One of the TV shows I enjoy watching is Restaurant Impossible (another is Bar Rescue). On Restaurant Impossible they go into a failing restaurant and redo the:
- Menu
- Facility
- Owner’s (and staffs’) attitude
The thing I really like about it is the focus on results. It’s all about turning a money losing business into a profitable venture while at the same time repairing damaged family relationships.
A good marketing person will tell you, it’s not about features, it’s about benefits. So in this case, it’s not about activity it’s about results. Examples from the small business world include:
- You don’t have a device with the latest titanium flange, you have a device that will save 23% on energy costs.
- Customers don’t want their taxes done for the lowest fee, they want them done so they pay the lowest amount of tax (legally) and not get flagged by the IRS.
- My clients don’t care as much about my methodology as they do about avoiding a bad deal and getting a good, sustainable, deal.
Too often we get caught up in the features of what we do. The focus should be on the results (benefits) our customers get. Understanding why they keep coming back and/or referring others to us gives us insight into what the real benefits are (versus what we perceive them to be).
“The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.” Arthur Koestler