I was helping a friend update his website copy recently.

He’s a builder and very proud of a 35 year reputation for providing good quality service to his customers.

Nothing wrong with that of course and because of his time in the game, when he wrote the original copy, he felt any future customers would know they could rely on him if he banged on about it all through the site.

The trouble with this approach is that customers don’t really care!

I’m not saying his 35 year reputation meant nothing and it certainly should be used in say an ‘About Us’ page or something like that…

But making it a major factor throughout the site was a big mistake.

The thing is, people don’t make buying decisions based on how long you’ve been established, whether you’re proud of your reputation or what you did to get to where you are …

They base them on the number one question in their mind they have for you at the time (albeit subconsciously)…

… ‘What’s in it For Me?’

In sales copy, selling the sizzle rather than the steak will get you better results every time!

Imagine you’re in a restaurant and you see a nice sirloin on the menu.

Do you think to yourself “ooo I fancy that because it’s a really good cut of nice quality meat?”

I very much doubt it.

You’re more likely to be thinking of how succulent it’s going to look on the plate, the sizzle and aroma when it’s put in front of you and how it’s going to taste when you tuck into it.

You see, when you write sales copy, selling outcomes or benefits of your products and services will result in a ‘yes’ far more often than when you’re focusing purely on facts and features.

But here’s the thing…

Do you really understand the difference between features and benefits?

Human beings are emotional creatures and tapping into how they’ll feel when you supply them with what you’re offering (as long as it’s worthy of course), is one of the most important things to do to get results, so getting this part right is absolutely essential.

Let’s break it down.

Put simply, features are basically the facts about a product.

A brand new vacuum cleaner might come with lots of free accessories, multiple suck settings and a dust storage chamber that’s bigger then ever before.

These are all features and while they’re important to know, it’s what they DO for a customer that would make someone want to buy it.

In order to sell anything, you must persuade the buyer that what you’re offering will solve a problem they’re experiencing or that it’ll make their life better in some way.

In other words that’s the sizzle – the benefits of what you’re offering!

The benefits of the new vacuum cleaner above would be…

• The customers will save money because they don’t need to buy the extra accessories that came free.
• They don’t have the hassle of finding the nozzle for the job in hand because it’s attached to the vaccuum.
• They save time because the large dust chamber means they don’t have to empty it so often.
• They save time and hassle because the different suck settings allow them to clean up more stuff that would normally require them to go and get a dust pan and brush.

All the above mean cleaning floors will be effortlessly finished that much more quickly, which in turn means anyone using the product can get on with everything else they want to do with their day that much sooner!

Bottom line…

While important to know, features don’t generally trigger emotion whereas benefits give rise to experiences and pleasures which can all be imagined.

Imagination can trigger all kinds of emotions and guess what… it’s these that do the selling!

Big global corporations sell the benefits all the time.

Take car adverts for example which are a classic.

The vehicle being promoted might look great, have a higher powered engine and be more reliable than any other car in its class.

But this isn’t what the advertiser majors on.

I’m sure you’ll have seen the good looking ‘chisel-jawed’ guy driving to the beach with a surfboard strapped to the roof…

Or maybe the beautiful woman arriving at some swanky location, opening the door and stepping out in a posh sequined frock as if she owns the place…

Perhaps you’ve seen the happy go-lucky family man with a huge grin opening the spacious boot to pull out an overly large bag of golf clubs without it dragging loads of clutter onto the car park.

Of course they all got to where they wanted to be via a stress-free drive through traffic free roads or fantastic scenery without any effort.

All these scenarios convey emotion, feelings of…

• Freedom
• Relaxation
• Happiness
• Being chilled out
• Beautiful
• Comfortable
• Pleasure
• Enjoyment
• Stress free

Yes the features and facts about the car might well be really impressive but the advert has been designed to tap into the part of your brain that makes you imagine what the car could DO for you!

The thing is, when you see these ads you’re not being sold a great quality vehicle with all the detail that makes it what it is…

You’re being sold the dream… where you’re a beautiful, stress-free person who has it all, where everyone around you envys the wonderfully relaxed lifestyle you enjoy just because you can!

That’s very powerful!

Of course, it’s not only about triggering emotions.

To clinch the deal, particularly in sales copy, you do still have to run through the features as well, otherwise the customer won’t have a clue of what it is they’re buying.

However, as long as the product or service is going to genuinely be of benefit to them, if you’ve triggered their emotions by tapping into their imagination, this is not much more than a formality.

The truth is, the truth on its own doesn’t sell!

This might sound a little controversial and even a touch dishonest but hear me out.

In reality, when a customer buys from a sales piece, they think they’re buying the benefits but in most cases they’re only actually getting the features!

When you buy the car in the above example, you might not get any of what you saw, but you do get the car.

In other words, you get the facts and the features…

• The car is real, it’s a fact.
• It is economical, certainly a feature.
• It looks great
• Maybe it does 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds
• Perhaps it has a 1000 cubic litre boot space

All facts and features but that’s not what people are buying.

They’re buying the benefits…

The 1000 litre boot space is the feature… getting a huge bag of golf clubs out of it without any hassle is the benefit!

Conclusion

Whether or not you’ve heard of the old adage ‘sell the sizzle, not the steak’ doesn’t really matter but it’s the principle that’s important.

In reality we want to sell the sizzle and the steak or maybe even the sizzle, then the steak but the thing you really need to understand if you want to write highly effective sales copy…

… is to major on the sizzle!

Both emotional benefits driven by imagination and physical features are important, but the priority when trying to sell a product or service should always be on its benefits.

The benefits speak directly to the customer in terms of what’s in it for them!

• Saving money
• Making money
• Reducing stress
• Saving time
• Making life easier
• Impressing other people
• Improving efficiency
• Beating competition
• Getting out of the rat-race

The list goes on and on but you get the point!