The best way to understand the true benefit of your product or
service—or to answer the "What's in it for me?"
question—is to focus instead on results. A customer's
perception of each feature's results is what attracts him or
her to a particular product or service. When someone chooses a VCR
with a self-setting clock, the assumption is that the benefit is
convenience, but the actual results are that they don't have to
read the instructions, watch a blinking 12:00, and, most important,
feel stupid. Those results are the true benefits.
When you try to sell the features of your product or service,
you're making the customer do all the work to figure out why
they want the feature. It's in a seller's best interest to
draw the connection for them. But to do that, you have to know the
results yourself. Let's take another look at that features list
to see the possible benefits from the customer's point of
view:
Self-setting clock: I won't feel dumb!
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50-number speed dial: I can keep in touch with my best customers
without effort, and I won't get frustrated misdialing.
One-click financial reports: I can see exactly where my business is
financially at any time. I can spend more time with my family
instead of trying to figure out whether I'm making enough money
or not. I can see business what-ifs instantly.
Custom
programs: It will accomplish exactly what I need, and I won't
have to worry paying for services I don't want.
Open 24
hours: When my pregnant wife craves pickles and ice cream at 4
a.m., I won't have to disappoint her.
Batteries included: I'll never have to see the crushed look on
my child's face when his toy won't work because I forgot to
buy batteries.
By this time, you should be mentally going over every sales
pitch or marketing message you've been using with great
trepidation and rightly so. If you look carefully and honestly,
you'll most likely find that your benefits are really just more
features.
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