MISTAKE #6: Your product has a delayed or difficult-to-perceive benefit
It is relatively easy to sell products with an immediate benefit. Like pizza.
I can judge the smell, appearance, texture, and taste of any pizza with the first bite. I can also quickly determine whether it will take away my hunger. The distance from consumption to benefit is very short.
I was hungry. Now I am not.
And then there are products with a slight delay in benefit. Many over-the-counter medications fall into this group. It might take an hour from initial consumption to experience the benefit. However, the causality is still pretty clear.
I took a pill. Now I feel better.
Competitive medications can claim to act incrementally faster or have fewer side effects, but it still isn’t that hard to convince your consumer that your product delivered on its promise.
Then there are products that have a more indirect or delayed benefit. These products might take weeks or months or years to demonstrate their benefit. Some may never provide tangible evidence of being any better than competitive products.
THE HARD SELL
Engine oil is a great example.
Over the years, I’ve had multiple clients in the engine oil category and I happen to be an old school guy that still changes the oil in my vehicles myself.
There is literally a five-fold price difference between the basic store brand oils and the premium high-performance brands. Yet the premium brands struggle to gain market share beyond just automotive enthusiasts because they offer benefits that are extremely hard to perceive. They promise to not breakdown at high temps. They offer better wear protection. And they’re supposed to produce less build-up inside the engine.
The problem, of course, is that few people ever crack open their engine to look inside. I never have. And I’m going to safely assume most people reading this article never have.
Because I’ve actually done research in the category, I understand and believe the benefits of premium oils truly do exist. I know the difference synthetics and high-tech additives make. I know that premium oils deliver on their promise and truly are superior to cheap oils.
I understand that it makes sense to spend an extra $50 on an oil change to ensure the continued enjoyment of a $50,000 vehicle.
WHY I DON'T BUY PREMIUM MOTOR OIL
Despite being better educated about motor oil than 95% of the population, the lack of a tangible and more immediate benefit causes me to still reach for a less expensive option.
The inability to see or experience the benefit begins to build the argument in my head against buying premium oil. (Theory is great, but I like to see things in practice)
The fact that I haven’t experienced any meaningful consequence from using less expensive oil furthers that argument. (I’ve never had an engine that needed to be repaired)
And the debate is over once I consider all the other factors that can exist to make the long-term benefits of premium oil irrelevant to me (i.e. I’ll sell the vehicle before any issues surface, I’m causing just as much damage with the way I drive or the fact that I use non-premium gas, etc.)
How many other shoppers are like me? How many dollars are lost in the motor oil category because the benefit is too intangible to alter the purchase decision?
To their credit, oil companies understand this dilemma and several have developed educational materials, demos, or videos that help shoppers peer inside an engine to make the benefits more tangible. But better awareness and understanding still don’t overcome the delayed part of the benefit.
IS YOUR CATEGORY MORE LIKE MOTOR OIL THAN YOU’D LIKE TO ADMIT?
Motor oil is a more extreme example, but it is certainly not the only category with this challenge.
Most health, nutrition, fitness, or weight-loss products require dedicated use over a period of time before any meaningful benefit is realized: This is why so many programs now encourage participants to do pre-testing or calibration to help establish a benchmark from which relative improvement can be measured.
Many products that make durability claims have learned to use visual cues or lifetime warranties to demonstrate evidence of the claim. They've learned to use the peace-of-mind shoppers get when buying the product as a tangible benefit.
Paper towel and toilet paper brands have learned how to stack just the right number of quarters on paper with just the right amount of wetness for just the right amount of time to create a compelling visualization of their added strength compared to “the bargain brand.” One more quarter or a little more water and the perceived difference disappears.
Is your product struggling because the benefit is delayed or difficult to perceive? Have you done enough homework to frame your benefit in the most compelling manner?
Need help understanding how to make your benefits matter more to your shopper? As always, we’re happy to help.