Features tell, benefits sell. Let’s look at some examples. Take steak knives. Feature might be that they are as sharp three years later as they were the day you bought them. Benefit might be that they are low maintenance, no need to sharpen them. This would appeal to people who either don’t have a knife sharpener or don’t like to sharpen their knives, or like me, never find the knives are any sharper after I sharpen them myself.
Say you’re a dentist and you offer any level of sedation a patient wants. Feature: Choice of anesthesia. Benefit: removes the fear of experiencing pain and makes the patient feel in control, because they have a choice.
Another example – say you remodel homes and you use green and eco-friendly materials. Feature: recycled and environmentally friendly materials. Benefit: responsible stewardship, good for the environment, in many cases healthy for the end user.
Benefits speak loud and clear to our desire to know ‘What’s in it for me’. People will make choices and decisions if they know why they should do something. Once you grab people by their self-interest, they’re open to learning about you. I’ll use myself as an example again – perhaps you decide you like the idea of having someone experienced and easy to work with who won’t charge you an arm and a leg – you find me – you feel good because I’ve tapped into the things that are important to you – now you’re ready to learn more about me and hear what I have to offer.
Same with the remodeler. If green grabs you, you’re going to choose the remodeler who builds green. Say you aren’t already ‘green-savvy’, but you ‘lean green’ and you talk to three companies about remodeling your house. One spends the time to educate you about the value of green and why it makes sense for your house, your budget and the environment, one doesn’t build green and the other doesn’t seem to care or take any time learning what’s important to you, guess who you’re going to choose?
Creating a niche and marketing to that niche helps business owners attract the people best suited to their work and helps the client choose the provider that best fits their needs. Its win-win and it’s your job to know your message and then get it across – loud and clear. If you want more information on exactly how to do that, sign up for my video series, found on the right side of the page at: http://amyposner.com
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