In my first sales job, the business owner used to regularly chant “Benefits not features”. It wasn’t until much later that I realised how important and well serving this advice ended up being.
“No-one wants to know that the trainer support was designed by NASA and has 4LR support technology. They want to know that they are comfy to walk in!”
If you’re not careful in creating your marketing copy, you may inadvertently end up with features-dominated descriptions which ‘no-one’ wants to know about. We need to stop telling people what they’ll get when they buy a product/service…how ‘it’ works…instead need to focus on what it means to them to buy it…what ‘it’ will give them if they own ‘it.’
Think of the feature as the description and the benefit as the result. Then re-write your feature statements into benefit statements. We need to save prospective purchasers from having to do this work for themselves (which generally speaking they won’t do!)
Consider the following example:
Feature: We’re open until 8 every evening
Benefit: Because we’re open late every night, you can shop at your convenience and avoid the lunch break dash.
Feature: Our school provides age-appropriate stimulation
Benefit: Because your child will be stimulated using age-rated activities and certified daycare workers, their mental development will be accelerated. We care about your child’s progress.
Feature: We use only high quality materials.
Benefit: Because we use only the best in making our custom furniture…your purchase will be a one-time, long-term investment that’ll outlast you.
Feature: Our GrowthCLUB programme has quarterly meetings, a WhatsApp support group, educational articles, networking opportunities….
Benefit: Your life and business will be better! This is a no brainer to make big changes.
If you don’t believe in the power of ‘benefit-selling,” re-read the feature statements above; then compare them to the benefit statements. Which one stirred or compelled you more?
