Benefits, Benefits, Benefits

By FH Cooper | Leave a Comment

It doesn’t matter whether you are selling a product or service, the customer almost always looks for three things:

1. what is the product or service going to do for me
2. how much does it cost
3. how fast can I get it!

If it is a product or service that can boost productivity, reduce inventory, or increase growth substantially, the potential customer is not immediately interested in how it works, rather the price and delivery.

Potential customers are always interested in benefits first-

“What is it going to do for me?”

How it works is not nearly so important. If your product or service is generic or it is designed to address one specific challenge, the result is the same. It is helping the potential customer do something they were not able to do up to that point with what is currently available.

Almost everything has a benefit. A job, a new suit, a new car. After you finish evaluating the product or service “on the surface” i.e., looking at the most obvious things, you should then look to see if there is an added benefit that could influence your decision. The question, “why should I buy this one over that one” is usually answered by analyzing the benefits of one item over another.

Product or service benefits add value.

There is a school of thought for showing the machine used to manufacture the component rather than the finished component part itself. That is what the customer is more interested in. This is especially true of international companies not familiar with our style of marketing. We strongly suggest showing the benefit rather than the capability. This may not be applicable in all cases; there are always exceptions.

As a rule, benefits usually win. One client we worked with, was one of the first to use numerical control machinery. It reduced his manufacturing time on many of the products he produced by one third and in some cases, even more. The result was that he was super competitive in both pricing and turnaround time.

As you develop your marketing program for product or services, list the benefits vs. competitors. Every company is different and benefits could be your competitive edge.

Franklin Cooper ©2017