Positioning





Back

Statement Of Benefit SOB

Sometimes it’s hard to come up with a USP or to find anything unique about your business, so it may be easier for you to express the benefits that you offer to your clients.

Brad Antin and Alan Antin, the authors of Secrets from the Lost Art of Common Sense Marketing (Antin Marketing Group, 1992), have devised an alternative to developing your USP.
They call it a “Statement of Benefit,” or SOB.

An SOB is a statement of benefit. A statement of benefit tells the single most compelling advantage that sets your business apart from every other business that is out there that is a competitor. It has to be concise and it has to be a statement that puts you a head and shoulders above everybody else. You can't be all things to all people. You have to be very specific with your SOB.

Ask yourself, what are the real benefits that people get when they buy from me?

Dig deep. Try to identify the biggest benefit of, or the hidden benefits in, doing business with you. Benefits are the WHY—why should I listen to you, why should I keep your business card, why should I visit your web site or your store?

Until you explain the WHY, the HOW is if little interest to anyone.
Only after you learn the real reasons why people decide to buy from you can you package and present your information to your buyers from their own perspective. When you do this, you can crush the competition.

When your client or prospect is looking for an answer to a specific problem, your SOB should be able to answer it. Here are two examples of great SOBs: “When it Absolutely, Positively Has to Be There Overnight” and “Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand.” Your SOB should lead your client or prospect to you.