Finding the Ultimate Benefits of Your Product or Service is Key
It may upset you to hear this but nobody cares about your product or service. Even your current customers and clients.
I’m not trying to be mean or insult you. Please understand that it’s not you and it’s not your work. It’s our human nature.
This shouldn’t cause you anxiety because your customers and clients do care about something. It’s what your product or service does for them. That’s what matters and is relevant to their lives. People don’t buy a TV because it is on the shelf. They buy a TV because it will bring entertainment and relaxation into their lives.
It’s the same for your product or service. People will buy it because of the ultimate benefit they will get. You see, people don’t want what you’re selling… They want what it will do for them! Do you know exactly why your current customers and clients are buying from you? Do you know what the true benefit of your product or service is to them?
Imagine Using Your Own Product or Service
Just take a moment and think about using your own product or service.
- Why would you use it?
- Which problem does it solve?
- What is the outcome, result, or change?
- What impact will it have on people’s lives?
- How is it relevant?
Answer these honestly; get right down to the primal human benefit. Don’t stop at the inconsequential features or even benefits.
For example, an “HD” TV gives you better picture quality. What does that really matter though? What really matters is that HD draws you deeper into the story line with a more immersive experience.
Ask yourself “So what?” Keep asking yourself “So what?” until you can’t possibly answer it any further. Then go ask your customers why they buy from you and watch your understanding get even deeper.
Benefits Before Features
Once you understand what people truly get you are going to be miles ahead of your competitors. You can now go straight to the real reason a person would buy something from you. Move your customers from “oh that’s interesting” to “give it to me NOW!” Don’t distract them with features until you’ve clearly communicated what they’re going to benefit from spending their hard-earned money.
You may be wondering if features even have a place. They do. It’s to support your main message of benefit and value to your consumer. Just tell them about the benefits first. Everything else you communicate should support this initial value message.
One of the first things I try to discover about new clients is the benefits of their product or service. This is because you can only create an effective Internet marketing strategy if you know what value you bring into this world. Actually, forget marketing campaigns… You can only create an effective business by knowing your true benefits.
A Trap We All Fall Into
It’s easy to talk about putting the ultimate benefits first. Unfortunately, this is much harder to do in practice. I suspect this is because it’s often easier to describe a feature rather than appeal to human emotion. Additionally, we have to fight our own nature to talk about ourselves. As soon as you’re talking about yourself, you’re not talking about benefits to the consumer anymore.
It’s a trap we all fall into. We just need to be constantly vigilant about staying on course.
What do you think? Do you have any advice to share about how you discover your products or services true benefits? How do you avoid falling into the features and “it’s all about me” trap? Leave your comments, tips, and advice below.
