I recently sat down with my friend, Pete Karinik, the founder of The CMO Club (www.thecmoclub.com), to have a frank discussion about crisis and how marketers should handle it. Here is what we’ve discussed.

1)    How is marketing of “services” different from marketing tangible products?

Selling ‘services’ was always a fascinating topic for many companies – product and services firms alike. The reason for that is simple – when you sell services, you sell value, and selling value is always more difficult than selling a tangible product, like the iPhone, an automobile, or a piece of clothing. Any services business, from a neighborhood beauty salon to a giant accounting firm, such as KPMG, knows that clients value quality, consistency, transparency (honesty), and innovation. I also think that at times of peril, meaning now, we have to look at selling the ‘basic idea’ – if you do your work well, and you are passionate about your clients, you will do fine. The other basic idea we often overlook is that when you are selling a ‘service’, you are selling a relationship with your client, and trust, not just an offering or an innovative idea. That relationship is built on numerous nuances, from a simple greeting to a major overhaul of the client’s financial system, and is backed by months and years of proven experience, trust and history. And that’s what defines your brand.

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