Rev vs. AJAX... Ajax vs TAOO [|Not so Short]

[Richard Gaskin]

MisterX wrote:

 >>Judy wrote:
 >>
 >>On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 SimPLsol at aol.com wrote:
 >>
 >>>Or as good marketing people also say:
 >>>"Sell the sizzle not the steak."
 >>>What it "is" counts for little, what it "does" is everything. Or as
 >>>good marketing people put it:
 >>>"Never list a feature without describing its benefits."
 >>>What is different about TAOO? And why should I care?
 >>
 >> Or, "sell it for what people think it will do for them" ala
 >> "use this shampoo and you can have your own 'When Harry Met
 >> Sally' moment".
 >
 > isn't that vaporware ? ;)

It's only vaporware if it doesn't exist.

The second thing they teach in the sales and marketing course at 
Pepperdine University is: "turn features into benefits".

In retail clothing, for example, it's not enough to say that a shirt is 
made of cotton.  What does that do for the customer?  "It breathes well".

As an American bombarded daily by corporatist slogans, I understand 
Judy's jaded reaction to crafting a sales message.  But an effective 
message needn't be the sort of hyperbole she referenced. Describing 
goods in terms of specific customer benefits can be not only honest, but 
ultimately of great value for the customer in helping them understand 
what's available so they can make a selection.

As a marketer I tend to prefer underselling, telling people in the 
simplest terms without exclamation points what a product will do for 
them (I leave the exclamation points for customer testimonials).

As a customer, I prefer descriptions that include specific measurable 
results.  For example, if a library cut time-to-market for a series of 
commercial apps by an average of 20%, I'm interested.

Effective evangelism isn't vaporware.  When done honestly it's just 
another extension of usability, helping people cut through the noise to 
get down to the results that matter to them.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Managing Editor, revJournal
  _______________________________________________________
  Rev tips, tutorials and more: http://www.revJournal.com