Marketing Essentials

Unit 5: Selling

WebQuests

Services for Sale

Some people think that selling is the most important aspect of any business. After all, to succeed, every business must sell the goods or services it offers to customers. Selling may seem relatively simple. All a salesperson needs to do is convince customers that they need a new television or chair for their living room. Selling services, however, can be more of a challenge. Services are not tangible. You cannot pick them up or kick their tires. It may seem pointless to some people to pay $100 for a physical examination when they feel perfectly healthy. Businesses that market services need to convince consumers that the services they offer are worth more than the price they charge. The first step in achieving this goal is communicating the value of their services to potential customers.

1. Investigate Begin the activity by listing five services offered by well-known companies. Next, find one or more advertisements in various media that encourage people or businesses to purchase each service. Try to locate advertisements that promote different aspects of a service. For example, one might claim that you will feel better about yourself if you lose weight at a gym, while another could declare that if you have been injured in an accident a particular firm of lawyers will defend your rights against big insurance companies best. Your objective is to find a wide variety of advertisements for services to review.
2. Summarize Write a summary of how each advertisement is designed to begin the sales process. Does it describe the consumer's need for the service? How does it try to convince the consumer that it is best qualified to provide the advertised service? What promises (actual or implied) does it make?
3. Assess Explain whether you think each advertisement you chose is likely to lead to an increase in sales of the advertised service. After reviewing these advertisements, are you more likely to consider purchasing the service they promote? Explain the logic behind your assessment.