When ‘selling' something whether it be by direct face to face, over the counter, print or vision or so on, no matter what medium, you must ensure that you follow the principle of FAB...

Many small business owners will let them selves down at this point because they will focus on the "features" rather than the BENEFITS...!

Remember what ‘frequency' (WII.FM - "What's in it for Me?) your customers tune into and at the end of the day, they are not interested in features, just benefits. Think about when you yourself are in the market to by a commodity. Sure you look for certain features but that's because they will ‘satisfy' a ‘need' or ‘want' and therefore you will ‘benefit' from it.

Look at your products now. Look at how you market them now. Get a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle making two columns. Head one column "Feature" and the other "Benefit". Now list the feature of the product and in the corresponding column list succinctly as possible the benefit of the feature. Here's a brief example:

FEATURE: Weekly coaching sessions, BENEFIT Accountability (you will have to complete all tasks)

FEATURE: Preliminary Business Diagnostic Report, BENEFIT: Provides you with a comprehensive guide to what needs repairing in your business

As you go through the list keep asking yourself "so what" as each feature is listed. This way you will drill further and further into the benefit of each of them

There's a common expression in the marketing world... "The customer wants a ¾ inch hole not a ¾ inch drill bit."

You see, the drill bit is simply the feature, the fact that it might be tungsten-carbide might be an advantage, but the ‘benefit' is that it will give the handyman what he ‘wants/ needs' - a ¾ inch hole in his kitchen bench!

So, when expressing an idea in print or verbally be sure that you understand the difference.

If you go through the exercise above and list the benefits to your features you will have just created your marketing strategy. You must include all the benefits of your product in your marketing message. When you do so you will have an advantage over your opposition.

Below is an example of the differences between Features, Advantages and Benefits:

Feature: Leather seats

Advantage: Lasts longer, easier to clean,