Is Your Packaging Helping to Sell your Product or Service?

Most of us are quite aware how important packaging is when selling a product.  Not too many of us would get excited about a product sold in a plain brown cardboard box even if it was touted as the best of its kind.  Some might buy it if the price was very good, but even bargain hunters may shy away from a poorly packaged product. 

The packaging might have little to do with the actual value of the product, but a well packaged product has a greater perceived value.

Services come in many packages as well.  Some of the packaging may be less obvious, but it is still there.  I think of packaging as the first things consumers see.  This could be a website, advertising, brochures, literature or other print materials.  Packaging might also be considered the first impressions left when meeting a potential client.  Packaging might be simple or complex.   

A service provider would not want to be perceived as ordinary or indistinguishable.  Your services must be packaged well.

Marketing materials

These can be distributed in many ways.  They give a first impression and help differentiate your service from those provided by others.  A website that is easy to navigate, pleasing to the eye, and full of helpful information about services and other pertinent information.  Brochures that highlight how your services might more than fit their needs and wants.  Literature might be used to help inform and educate potential clients giving your company perceived expertise and a level of professionalism.

First Contact

Your first contact will leave an impression.  You want it to be a very good impression that promotes the image of your company.  A strong positive experience could be the insurance that insures their business.  This first contact is part of the packaging suggesting plain vanilla or something exceptional.

Level of Service

You will want to do more than what is necessary to get the job done.  Under promising and over delivering will leave a lasting impression that is quite likely to secure a long term relationship and future referrals.

 Gathering some information before the first meeting can give you a leg up.  It is then possible to have some preliminary samples of what you can do for a client.  Making the client feel special throughout the process may not always be easy, but is just one more way of providing an exceptional package.

Surprise the client with more than they asked.  It may take some creativity, but doing business the way everyone else does will not leave a lasting impression.  In time you may be forgotten even though your business is next door.

Once the client gets past the packaging and buys your service, you want to be sure that the client is well pleased with the purchase.  If you are selling knowledge then you better be knowledgeable.     If you are selling industry experience then it needs to shine.  If you are selling efficiency, then you better produce.  Quality packaging is essential and quality service in that package will insure many clients in the coming years.