At Costco yesterday, a sample server pitched her offering as “delicious, easy and convenient.”

I looked around. Those same words could describe nearly EVERY edible product in the store.

When everyone claims (or can claim) the exact same benefits, they become meaningless. It’s like calling yourself a “trusted provider” or promising “quality service.” Or your offering a “solution.”

Our brains are numbed to ignore these phrases.

They become “Bla-bla blaaah.” 😑

(Actually, no. You might remember THAT. Even worse — they dissolve into nothingness.)

So, what can you do to differentiate in a meaningful way?

In I Need That, I explain the Coveted Condition™ — the long-term transformation customers seek. For many of the examples in the book, I point out exactly what that is.

Immediate benefits, are fine, but they’re table stakes (aka virtually meaningless) when everyone else in the game can claim them.

Far more meaningful is who customers become through using your product.

Try this exercise. Complete the sentence from your customer’s perspective:

“I NEED (your product) TO BECOME _______.”

Not to save time. Not for convenience. Not just because it’s delicious, fun or easy.

But to become something more:

• A more creative cook
• A more organized parent
• A more confident presenter
• A more energetic athlete
• A more productive professional

The moment customers envision this transformation in themselves, they leap beyond buying obvious features and table-stakes benefits.

Now they’re investing in their future selves. That’s why they’ll miss your product terribly if it vanishes after a year of use.

It’s what they would dearly miss that you focus on to fully understand the Coveted Condition that manifests from owning your product.

Action for you: Write down those common benefit words you use to describe your product. Then dig deeper. How does it help customers become something more? Now do the exercise above. That’s your real value proposition.

Laurier

P.S. Think about discontinued products you sorely missed after they were gone. It’s probably not because they were “easy and convenient.” It’s because they made you better in a way that mattered. If only they’d been able to help more customers see that Coveted Condition!