People in business spend all kinds of time and money to craft a great ad, website, mail piece or campaign, but then drop the ball with the way they describe or explain their product or service. My goal this month is to show you some common mistakes and to make sure you are not making them in your business.

The first challenge is to understand that it does not matter what you think about your product or service - or even how fantastic it truly is. The only thing that matters is how well you can tell the prospect about it. Many great companies have disappeared because they were not able to describe what they did. Now, here is the million dollar secret behind telling about what you do - Features vs. Benefits. Companies make the mistake of listing features about the product or service. Your prospect doesn't care about the features. They want to know how it is going to benefit them! Here are a couple of examples to prove my point:

1. Feature: Our product is made from a state of the art plastic polymer.

Benefit: Our product will NEVER wear out no matter how much you use it!

2. Feature: Our service guarantee gives you 30 days to try our service.

Benefit: If you are not 100% satisfied with our service we will refund 100% of your money.

In both examples, the same thing is being said, but one speaks to the prospect - and remember the prospect is the one who decides if they are going to buy.

Action Step: Take a look at your marketing and see if you are thumping your chest by describing features, or if you are describing benefits that will help your prospect solve their problems.

The second challenge is listening to how you, your staff and your customers "speak" about your product or service. I listen to business owners present their product or service every week and say things like, "I am the cheapest ________ in town." I don't think positioning yourself as the cheapest is a good business plan. Any competitor can come along and undercut you so you are put into a weak position. Add to that, most people do not want cheap - people want cost effective and affordable, but not cheap. Also, be careful of jargon. Be careful with the use of abbreviations and "common" industry terms. Speak the language your prospect understands.

Action Step: Think long and hard about the words you want to use to describe what you do. Start to use those words in your conversations until they become integrated into everything you say.

If you take the time to complete these two action steps, you will be amazed at how much more business you find.