Selling benefits not features

Before selling your product or service you need to establish what makes it sellable and unique.

Promotional literature should inspire and motivate the reader, and this means citing the benefits of your offering more prominently than its features. Customers will identify more readily with buying benefits than an extensive list of product specifications.

Potential customers will also want to know what differentiates your product or service from that of your competitors - and the more unique selling points (USPs) you offer, the more likely you are to sell it.

This could be superior:

• Overall quality of service
• Price incentives
• Speed of delivery
• Niche products
• Specialist services
• Customer response standards

Many firms have been successful in selling with just one strong USP. For example, a company selling cleaning products will always advertise the idea of a clean house or office that their product brings ahead of its chemical composition.

But avoid contriving USPs that you are not able to justify. Customers can be quick to recognise false claims!