SIZZLE TO SUCCESS!

By Ben Pedersen (c)2000

 

Have you ever heard the term "sell the sizzle, not
the steak"?

If you have do you wonder what the heck it means?
After all, this isn't the Sizzler! It's the internet.
Why the heck are we talking about steak here?

Perfectly valid questions my friend. There are two sides to this story. The first, if it's nice outside, this may be a clue that it's time to fire up the "barbie" and throw a steak on. Two, if it's your business you're concerned about, Listen up.

In today's market, the prospect has one thing in mind.
What's in it for him. If you're selling anything, you'd
better realize this and respond to it. This is also known as the "WIIFM" rule.

When you do your marketing, how are you handling this?

Do you tell people about all of the great features your
product has? Do you boast of all your gizmo's cool knick knacs?

If so, you're dead in the water.

Like I said before, nobody gives a hoot about your features. They only care about the benefits your product will bring THEM. You must tell them about those benefits in your marketing if you want to be successful.

For example, people don't but the skis. They buy the fun they'll have using them. It's not the sports car, it's the ability to "leave others in the dust." And, it's not the great looking web page, it's the promise of great success it's content houses.

Do you see this?

Just think, do you wear a jacket when it's cold outside
because it features down feathers?

Of course not! You wear it because those down feathers will keep you roasty toasty warm. Most likely, that's a benefit that sold the jacket.

Nobody buys a product, they buy it's benefits. Sell those benefits to them and not the product. Sell the sizzle - not the steak.

"Okay. That sounds great but how do I do this with my
product?"

Well, it's quite simple really. I'll show you.

Lets do a short exercise. Take a piece of paper and fold it in half. Now, think of your product or one that you're marketing. Take a moment to think of every imaginable feature that product has. Now, on the left hand side, list those features.

Okay, so now you've got the left hand side all full of
features right? On the right side, turn those features into benefits.

For instance, lets say you sell DSL access with a
feature of 144 kbps speed. On the right hand side you might write like something like "web pages blink to life instantly" because that is the BENEFIT of such speed and that's what you want to tell the prospects. Nobody cares about the fact that you offer speeds up to 144kbps. In fact, they may not even know what "kbps" means! But, if you tell them that they get "blistering fast web access", you'll probably hook 'em.

In short, the left side of your sheet is all about the product. The right side is all about your prospect. Find the BENEFITSof your product's FEATURES and sell those.

Benefits solve problems. Benefits create desire.

Most importantly: Benefits show your prospects what's in it for them and that will SELL YOUR PRODUCT.