect that this whole pole is 'bait' of a sort for some other tirate or rant to follow.

mahlere

John, like plan 9 said, they aren't buying a kitchen. They are buying a comforatable place for them to spend most of their awake time. They are buying a comfortable place to entertain family and friends. They are buying comfort.

Here they are buying the conveinance of not having to cut the lawn themselves. Simple as that. They are buying time. But also the comfort of not having to get out there and mow the lawn, but rather spend that time doing something else.

This post explains alot about your other posts regarding pricing. Products have a definite value. They are easily quantifiable in terms of quality and price. Even if you are selling a custom one-of-a-kind kitchen, if you are selling the cabinets you are selling a quantifiable item. Sell them the comfort, the lifestyle, the experience of that new kitchen. That is worth so much more than the wood in the cabinets.

Think about selling a house. How often do they sell a house based on it's construction? Never, they sell the amenities, the comfort, the lifestyle.

john elliott

Well, as I'm the person that started this poll that is obviously aimed at me. Seems a bit unfriendly, and I don't know what I've done to earn it.

In fact, I'm not so interested in whether people actually are selling a product, or a service, as to have they think about it. I spend a lot of my spare time taking in information and opinions from a wide variety of sources, and it does seem that the way marketing opinion is going is to consider selling situations from the customer's point of view. This is why the term 'product' is becoming commonplace even when describing what have always been considered services (such as the financial 'products' I mentioned earlier.

John

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Ed the Roofer said "John too, in his crass and blunt demeanor.............."

Stone Mountain

I've never thought about it in exactly that way before. Very very true. May I quote you?

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K2

Product, service, advice, and ideas. We probably have sold all of the above and have probably givin away a bunch. I would like to get more into selling advice and ideas if I could get someone to buy them exclusivly. I guess you have to go to law school for that or become an architect.

Crawdad

As a lawn mowing service, the product I sell is spare time, and peace of mind, knowing that you don't have drudgery to face on your weekends.
Crawdad

Brian

To the customer I am selling a service.

For my suppliers, I am selling THEIR products. I think we often overlook the fact that we spec the products, and as such, are product salesmen as much as service salesmen. When we realize this, we understand that we are reps for our suppliers as much as for our own company.

It can put a new perspective on things if we think that way.

Brian Phillips

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Houston Interior Painting
Houston Exterior Painting
Houston Painting Contractor

Mike Finley

Those ideas are the cornerstone of what selling and sales is all about.

I say this because from time to time there are always some of us on these boards that think selling and sales is a bad word, and it's just an uphill and losing battle to even begin to crack the armor of those individuals to give them a glimpse of what sales really is.

When those people say things like their customers would never fall for sales tactics or they start making statements that show they believe high pressure and sales are one in the same, these two quotes are what they need to read to understand why selling and sales are so powerful and work on any person in the world.

Great stuff you guys.

AirPro

My customers rely on me to know what the best/most reliable product for their situation is. In most industries (especially HVAC) the quality of the installation/knowledge of the installer dictates how well the product works. Therefore I sell a service.
If I was to carry an inferior line of equipment, it would be my fault for not keeping my standards high enough as to not provide my customer with the quality product or service they called me for, and I would rightfully lose that customer.

POOLMANinCT

i sell dreams product & service

ray