The "So What?" test of features or benefits

If you are talking to a potential customer and they say (or maybe just think) "So What?!", then the chances are you are talking about features, not benefits.

It's a trap we can all easily fall into. We are enthusiastic about our creative businesses and want to tell people about what we do and how we do it, to produce products or services - and forget to sell the customer benefits.

The customer will ask themselves "What's in it for me?" and if we fail to explain what's in it for them (customer benefits), and just talk about the facts or features of the product or service, they will walk away.

An example. I was talking with a web designer and asking how he could help me with a project I was working on. He went on at length about the open source software he used, the capability of the programs, his skilled staff etc, etc. I was thinking "Good for you! But what's in it for me?" I had to ask him directly before he explained the benefits to me, the potential client, of his using open source software.

Marketing is about looking at things from the customer's point of view. That means emphasising customer benefits they are interested in, not the features of the product or service we are interested in ourselves.

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Let me know of your own experiences or stories about features vs benefits, from your own creative business or your experience as a customer.