WSGAT? A Marketing Tool for Small Business Owners
Posted by Allison Tibbs on Wed, May 16, 2012 @ 08:46 AM
In March 2012, I graduated from CEO Space International, which consisted of a week long intensive educational and networking experience for entrepreneurs. One of the most impactful sessions that I attended was when Bob Circosta, the Father of the Informercial, gave a presentation about product development. One of the things that he made us do was to write down a list of the features and benefits of business, products or services.
In the 5 minutes that he gave us, I pretty much filled up my sheet of paper with all of these, what I thought, amazing features and benefits that Marquise can provide to small business owners. After our time was up, the letters W-S-G-A-T popped up on the screen. He said, "I see that many of you have a full sheet of paper, but the only thing that people are really going to care about is WSGAT - What's So Great About That?"
As I went through my list, I found that some things were great, but to be honest they didn't really make me stand out or at the end of the day, weren't that great. This really helped me to redefine how I presented my business and what made it unique and valuable. I encourage all small business owners to take time to do the same exercise. Take 5 - 10 minutes to write down all of the features and benefits of your offering. Then next to each one, determine if you pass the WSGAT test. The line items that you think that your ideal client will really enjoy, find value in, and find it to be exciting, those are the items that you want to highlight on your website, in your marketing materials and in your sales presentations.
Remember, consumers are bombared with information overload and if you are able to help them see what is really so great about your product or services, you can help them cut through the clutter and choose you.