The benefits of benefits for identity firms

Update 4/25/2022: Effective immediately, Bredemarket does NOT accept client work for solutions that identify individuals using (a) friction ridges (including fingerprints and palm prints), (b) faces, and/or (c) secure documents (including driver’s licenses and passports). 

TL;DR If you are an identity firm that needs Bredemarket’s help in communicating benefits, contact me.

This page includes the following sections:

There are five authentication factors that can be used to identify people, and there are a number of firms that offer solutions based upon one or more of these authentication factors: different biometric technologies, driver’s licenses and other secure documents, other physical items, and so forth.

How can these firms convince clients to select their solutions?

Benefits, not features

Some firms think that a potential client will be impressed by a list of industry-leading paradigm-shifting features. But a feature list may mean nothing to the client. When you tell the client that your firm was the highest ranking respondent on the third subcategory in a recent NIST test, the client may respond with a question:

“So what?”

The potential client cares about its needs, not your feature set.

You need to communicate the BENEFITS of your solution to your potential clients. This…um…benefits your firm by increasing your chances of a sale.

Further reading: Communicating benefits (not features) to identity customers (Part 1 of 3).

One size (of benefits) does not fit all

The benefits that you communicate to your potential clients will vary. You can’t just select one set of benefits and use it for everyone.

Benefits can vary by product, by market, and by individual product users. The benefits of a facial recognition solution differ from the benefits of a driver’s license solution. Benefits for the criminal justice market differ from the benefits for the office building access control market. And even within a single potential client, individual stakeholders have different needs: a latent examiner’s needs differ from the needs of a purchasing agent.

Your firm’s written communications need to put the right benefit statements in the right places to benefit ALL the stakeholders. This…um…benefits your firm by encouraging each of the individual stakeholders to advocate on your behalf, increasing your chances of a sale.

Further reading: Communicating benefits (not features) to identity customers (Part 2 of 3).

More on market/product differences

There’s another reason why benefit statements are better than feature statements, and it can be illustrated by these example feature statements.

  • This product can complete its processing in less than two hours.
  • This product can complete its processing in less than a minute.
  • This product can complete its processing in less than a second.

Needless to say, these feature statements, especially when out of context, can elicit a huge “so what?” from your potential clients. Even WITH context, your customer may not care that your rapid DNA solution completes its work in less than two hours, or that your AFIS can complete a search in less than a minute, or that your computer aided dispatch (CAD) solution dispatches in less than a second.

Take the last example. WHY should the customer care about dispatch speed? What is the benefit to the customer?

Further reading: Communicating benefits (not features) to identity customers (Part 3 of 3).

Don’t use that tone of voice with me!

There’s one other critical issue when a firm develops benefit statements. The benefit statements need to sound like they came from the company that issued them.

I’m sure you’ve seen Procter & Gamble advertising, and I’m sure you’ve seen Apple advertising. What would happen if P&G developed advertising that looked like Apple? Or if Apple developed advertising that looked like Procter & Gamble?

Similarly, you need to make sure that your firm’s benefit statements reflect your firm’s philosophy. Let’s say that you sell computer aided dispatch (CAD) systems, but your firm has a fairly “edgy” tone of voice in its communications. In that case, your firm might write a benefit statement like this:

If you DON’T select our rapid response CAD system…PEOPLE WILL DIE.

Now I don’t think that Motorola Solutions will use that advertising line when it sells CAD. But maybe your company WOULD. So pay attention to the tone of voice.

Further reading: Communicating benefits (not features) to identity customers (Part 4 of 3). Yes, I came up with a fourth post after I thought I was done with the post series.

The benefits of working with Bredemarket

Why is Bredemarket the best choice to help your identity firm communicate its benefits?

  • No identity learning curve. I have worked with finger/palm, face, iris, voice, and DNA biometrics, as well as secure documents (driver’s licenses), digital identity, and other authentication factor technologies. I’ve worked with related technologies such as WSQ. I’m familiar with industry topics such as FRVT.
  • I’ve probably communicated in the format you need. Over the years, I’ve managed, written, and/or edited blog posts, case studies, LinkedIn articles/posts, proposals (as a biometric proposal writing expert I have written boilerplate, templates, letters, RFP/RFI responses), white papers, and other written communications. My biometric expertise benefits firms outside of the proposals area, due to my status as a biometric content marketing expert. I even helped with an academic book chapter once twice. Oh, and I’ve populated web applications for user conferences.
To see the speaker biographies, click here. Where my thumb is. What? You in the back can’t see it?
  • I work with you. Bredemarket uses an iterative, collaborative process with multiple reviews to make sure that your needs are expressed in what I write, and that the writing reflects your firm’s tone of voice. The final product needs to make me happy, it needs to make you happy, and it needs to make your potential client(s) happy.
  • I can package my offering to meet your needs. While I usually work on long-term engagements, I can also provide one-off work for individual short and medium length pieces.

The process of working with Bredemarket

Bredemarket’s content creation process ensures that the final written content (a) advances your GOAL, (b) communicates your BENEFITS, and (c) speaks to your TARGET AUDIENCE. It is both iterative and collaborative.

Here is the general content creation process (which may vary depending upon content complexity and your preferences):

  • You and Bredemarket agree upon the topic, goal, benefits, and target audience (and, if necessary, outline, section sub-goals, relevant examples, and relevant key words/hashtags, and interim and final due dates).
  • For complex content requiring input and approval of multiple subject matter experts, you and Bredemarket agree on a preliminary list of tasks, assigned persons, and due dates.
  • For content that must be incorporated into your content management system, you and Bredemarket agree on the necessary format and other parameters. Otherwise, the final copy will be provided in Microsoft Word docx format, including (as appropriate) callout indicators, hyperlinks, key words, and/or hashtags.
  • For projects requiring multiple related pieces of content, you and Bredemarket agree upon the desired frequency of content.
  • You provide relevant technical details (and, for selected longer content, access to the end customer for a 30 minute interview).
  • Bredemarket conducts any necessary research (or interviews).
  • Bredemarket iteratively provides the specified number of review copies of the draft content within the specified number of days per review. (The number of review cycles and review time must agree with any due dates.) The draft content advances your goal, communicates your benefits, and speaks to your target audience in your preferred tone of voice. Relevant examples and key words/hashtags are included.
  • You return comments on each review copy within the specified number of days. For longer content, you may provide the draft formatted copy for the final review.
  • After all reviews and comments, Bredemarket provides the final copy.

If you are an identity firm that needs Bredemarket’s help in communicating benefits, contact me.

Bredemarket and Identity Firms (February 16, 2022)Download