By Barbara Holder, SLA WCC President
A Field Guide to Marketing the Modern Special Library - Harry Beckwith
Harry Beckwith is a marketing consultant to several Fortune 500 companies as well as the author of the well-known book:
Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
He provided ten keys to marketing our library services, illustrating his points with stories from his personal experience. He argued that clients in our predominantly service economy are interested in relationships, not product features. To be successful we must concentrate on relationships.
Harry's Ten Keys to Enduring Client Relationships are:
- Speed - provide speedy service and real-time information
- Affinity - establish a good rapport with clients
- Predictability - be consistent day after day
- Comfort - make sure clients are comfortable with you
- Image - behave, dress and communicate in a professional manner
- Sacrifices - make sacrifices for clients
- Thanks - thank clients for their business
- Welcome - welcome both phone and foot traffic
- Feedback - ask clients how you did
- Name - use the client’s name at least once every 15 minutes
Beckwith demonstrated that price, brand, and packaging outrank quality with case studies from his own consulting practice. For example, Beckwith helped a client whose jewellery business was languishing by setting up a promotional campaign based on parables - stories about people who had healed relationships and delighted friends with a gift from the client’s jewellery store. Each story was printed on an embossed card. Sets of cards were mailed to a suitably well off local audience. The jewellery store’s prospective clients could personally relate to the benefits framed in the parable. Business increased 200 per cent even though the quality of the product had not changed!
Those who were not able to attend Harry’s session can quickly pick up useful ideas by reading his very concise and clear book:
Beckwith, Harry. Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing. New York: Warner, 1999.
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Last updated: 30 July 1999
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