So What Do You Sell? 

You sometimes have to sit back and wonder what a company actually does. This is quite often the case when looking at websites – homepages can get cluttered so deep in marketing waffle and promises of partnership that the point is missed. What are you selling?

Some of the blame for this can be attributed to the old marketing maxim – customers buy benefits not features. In other words, they want the benefits that are provided by a product (or service) not the features themselves. The classic example is given of a drill – what customers actually want are holes, not a drill.

While this is true, it is still important to state clearly what the product on offer actually is. You don’t see Black & Decker selling holes for £69.99 – they sell a drill which will provide holes in a wide range of surfaces, without cables so you can go further etc.

All too often, organisations forget to say what they are selling in pursuit of what they see as marketing excellence. Lay on the benefits with a thick trowel and the customers will love it – after all we know what we sell so why bother telling anyone. A typical piece of benefit-heavy marketing speak could be along the lines of:

“At Acme Inc we believe in delighting our customers every time by working in a partnership environment in which both parties work to mutual goals. Our customers know that their needs will be recognised and met and that their business will grow as a result.”

Eh? So what are you selling again?

It isn’t just the world of corporate websites that leaves people mystified – some major companies are guilty of it too. This can be the result of bad communication or (worse) bad corporate strategy.

For example, what exactly do Woolworths sell? Their adverts seem to hit a range of unassociated products in a scattergun way – a classic case of poor communication. Unfortunately I’m none the wiser after going in-store. My dad loves to tell the story of how if he didn’t work hard at school, his teacher would threaten that he’d “end up behind the sock counter at Woolworths.” As far as I can see they don’t have a sock counter anymore, just a lot of erm… things!

The Woolworths corporate website states that: “Woolworths offers its customers value-for-money on an extended range of products. It is built around the well known Woolworths brand which is represented in towns and cities throughout the UK.”

I can get value for money on an extended range of products at my local library, and as for the brand? So what? What exactly do you sell?

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