SMALL BUSINESS IDEA: SELL BENEFITS

What makes a person "BUY"? This is perhaps the paramount question on every entrepreneur's mind. The answer, quite simply, is that a person with a specific NEED will BUY a specific product or service only if that product or service offers BENEFITS that will satisfy his need. The most successful products or services are those that sell clear and distinct BENEFITS to a customer. Although this sounds obvious enough, a lot of small business entrepreneurs tend to overlook this key business idea and still sell features.

To illustrate:
A hungry traveller finds a fruit stand selling fresh, red apples picked from the finest orchards. The hungry traveller happily buys the apples not because they were fresh or red or picked from the finest orchards (FEATURES). The traveller buys the apples mainly because he was hungry (NEED) and the apples can satisfy his hunger (BENEFITS). The traveller couldn't care less if the apples were red or blue. All he needed was to satisfy his hunger.
The small business guerrilla needs to keep this business idea in mind: people buy BENEFITS, not features. The guerrilla needs to clearly tell his customers how his product or service can make their lives better. The small business entrepreneur needs to position his business around these benefits. He needs to sell BENEFITS !

2 comments:

  1. You've pointed out a mistake that many young tech entrepreneurs make. Not only will they try to sell features, but they do not even see how they fail to connect with their customers ....

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  2. I am equally guilty of the same mistake selling features instead of benefits. Took me a while to realize that people need to see "what's in it for them" before they even consider buying into a product or service.
    By the way, I am so happy to have your comment on my humble little site. Salamat!

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