This episode is part of the Client Winning Coaching Website series.
In the last episode I described 3 approaches to choosing your brand or company name and domain.
Today we’re diving into how to create your benefit statement so that it’s attention-getting. It’s the second thing your web visitors should see on your website to help them feel at home and interested in what else you have to say there.
You’ve no doubt heard the concept of a Benefit Statement. It’s a single well-crafted sentence that describes specifically how people in your target audience will benefit from working with you.
I like to call it a Core Message because it identifies your coaching niche and all of your other messaging and offers will stem from the concept. But for the purpose of this episode, I’ll stick with Benefit Statement.
If you’ve ever done any live networking, you’ve probably experienced that dreaded moment when it comes around the table to you and you’re supposed to say what you do.
I remember times like that where I literally snapped to attention when someone introduced themselves with style. That’s the power of a well-crafted Benefit Statement.
But I’ve also heard and read a lot of there statements that lack inspiration and won’t help the coach attract clients.
Obviously, you want yours to be highly relevant and compelling to your target audience.
So in today’s episode I’ll explain 4 main things:
- What makes a Benefit Statement COMPELLING as well as how to avoid that “MEH” response.
- What a well-crafted Benefit Statement will do for you and your target audience plus why it will help you get engagement and enroll clients from your website.
- A bunch of Benefit Statements that are beautifully word-smithed for impact as well as some that are duds so you can see the difference.
- The pre-work and basic formula for crafting your own Benefit Statement.
So first, what does a Benefit Statement do for you and your prospects?
Your Benefit Statement is an attention-getter. It’s the centerpiece of your marketing. When you share an effective Benefit Statement, people will understand exactly who you serve and why those people would want to hire you.
You want
colleagues and friends who hear it to say:
“Oh, I know someone who could really use your help!”
You’ll use your statement a lot over the course of your business, including as:
· The first marketing message in the header of your website.
· The first sentence that you say to introduce yourself to prospects.
· The beginning of your “elevator” speech when you share what you do in a networking meeting.
· One of the first sentences within your “bio” for a presentation or your by-line in any kind of guest article or promotional material.
· It’s also what you’d say if someone asks what you do for a living.
What Will Your Core Message Do for You?
· Make it easy for you to articulate how you benefit your target audience.
· “Weed out” non-ideal prospects.
· Spark interest with ideal prospects in seconds.
· Evoke the response “That’s me!” or “I want help with that!”
· Invite them to take a step with you.
· Open potential for an enrolling conversation.
What Will Your Core Message Do for Your Coaching Audience?
· They feel that you understand them and what they urgently want.
· They recognize you as a potential go-to resource for them.
· They begin to know, like and trust you (or move on).
Wouldn’t it be grand to stop having those awkward moments of trying to explain feebly what coaching is and why someone wants it.
In fact, and this is important … the word coaching doesn’t show up at all in a powerful Benefit Statement.
So before I go further let me share some actual Benefit Statements used by successful coaches.
As you listen to these, notice how each begins by specifically naming a target audience, then artfully goes on to name a challenge that target audience has which implies an outcome they want.
I help mompreneurs make more money doing work they love while taking care of priority #1: FAMILY.
I help parents empower their teenage daughters to build confidence, integrity and resilience for all of life’s adventures.
I help authors get their books out of their head and into bookstores.
I help restaurant owners and managers keep the staff and patrons who keep them in business.
I help divorced women move forward with vitality and a positive sense of self.
I help financial planners confidently build a lifetime of value with multi-generational clients.
So, do you see why those would snap the specific audiences mentioned to attention and pique interest?
What Makes for a Top Notch Benefit Statement?
Those were all top notch Benefit Statements. Why?
1. Its one single sentence streamlined to 10 – 25 words max.
2. It has the fewest possible prepositional phrases.
3. The target audience is defined in the first phrase. I help _____
4. The rest of the sentence names 1 to 2 SPECIFIC challenges and/or desired outcomes for your target audience.
5. It flows mellifluously off the tongue. In other words it’s easy to say and read.
6. It’s emotionally evocative.
That last one is critical if you want your statement to inspire action.
The words and concepts are highly relevant to the target audience and the syntax of the sentence is crafted mindfully.
That’s again why it’s really helpful to do market research in the form of info interviews to draw out from individuals in your target audience what specifically they say — how they language pain points and desired outcomes.
If you take nothing else away from today, I want you to hear this: Specificity grabs attention!
That applies to all messaging, whether you’re creating a Benefit Statement, writing web copy, blogs, social posts. You name it.
It’s so tempting to go with bland, broad, vague and abstract words. But those don’t grab attention or inspire action.
I think what happens for a lot for coaches is they want to leave the door open. They want their message to cover all bases. But that’s a misstep. Because broad, vague and abstract words and concepts don’t move people to action.
Let’s look at some of the Benefit Statements I read before one at a time. First, I’m going to dumb it down by replacing specific words with more broad, vague or abstract words. Then I’ll read again the crafted statement.
Here’s an example of how vague and broad misses the mark.
I help women get through divorce and thrive in their new life and relationships.
It’s not bad, just not attention getting. Now here it is with more specificity in the words:
I help divorced women move forward with vitality and a positive sense of self.
Instead of trying to cover everything — thriving in their new life — this statement hones in on vitality and positive sense of self, something all divorced women would want.
Here’s another Benefit Statement dumbed down with abstraction and vagaries:
I help moms find fulfillment and joy in their businesses and family.
Starting with the audience as moms is too broad. The words ‘fulfillment’ and ‘joy ‘are too abstract, especially when used in a sentence that doesn’t get to a tangible benefit.
Tangible benefits get more attention. But that doesn’t mean you can’t also have emotional benefits included.
See what I mean with this emotionally evocative Benefit Statement:
I help mompreneurs make more money doing work they love while taking care of priority #1: FAMILY.
See how much more powerful that statement is?
We know the previous statement was talking to moms with businesses but it didn’t make it as clear as it could. And what do business owners want? To make more money doing work they love. But since she’s a mom she also wants to take good care of her family.
Listen to one more set of Benefit Statements that goes from so-so to fantastic!
I help authors write with ease and grace so they can publish their books.
Okay. Not horrible. It names the target audience and something want, but it’s lacking emotionally evocative words. So this one infuses that emotion with a sense of motion:
I help authors get their books out of their head and into bookstores.
The Basic Formula for Your Benefit Statement
It might surprise you to know that a highly effective Benefit Statement is NOT:
· About you.
· About your skills.
· A laundry list of how you help your clients.
· The same as a tagline. That’s a different device altogether.
When you write your Benefit Statement:
1. Begin with ‘I help’ or ‘Helping’.
2. Then describe your target audience in the fewest possible words.
3. Lastly describe in evocative language a specific tangible outcome they know they want that implies a related challenge they’ll move beyond.
CAUTION: Testing your Benefit Statement on people who are NOT in your target audience or who are not experts in marketing won’t bring you useful feedback. Well-meaning people who don’t understand what you’re doing may try to dissuade you from targeting and using specific language.
Okay, go forth and word-smith a compelling Core Message!
In the Next Episode: Custom Coaching Website Vs. DIY Template with Guest, Nichole Betterley, Chief Web Wiz
I’ll be interviewing Nichole Betterley https://npoweredsites.com, an ace web designer, the best I’ve found for coaches. We’ll talk about the real differences between DIY websites and custom professionally designed site. We’re biased for good reason.
