Have you ever struggled to convince others about the value of your ideas?
Do you find it challenging to communicate why your product or service stands out?
If so, this episode is for you!
Today, I discuss a crucial topic that often hinders our ability to persuade others effectively: understanding the difference between benefits and features. I emphasize that while many of us focus on the specifics of a service, product, or process (the features), it’s the benefits—what others gain from it—that truly matter.
By illustrating with real-life examples, including the upcoming conference I’m organizing, I show how highlighting benefits can make your message more compelling. Whether you’re trying to convince colleagues about a new statistical method or seeking volunteers for an event, this episode offers valuable insights to ensure your message resonates. Tune in to learn how to avoid this common mistake and make your arguments more persuasive.
Episode Highlights:
- Convincing Others
- Benefits vs. Features
- Effective Communication
- Real-life Examples
- Upcoming Conference
- Volunteer Recruitment
- Networking Opportunities
- Skill Development
- Value Proposition
- Customized Messaging
Remember the power of emphasizing benefits over features when trying to convince others. By focusing on what people gain, you make your message more compelling and persuasive.
I hope the insights shared today help you improve your communication and persuasion skills. If you found this episode valuable, please listen, share it with your colleagues and friends, and help spread the word.
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Transcript
How To Convince Others By Not Making This Mistake!
[00:00:00] Alexander: Welcome to another Friday episode of the effective statistician. And today we will talk about one thing that [00:00:10] really, really bothers me. And that is the inability for many of us to convince others because people don’t [00:00:20] understand the difference between benefits and features of service, product, process, or [00:00:30] whatever they want others to convince about.
[00:00:34] Alexander: It is about what they get from it. So [00:00:40] these are the benefits. And not what you do about it or the specifics [00:00:50] and all these kinds of different things. These are all the features. Or in other words, the benefits are why you’re doing it and [00:01:00] the features are what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. And people that want to be convinced are really interested [00:01:10] in the benefits.
[00:01:12] Alexander: They are not interested in the benefits. The features, or maybe they ask about this then in the [00:01:20] second step, but first they are interested in the benefits. So let’s give it to me. Give you an example. Yeah, I’m organizing [00:01:30] this conference in fall this year, and this is the first conference that will also have contributed sessions that I organize.[00:01:40]
[00:01:40] Alexander: And as that comes also with a lot of additional work. I’m looking for volunteers to help with this conference. By the way, if [00:01:50] you’re interested in volunteering, then just send a message to a conference at theeffectivestatistatian.com and connect there. I said you want to volunteer. Or if you want to contribute to this conference as an 18 minute [00:02:10] speaker or maybe you want to Have a complete session, a 90 or 60 minute session, or you want to do a workshop, a 90 minute workshop there, then [00:02:20] you’re also more than welcome to submit something to conference at the effective statistician.
[00:02:27] Alexander: Now going back to the volunteers. Yeah, [00:02:30] when I talk about volunteers and I want to convince volunteers to help with this conference, [00:02:40] then I first talk about the benefits of volunteers. Of being a volunteer. And so I talk, for example, about networking. [00:02:50] That people can connect with leading professionals, speakers, and other volunteers in the field of statistics.
[00:02:57] Alexander: And that will be fun [00:03:00] and exciting and interesting. And people will have Skin, skin development, but skill development, [00:03:10] yeah, they will get a lot of experience from helping in this event. They will get a lot of in touch with me and learn about [00:03:20] how to organize such an event, how to communicate things about it, and how teams can work really successful in a virtual setting [00:03:30] to set up such a big event.
[00:03:33] Alexander: And another benefit is that every volunteer gets complimentary [00:03:40] access to all the things around the conference. So this conference has basically two tiers. There is a free tier. [00:03:50] So then you can get access to the networking space and also some selected presentations. If you want to get the full [00:04:00] access to all presentations and all recordings and all the fun, then there’s a little fee involved.
[00:04:08] Alexander: And this fee actually [00:04:10] increases over over time as there is more information about the conference. So the more and the earlier [00:04:20] you buy with less information, the lower the price. And so the more you already know, the higher the certainty, the higher the [00:04:30] price. So that is one thing. Then of course, the last thing that volunteers will get is a certificate [00:04:40] about the participation and the help and all of that.
[00:04:43] Alexander: So that is another benefit. Now, These are benefits. These [00:04:50] are not features. Features are now what they are doing, how they are doing. For example, let’s say, help with [00:05:00] a workshop. People that run a workshop and assist them and show them all the different things. Talk them through the technical details or that they [00:05:10] help with networking experiences that they guide the attendees through the networking space, interact with them, help with any [00:05:20] questions that may come up, connect the people that part.
[00:05:24] Alexander: Or that they help with some kind of technical setup. You have a sad day. [00:05:30] Have a run through of any kind of thing with speakers is that everything runs mostly at the conference. [00:05:40] Yes, these are the how and what to do, but these are not why people should do it. So why are the benefits? [00:05:50] So be very clear in your mind when you want to convince someone.
[00:05:55] Alexander: about a new statistical analysis, a different design, a new [00:06:00] procedure. What’s in it for them? What are the benefits? And it’s not that you think it’s cool. It needs to [00:06:10] be something for them. So, Understand the difference between benefits and features, and first [00:06:20] concentrate on the benefits, and then you can also talk about the features.
[00:06:25] Alexander: But never ever leave out the benefits. [00:06:30] I find it quite interesting that even more senior people don’t understand this difference. And that [00:06:40] makes them Makes it really difficult for them to actually explain the values that they create because value is [00:06:50] created and explained in the benefits. Value is not explained in the what you do and how you do it, but why you do it.[00:07:00]
[00:07:01] Alexander: You don’t
[00:07:03] Alexander: create value by designing a study. That is not your value [00:07:10] contribution. You design, you know, an adaptive design, is not a value proposition. [00:07:20] A value proposition of an adaptive design compared to a non adaptive design is that it has a potential to be faster, [00:07:30] to be cheaper, to be more effective, to have less patients in it.
[00:07:36] Alexander: These are benefits. [00:07:40] Adaptivity in itself is not a benefit. Another benefit could be that this is [00:07:50] interesting and the person you’re working with, the physician you’re working with is maybe. Really into peer recognition and want to be seen as [00:08:00] innovative, then innovation and the peer recognition associated with these innovative approaches, [00:08:10] that is also a benefit.
[00:08:11] Alexander: So benefits really depend on the eye of the beholder. So you always need [00:08:20] to customize it to the specific person, to the specific audience you talk to. So never ever mess up the [00:08:30] difference between benefits and features. And with that, have fun for the weekend. And if [00:08:40] you want to volunteer for the conference, or if you want to sign up for the conference, Please do that now.
[00:08:47] Alexander: The price will increase [00:08:50] by 1st of June when we will announce lots of further things that are coming. Including, potentially already, the first keynote speakers. [00:09:00] So, until then, have a great time and enjoy your weekend.
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I want to help the community of statisticians, data scientists, programmers and other quantitative scientists to be more influential, innovative, and effective. I believe that as a community we can help our research, our regulatory and payer systems, and ultimately physicians and patients take better decisions based on better evidence.
I work to achieve a future in which everyone can access the right evidence in the right format at the right time to make sound decisions.
When my kids are sick, I want to have good evidence to discuss with the physician about the different therapy choices.
When my mother is sick, I want her to understand the evidence and being able to understand it.
When I get sick, I want to find evidence that I can trust and that helps me to have meaningful discussions with my healthcare professionals.
I want to live in a world, where the media reports correctly about medical evidence and in which society distinguishes between fake evidence and real evidence.
Let’s work together to achieve this.
