Have you noticed how I don’t tell you what my company does in this blog? Unlike Scoble et. al., I choose not to. I could add the Feature of knowing about my company to the blog, but it would only serve to clutter up your User (reader) Experience. And then I wouldn’t be able to be so candid, further ruining your experience. I make this simile to help illustrate the link I am about to provide, and my own commentary.
This is Broken links to a rant at Creating Passionate Users called: Featuritis vs. the Happy User Peak:
“Fear of being perceived as having fewer features than your competitors. Fear that you won’t be viewed as complete. Fear that people are making purchase decisions off of a checklist, and that he who has the most features wins (or at the least, that he who has the fewest features definitely loses). Fear of losing key clients who say, ‘If you don’t add THIS… I’ll have to go elsewhere.'”
This is exactly what my secret employer is currently facing. A couple competitors have added certain bells and whistles that our prospects are increasingly asking for. In a B2B world, comparing features on a spreadsheet is common. Our salespeople get frustrated every time it happens. Kathy Sierra’s advice?
“Screw ’em. We believe that those providing the products and services that give the most ‘I Rule’ experiences, without tipping too far over the Happy User Peak, will be the most successful. (Obviously there are a ton of exceptions, and yes of course I’m overgeneralizing.)”
Her rant is a good reality check on feature-itis…but how does a marketer (or a salesperson) get ‘happy user’ in the spreadsheet? When the customer is ready to buy, they are dreaming of all the different ways they could use the product and feel more secure when it has a lot of extra features. I’ve got a dishwasher at home with seven different modes, but I only ever use one. Would I have bought a dishwasher with just one setting? No.
Unfortunately, the most effective way to sell against feature-itis is to negative sell, I think. “Have you seen how complicated that is?” “Are you ready to support those features?” “What if it has problems?” I hate negative selling, but do I have much choice? In the long run, I’ll have a happier customer, if they buy from us.
Dave,Here’s the deal. MarketingForSuccess.com is the marketing site I’ve built over the last two years. In the last year alone traffic has grown by 350% along with sales of my marketing manuals. In addition to my site, I have a marketing blog and write a weekly small business marketing newsletter. All of the above bring in well over a thousand visitors a day. If you want to see how to convert more site visitors to subscribers and customers take a look at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com. I do provide coaching via a small business marketing program and system to marketing consultants and marketing professionals primarily in the U.S. and Canada, though the manuals sell worldwide, many through my affiliate program. Hope this helps.For the real me! http://www.marketingforsuccess.comStay in touchCharlie
Dave,Here’s the deal. MarketingForSuccess.com is the marketing site I’ve built over the last two years. In the last year alone traffic has grown by 350% along with sales of my marketing manuals. In addition to my site, I have a marketing blog and write a weekly small business marketing newsletter. All of the above bring in well over a thousand visitors a day. If you want to see how to convert more site visitors to subscribers and customers take a look at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com. I do provide coaching via a small business marketing program and system to marketing consultants and marketing professionals primarily in the U.S. and Canada, though the manuals sell worldwide, many through my affiliate program. Hope this helps.For the real me! http://www.marketingforsuccess.comStay in touchCharlie
When you sell with features you are inviting your prospects to find the value in your product. Demonstrating your product’s value should be your job as a marketer. Currently I am looking as getting an business phone/answering machine and these things have features I cannot even begin to understand. Has one advertisement shown me what the advantages of each of these feature ? Not really.If they did and I saw the exact same feature in a competing product, what product would I choose? Probably the one that demonstrated their value. Why? I don’t know.
When you sell with features you are inviting your prospects to find the value in your product. Demonstrating your product's value should be your job as a marketer. < />< />Currently I am looking as getting an business phone/answering machine and these things have features I cannot even begin to understand. Has one advertisement shown me what the advantages of each of these feature ? Not really.< />< />If they did and I saw the exact same feature in a competing product, what product would I choose? Probably the one that demonstrated their value. Why? I don't know.