The F.A.B. Way of Selling Creative Services

Do you think Mcdonalds sell you on their Big Mac combo by explaining how they farm cows, mince them up, add a whole bunch of crapola and turn it into a burger pattie?

Do they sell you on the bloated feeling you’ll have when you’ve finished your large combo and smashed back 10 teaspoons of sugar in that large coke or eating handfuls of those delightful greasy salty fries? (Yummay)

No, they sell the ‘good times’ you’ll have at the ‘restaurant’ - the good memories you have as a kid of having your 10th birthday party there (I did), the do do do do do theme song that brainwashes you into thinking that they’re a healthy restaurant who cares about their customers.

The perception or idea of how ‘you’ will feel after eating that combo, the perceived outcome of what it will do for you (fill your tummy, give you a good feeling).

So why do we sell our design process then and then get shocked when clients say we’re too expensive.

Remember this sequence - Feature, advantage, benefit.

Most stick to the first, some sell the second, but creators who sell outcomes and therefore get better clients sell all three.

Easy to explain -

The Feature is what it is.

The Advantage is what it does.

The Benefit is what that means for THAT client.

Which do you think your clients care about most?

Here’s a simple example

We’re going to work on your visual identity, your logo, sub mark, illustrations, social templates (feature).

We’ll create a visual identity that is concise and will help you stand out in the market and create something unique for your business (advantage).

What that means for you is you can take ownership of your business and have a visual identity that attracts more ideal clients, helps you make more money and hit your financial goals this year (benefit).

When you’re selling, if you focus on just selling the process (aka the features) you’ll struggle to sell clients when they say you’re too expensive.

They won’t buy your process unless you’re Pentagram level awesomeness.

Move through to the specific benefit to your client, what your process does for the specific problems your client is facing.

Not general problems that all clients struggle with (standing out, being unique etc) but the client sitting in front of you.

Don’t sell general solutions to general problems, sell specific solutions to specific problems.

This is the way.