The benefits of a good quote

While the main benefit of a good quote, on the face of it, is that it gets accepted, as we’ve already learned the true benefit is that your customer feels they are gaining value rather than playing a price.

And, curiously enough, it’s benefits that bring this benefit.

Benefits – back to basics

Let’s just go back to business basics for a second, with three of the shortest business master classes you’ll ever get:

1.      ‘People don’t buy a quarter-inch drill, they buy a quarter-inch hole.’

Theodore Levitt

2.      ‘Reading about features is like reading the ingredients on the side of a cereal box.’

Thomas Szostak

3.      ‘I don’t want features, I want value.’

Jeffrey Gitomer

The simple, and oft-stated, lesson is to always emphasise benefits over features – and of course, to make sure your benefits add real value.

And although we all understand and accept this, surprisingly few people successfully apply it to the process of quoting.

And this is where you can gain a very real advantage.

Put yourself in the mindset of an advertiser not a journalist

When building up to a quote, don’t talk about what you do. At the end of the day it’s not at all about you – it’s about your customer and what you can achieve for them.

Think about this as the difference between a news article and an advert.

An article covers what happened: the ‘who’ and the ‘what’. It explains but it doesn’t command engagement.

• The 'who', in this case, is always other people
• The ‘what’ is always about other things (that may, or may not, have a direct impact on the reader)

But with adverts the ‘who’ is squarely aimed at ‘you’.

• It has direct relevance
• Adverts swap the ‘what’ for the ‘why’, and this is critical
• They are not about what something does but why it will answer your problems

And what do you think sells more services: news articles or adverts?

This is why whether you're quoting orally or in writing, you need to put yourself in the advertiser's mindset, rather than the journalist's.

Of course, you need to be able to describe the 'what', but let it take a back seat. When it comes to presenting a quote the 'why' is firmly in the driving seat.

Next we’ll explore ways you can make your Why-driven quote a well-oiled machine.