07th Nov 2007
New shoes and ice makers: Features vs. Benefits
When I’m teaching marketing, I talk often about features vs. benefits. This is a really important concept to remember when you’re creating advertising or talking about your practice. If you talk about your technique, don’t say how wonderful it is, and how great the technology is. Talk about how it will benefit your patients. What will it do for their pain? How will it help them?
As an example, I got some cool new shoes. They are called Z-coils. They have a funny heel that looks like a coiled spring; my daughter says I look like Tigger (in Winnie the Pooh). I got them because they help my knee pain (don’t laugh; you guys will be there too some day). So I’m wearing them and someone asks me, “What’s the technology of those things?” My answer was, “I don’t care. They work.” See what I mean? Technology is a feature; the fact that they work is a benefit.
In a classic story, a young salesman is working his first day in an appliance store. He knows everything about all the appliances, so when an elderly lady comes in and asks about the ice maker in a refrigerator, he gives her a half-hour explanation of how the ice maker works. When he’s done talking, the lady leaves in confusion. The boss rushes over and says, “Why did that lady leave?” The salesman explains that he was just telling her how the icemaker worked. The boss says, “Next time a customer asks how the ice maker works, tell them it works at night.”
Features vs. Benefits. It is not what you think you are selling; it is what your patients think they are buying. Seriously, if you get this concept, your marketing will start working.
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