How To Translate Value Into Dollars

Photo: The New Dollar Bill by Simon Davidson

If you’ve been studying copywriting for a while, you’d know about “selling the sizzle, not the steak”. That means whenever you sell, you sell the benefits, not the feature.

For the sake of newbies reading, I’ll quickly explain the concept here.

The feature of a speaker, for example, is surround sound. The benefit of surround sound is so that you can immerse yourself in the acoustics. Listen to every detail. And have a more realistic experience.

Now, you would think that people would intuitively KNOW surround sound would mean all of those things. You’re wrong. Fact is, people have to be led, step-by-step, when it comes to a sales process. The more obvious it is, the better.

Translating benefits into dollars

Most marketing tips ends there. But remember, when it comes to a sales process, the more obvious it is, the better. So the next step a good copywriter would do is to translate those benefits into dollar value.

In effect, you’re answering the prospect’s question, “Why should I pay $X for this?”

Here’s how to translate benefits into dollar value.

Let’s say you sell organic supplements. The benefits is of course better health. To translate it into dollar amount, here’s what you can do.

1. Compare the price of your supplements with the price of a doctor’s visit. Regular people fall sick about 1-3 times a year… while really healthy ones shouldn’t fall sick at all (I haven’t been sick in 3 years). Healthier body = money savings.
2. Compare the price of your supplements to falling sick during a holiday getaway. How much would you pay to be better at that time?
3. Compare the price to the pain and suffering that your prospects will face if they fall sick.
4. Compare the price to the time they’ll lose if they fall sick. How much would they have made if they were working at that time?

Remember, people will only buy if they thought the pain of giving you money takes away a greater pain. Translate that greater pain into dollar value for direct, brain-dead, comparison to the price you’re asking.