Most small business marketing fails not because the offer is weak but because the message describing it is fuzzy. This eBook gives you a method for writing copy that the right customer recognises themselves in within ten seconds.
Members ebook·7 chapters· 35 minute read
Chapter 3
Benefits and Outcomes
How to describe what the customer actually gets, in concrete terms, instead of generic promises that mean nothing.
Once you've named the customer's problem clearly, the next move is to show them what the other side looks like. Not in vague terms. In concrete ones. Not 'better health' but 'sleeping through the night within three weeks'. Not 'a great website' but 'a launched site that turns the first ten visitors into two enquiries'.
Most small business copy stops at generic benefits. We deliver excellence. We pride ourselves on quality. We're passionate about results. Each of those phrases means nothing because every competitor says exactly the same. The customer reads them and learns nothing about what's actually going to happen if they choose you.
This chapter teaches you to write benefits the customer can picture. By the end you'll have rewritten the benefits section of one page using the method - and you'll see the difference immediately.
The full chapter walks through the difference between features and outcomes, the simple translation method and how to write benefits that the customer can actually picture.
Features, benefits, outcomes
Three levels of language. Features describe what the thing is. Benefits describe what the thing does for the customer. Outcomes describe what changes in the customer's life as a result.
For a maintenance contract: feature is 'four annual visits'. Benefit is 'regular check-ups so problems are spotted early'. Outcome is 'no surprise emergency call-outs at midnight, no panic phone calls from tenants'. The same offer, three levels of description. The third one is what the customer actually buys.
Most small business copy lives at level one with occasional excursions to level two. Move it consistently to level three and the page starts working.
The translation method
From feature to outcome
01Write the feature in plain words. "Six therapy sessions in a package."
02Ask: what does the customer get from that? "Time and space to actually work through the issue."
03Ask again: and what changes in their life? "Sleeping through the night without lying awake replaying yesterday."
04Stop when the answer describes a change a friend would notice in them.
The 'and what changes' question is the engine. Keep asking it until you've moved beyond what the offer is and into what life looks like afterwards. That's the outcome worth writing about.
Concrete beats abstract
Specific numbers, specific moments and specific situations beat general promises every time. 'Sleep through the night within three weeks' beats 'better sleep'. 'A working boiler within four hours' beats 'fast response'. 'A finished tax return by the fifteenth of January' beats 'timely service'.
Don't promise what you can't deliver. Outcomes that turn out to be untrue are worse than no promise at all. The point is to be specific within what you can credibly stand behind. Most small businesses can promise more concretely than they currently do without overpromising.
Stack three, not seven
Most homepages list far too many benefits. The customer's eye glazes after the third one. Pick the three that matter most to your target customer. Stack them visibly. Cut the rest, even if they're true.
For a clinic the three might be: sleeping better within three weeks, full course of treatment scheduled around your working day, a clear plan you'll get in writing after the first session. For a plumbing firm: a phone call back within the hour, a same-day appointment for emergencies, a written quote with no surprises. Three is enough. Three is all the customer can hold.
Benefits that fail the concreteness test
"World-class service"
"A bespoke approach"
"Cutting-edge solutions"
"Industry-leading expertise"
"A commitment to excellence"
"Tailored to your needs"
Naming the trade-off
Strong messaging often names a trade-off. "This isn't the cheapest plumber in town - it's the one landlords use when they're tired of chasing." "This isn't a quick-fix programme - it's a six-month commitment for people serious about change." Naming what you're not creates trust in what you are.
Be careful with this move. It works when the trade-off is one your target customer would actively prefer. It backfires when you name a trade-off your customer doesn't want to make. The customer language work in chapter two tells you which is which.
Where the benefits go
The three benefits sit just below the problem sentence and the offer. Headline names the problem. One line names the offer. Three short benefits stack underneath. That's the top of the homepage. Everything else is detail.
What to do this week
Pick one offer. Write down the three features you'd usually mention. For each, run the translation method until you have the outcome. Stack the three outcomes on a single page. Replace whatever's currently on your homepage with these three. Notice what changes.
Make the offer clear. Outcomes are how you make it clear. The next chapter is about the quiet barriers between interest and action - objections and proof.
The rest of this chapter walks through the practical steps, the templates and the checklists you need to put it into action. It includes worked examples, copy frameworks and the small decisions that make the difference between a plan that sits in a drive and one that gets used.
Inside you'll find a step-by-step playbook, a downloadable template, a checklist you can run this week and a short list of common mistakes to avoid before you start.
The full action plan, broken into weekly steps.
Ready-to-use scripts, templates and checklists.
Worked examples for different sized businesses.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them.
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