When I was younger, I tried my hand at sales. I discovered a few things. Namely: 1) I suck at sales, and 2) in my training, I learned that customers use their left brain make their decisions based on what the other, more savvy salespeople called “feats and bennies” — features and benefits. Features are those things that a product or service has that separates that one above the rest. For instance, I am a Certified Professional Photographer. To achieve the CPP certification, I had to pass a grueling 100 question exam, and have my portfolio judged by five of the top certified photographers in the world. I am a second generation professional photographer, so what do I care if I am certified? Certification was not easy by any stretch, but it was well worth it to show my customers that I care about the quality of my images, my devotion to increasing my photographic skills and knowledge, and my future commitment to my profession. In short, I am certified because I care about my customers. In my book, that is the only benefit that really counts. Oh yeah, that was the other thing I learned: 3) No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.