#079: Make this messaging change

Read time: 2 minutes

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One Simple Shift Can Make Your Sales Messaging Click With Buyers

Ever feel like your pitch isn’t landing, even when you know your product is great?

There are 3 ways to describe your product or service. You can describe the features of it, the benefits of it, or the outcomes it provides.

Most reps are stuck in either the features or the benefits.

The problem with this is no one cares what your product or service does.

They only care what it can do FOR THEM.

Here is a quick exercise that can turn your boring feature dumps into value packed outcomes your prospect will get excited to learn about.

It’s called Feature → Benefit → Outcome.

Sounds basic, right? But let’s break it down. I encourage you to look at your own messaging and talk tracks to see where you’re at.

• Feature = What your product does

• Benefit = Why that feature matters

• Outcome = What the user gets as a result

It’s the outcome that your customer actually cares about.

Take this example of a capability we had at my last company, Synthego:

That last part (the outcome) is the only thing your customer really cares about. It's how they move their research forward, hit their goals, or look good to their boss.

And yet, so many reps stop at the benefit stage, leaving the customer to figure out the outcome on their own. That’s a missed opportunity.

How to Apply This

It doesn’t have to be complicated:

1. Create a 3-column table
   Feature | Benefit | Outcome
   List your product/service capabilities and go through the exercise of asking:

   1. Why does that feature matter?

   2. Why would your customer care?

   3. What’s in it for them?

2. Tailor it to personas
   You don’t need a separate table for every customer (though that’s great if you can), but at least break it down by persona: academic vs. biotech vs. pharma, for example.

3. Use it everywhere

   • Prospecting emails

   • Discovery calls

   • Follow-ups ("Are you still looking to [desired outcome]?")

   • Marketing content

   • Sales decks

   • Closing conversations

Once you know the outcome that matters to a customer, you can tailor your messaging, your positioning, and even your follow-up to hit that emotional chord.

Don’t Wait for Product Marketing

You don’t need to wait for application notes or messaging from the product/marketing team. You can start this today. Open a spreadsheet and get your team to contribute. You’ll be amazed how quickly it clarifies your messaging and will help it stand out.

Need help getting started? Just reply to this email or shoot us a note on LinkedIn and we’ll send you a quick template to use with your team.

The short podcast episode below goes into more details!

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Episode 57: [Sales] Turn your features into outcomes your customers care about

• Takeaways go hereIn this conversation, Nick and Harrison discuss the importance of understanding the relationship between features, benefits, and outcomes in sales. They emphasize that customers care more about the outcomes of a product or service rather than the features themselves. The discussion includes practical advice on how to effectively communicate these outcomes to customers, enhancing sales messaging and follow-up strategies. They also encourage listeners to engage with them for further insights and templates to apply these concepts in their own sales processes.

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