Most of my work is with start up businesses in the professional practices field, so Guerrilla Marketing is the most used tool in my arsenal. And, frankly, Guerrilla Marketing is a lot of gun – it uses creativity, time and imagination in place of big bucks. But before the creative part of the marketing occurs, some basic “grunt work” has to be done. And, one of the areas entrepreneurs seem to struggle with the most is translating their services/products into customer-oriented benefits.
Most of us have a tendency, when asked what our company does, to talk in terms of features. For example, if you own a landscaping company you might lead off with something like “We mow lawns.” Seems simple enough, right? But “mowing” isn’t what customers buy. Customers buy solutions. So, what problems might be solved by mowing?
o The homeowner will have more time
o The yard will look good and reflect well on the homeowner
o The homeowner will have more time for (fishing, golfing, family time, etc.)
Ideally, one of the first steps of any good marketing plan will involve listing out every single thing your company does/sells and them coming up with two to three benefits for each. If you are having a hard time translating your features into benefits, try asking your customers what they get out of their relationship with you – what problems have you solved for them?
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