If you missed the first part of this blog, you can find it here.

Step Two: Define the Benefits of Your BCAs

Even though you now know what your key features, or BCA’s are, you must convert them into benefits. Why? Because prospects do not purchase merely what you have to offer. They buy what those features will DO for their child and their family. So for each feature you now have on your BCAs list, you want to define what that feature MEANS to the prospective parent and child. What do they get from your features? This is the actual benefit. When you communicate your BCAs in benefit statements, it motivates your prospects to see what the true value of your services means to them compared to other choices. Sales professionals have long said, “People buy benefits, not features.”

So how do you define the benefits of your BCAs? First, use the list of BCA’s you have developed. For each BCA, determine what that feature means to the prospect. What will they get from you by having the feature you offer. For example, if one of your BCAs is long-tenured teachers, three benefits the child gets from that are stability, the teacher’s knowledge of child development, and the higher level of early education a teacher with experience can deliver. List two or three benefits for each of your BCAs.

If this is hard to master, or you find you are still listing features (What you offer versus what they get), a tip I give managers when working directly with them on this topic is to ask yourself, “So what?”

For example, let’s say one of your unique features is the use of the Reggio Emilia approach, which you describe as an educational system commonly recognized as one of the best programs for young children worldwide. Since you are the only one in your area using this philosophy, you have identified it as one of your BCAs.  To define the benefits of this BCA, you might ask yourself, “So what does our using this approach MEAN to the child?”

The answer to that question will give you the benefits. For instance, your answer might be that the child centered philosophy within the Reggio approach means the children use exploration and research to learn how to be creative and good problem solvers, which are skills you know your prospects want them to learn. That is what the child and family will GET, therefore, this is one benefit of your having the Reggio approach as a BCA.

So once you know the benefits for each of your Basic Competitive Advantages, how do you communicate them in statements that will present meaningful benefits to your prospects? This brings us to Step Three.

Julie Wassom
“The Speaker Whose Message Means Business”
Marketing and Sales Speaker/Consultant/Author
Call me: 303-693-2306
Fax me: 303-617-6422
E-me: julie@juliewassom.com
See me: www.juliewassom.com