What Is the Difference Between Features and Benefits?

You’ll often hear marketers tell you to focus on benefits not features when describing your services. This is because people don’t buy or value features. They value how those features can enhance their lives - or the benefits.

Features are the characteristics or attributes that physically describe your service. In real estate, the features of your services include the process for how you solve your prospects’ problems. For instance, you may provide a lock box or for sale sign to home sellers that choose to list with you.

Benefits, on the other hand, emphasize the magnitude of the problem and how your solution makes your prospects’ life easier. They answer the question “so what?” Benefits can be classified into three types:

• Economic: Economic benefits stress cost savings or emphasize value.
• Psychological or Emotional: Psychological benefits stress security, reliability, expertise, friendliness or other feelings or beliefs associated with your service.
• Functional: Functional benefits stress what you promise to do such as help single women buy their first home at an affordable price.

Here’s an example:

“We’ll provide you with a lockbox” - ask the question “So what?”

Benefit: The lockbox allows real estate agents to show your house at the convenience of the interested buyers - even when you aren’t home. Rest assured that your lockbox is completely secure. Modern lockboxes contain a tiny microprocessor inside and can only be opened by a special electronic key held by a licensed real estate agent. Because each agent has their own key, the lock box records the identity of every agent who opens the box as well as the date and time they enter the home.

In this example, functional and psychological benefits are stressed. The functional benefits explain how real estate agents can show homes to potential buyers even if the seller isn’t home. The psychological benefits explain how the lockbox is secure by stating that only licensed real estate agents can open it and that every time the box is opened, the agent’s identity, date and time are recorded.

Keep this in mind the next time you send a mailing, write an advertisement or explain to a prospect what you do - never assume people understand the benefits. Tell them explicitly what they get and why that’s relevant to them.