Features vs. Benefits

Crafting “the sell” is a vital part of designing your direct mail piece. A common tendency when designing the mail piece is to sell the features of the product or service. While this is an informative way to promote a product or service, the features generally do not strike an emotional chord with the customer.

To strike an emotional chord, approach your sell with expressing how the product or service will benefit the client. Remember: Features Tell. Benefits Sell.

In this J&W Heating and Air vehicle wrap, the copy reads “Cool. Comfortable. Count on it.” Rather than saying than having technical elements of air conditioning, the ad focuses on the benefits and how good their customers will feel once they use J&W services.

Features Tell. Benefits Sell.

Features

Features tell what a product does or what a service is capable of. Features are good for including in copy, but they are not always good for a headline or sales pitch. Some features are certainly selling points, but be mindful that your customer wants to understand what you’re selling. Therefore, when selling the features, avoid highly technological or unfamiliar terminology.

Benefits

Benefits take the features of a product or service and make them relatable to the customer. Because they have the tendency to strike an emotional chord, they are ideal for selling products or services. When customers have multiple offers being thrown at them every day, a sales pitch that might make their life somewhat easier or better is a great way to connect what you offer with the customer. Benefits make the product all about the customer!

Here are some examples of how you can strengthen your sales pitch by approaching the benefits of a product or service rather than the features.

Feature: “16 GB of Storage!”

Benefit: “Holds more than 11,000 pictures!”

Feature: “Dreaming of less motion transfer when you’re asleep?”

Benefit: “Want an uninterrupted, better night’s sleep?”

Feature: “Built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi Hotspots!”

Benefit: “High speed internet on the go, wherever you go!”