Identifying your product and service benefits

Light beer is less filling. Flame broiling tastes better. Skin cream can make you look younger. The manufacturers and retailers of these products are trying to sell you the benefits of their products, not their features. The brewery may describe light beer as having 30% fewer calories than regular beer, but what you will hear and see in the television commercial is that it is less filling.

As you begin writing product and service descriptions for your business plan, consider the benefits being offered to potential consumers. Don't concentrate on product descriptions and features. Explain how your product benefits the customer. A feature simply describes the product, while a benefit focuses on the needs of customers. A benefit can satisfy a prospect's needs in a variety of ways, such as being the most economical, the fastest, or the most entertaining.

In the following table you will notice that the benefits appeal to the prospects' needs with a description of how those needs will be satisfied.