So you think you are the fastest, the smartest, the smallest, the brightest, the best … so what! What does that mean to your customer? He or she probably isn’t interested. They’re only really interested in WIIFM … “What’s In It For Me?”

Customers look for benefits … but not always the benefits you think are benefits. Everyone in the B2B world seem to parade the usual suspects: Cost, productivity, risk, efficiency - you know them all. They’re obvious and they are easy. But, it also says “I didn’t bother to ask my customers why they buy”. You need to find the benefits that mean something to your customers. That are relevant to your customers.

And, don’t forget, you can’t treat all your customers as a unified mass - you need to look at different relevant benefits for different customer groups, segments, and personalities. But, more about that later … let’s look at how you can create customer-resonating benefits. And, I do mean “create” - because you need to do some deep thinking and digging to unearth these WIIFM gems.

Create Relevant Benefits
Here’s a simple step-by-step process to help you create relevant benefits. First, start looking at the big-picture attributes of the product or service:

Features
What features does the product/ service have?
What does the product / service offer?
For example: “The product offers 22kHz crystal clear audio.”

Advantages
What advantages the product / service offers?
What do the features do for the customer?
For example: “The product enables the subtleties of every sound to be heard.”

Benefits
What benefits the product / service offers?
What do the features mean to the customer?
For example: “The crystal clear sound means the listener has a natural, unblemished sound experience.”

Motives
What are the motives for buying?
What do the features satisfy?
For example: “This feature gives the listener the feeling of being in the concert auditorium.”

Next, note down …
everything the product or service does
the customer-relevant advantage for each feature
the benefits from the customers perspective
the motives that will meet the customers needs

Once you’ve done that …
Ask: What benefits motivate our customers to buy this product?
You need to dig deep here - think about every possible reason. If you don’t know - don’t guess - ask your customers. You need spontaneous open and real answers from your customers. Their responses may just surprise you. By the way, when you do ask, don’t provide multi-choice options. This will give you an answer - but not the right answer. Your entire campaign, messaging and brand will be built on the wrong answers … think about that.

Find the WIIFM hidden gems - and you could boost your sales.