(815) 503-0286 matt@matthewlbrennan.com

When I worked in retail, I had the difference between a product feature and value statement drilled into me. One is an excellent component for dinner table geek talk. The other can help sell a customer on the benefit of your product.
This is an important distinction to make as you write about what it is that you sell. Cars are an easy example. What you have to consider is what the feature means for your customer.
If you tell your customer that a car gets 35 miles to the gallon, they may not completely understand what that means. If you tell them that they can drive nearly 500 miles between fill-ups, well now you’re speaking their language.
While a V6 engine excites gear heads, you can achieve that same level of excitement in any driver by telling them about the increased pickup, and the ability to enter traffic when it was otherwise not advisable.
It’s not a matter of the brand new feature that your product or service includes. How does what you sell improve your customers’ lives? That’s the question.
 Matt Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing writer and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.