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Q2 • 2024


FEATURE


By Sherry Chiger


It’s crucial to inquire, “What are we truly offering?” Neglecting this question can limit your sales pitch or marketing messages to merely the tangible product or service. Frequently, individuals aren’t seeking the product or service itself. Instead, they’re drawn to the benefits or returns derived from it. By delving deeper than the


product alone and understanding what people genuinely desire, you’ll find the answer to “What are we really selling?”


d


uring the depths of the Great Depression, Revlon founder Charles Revson described


cosmetics as “hope in a jar.” His awareness that he was selling not a commodity but something less tangible helped him grow his business into an empire. That “something less tangible”


could be a longing for positive change (which hope is, at its core). Or it could be an emotion: joy, comfort, pride. Or it could be both. You could tap into an emotion while satisfying the prospective customer with a solution to a problem. Adopting this mindset will bolster your business, just as it did for Charles Revson.


Solving for X Most people are dissatisfied with at least some aspect of their life. It can be something as major as the state of their marriage or as minor as having to repeatedly get up from their desk to refill their water bottle. One marketing approach is to zero in on this aspect, view it as a problem, and offer a solution. “If you think about it, even the most basic widgets are solving a problem for somebody somewhere,” says creative and content strategist Kelly Lack, whose clients have included Fenty Beauty and Williams-Sonoma. “And if you can effectively position your widget, now it’s a solution. Not just a widget.”


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