Essential Principle #2
is this; you must *explicitly*
communicate the benefits of your product or service to your customer. You may have heard this before, but it really
is where so many businesses mess up. Understanding how to effectively
communicate benefits is an
absolute bedrock of marketing and of all your business success. You can spend all the money you want on websites,
leaflets and advertising, but if you don't forcefully and continually communicate precisely how your prospective customer is going to benefit from what you offer, then forget about it; it isn't going to be anywhere near as effective, and you're almost certainly wasting
vast amounts of money.
Firstly,
let's get clear on the difference between features and benefits. If you're
buying a set of speakers, for example, the watts coming out of each speaker is
a feature. Now the fact that the speakers will deliver sound that will make you
feel like you're at a concert is the benefit. The memory on your computer is a
 feature, the fact that it's high enough to let you surf the web faster is a
benefit. The benefit is what's in it for your customer, as opposed to the
actual feature of the product/service.
Which is where so many businesses go wrong; they focus on
the features rather than the benefits. Now, you need
to know that people do not generally buy just on features; they buy the
benefits. By all means, tell people the features of your product/service; it
could help establish credibility, but it's just not enough to achieve amazing business growth.
So; let's get on to an example of how you can incorporate
features and benefits without being
too obvious about it. Let's say we need a solicitor to help us sell our house.
We look at a few websites; they all say the same thing. They all talk about how
long the solicitor has been in business, and list all of the areas they can
help you on. Remember; this list is a list of features. To stand out from the
rest of the crowd, the solicitor want to explain the benefits that their
service offers. For example, they could say something like this;
"Our combined 100 years in conveyancing (Feature) means that we have the legal knowledge and
negotiating skills to do everything possible to stop the sale falling through
during those tricky periods. (Benefit)
You can increase your response rate by 100s% simply by turning a standard website that goes on and on about the company, into a website that is designed to give the customer exactly what they want.
So, here's your Action Step; Sit down and come up with the
three main benefits that your customers experience when they do business with
you. If you don't know what your benefits are, chances are your customers don't
either, and that means you are massively under-performing. Also, look ruthlessly at all of your marketing materials; if you go more than 3 or 4 lines without telling the customer how they will benefit, start again. Nobody cares about how long you've been in business, or where you started out; they care about what's in it for them.
These Essential Principles are not new or revolutionary, and each one on it's own will not make you a million. Together though, if put into practice, they will generate new sales. So why wait? Start implementing them now!
Essential Principle #3 will be in your inbox soon, thanks for
reading.
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