It may be commonly perceived by many people that there is a world of difference between product and service marketing. They could not be further from the truth because in fact there is hardly any difference. This may be because most people are not given to purchasing products and services. Instead, what makes them buy a product or service is the usefulness of the product or service and how it will benefit them.
The product or service that people purchase is meant to be a solution to some problem, which may be simple or it could be serious problem. The job of marketing is to give to the customer something that is wanted and it may require attracting people to seek a particular solution that is a product or service. There must also be consistent follow-up action that will keep the customer informed about the benefits of the product or service being marketed.
Thus, the main difference between marketing products or services is that there is much more personal contact required when marketing a service as compared with marketing products. Marketing services may require meeting the customer in a face-to-face basis, or it may mean contacting prospective customers over the telephone.
In addition, you would also need to know what the potential customer wants and then give them just that, which is a sure shot means of getting more business. Getting more people attracted to your product or service will help you gather information that can be used to contact them, which is an important step in making a sale.
Once your marketing efforts get you good prospective clients who are coupled with follow-up action, the chances of converting a good percentage of these prospective customers into paying customers will greatly improve and there will be no real perceivable difference between marketing a product or service except perhaps the amount of personal contact made with the customer while marketing your product or service.
