Why More is Not Better

We’ve also been trained that more is better. Mind science now tells us that more is not better, especially in sales and marketing. In fact, our long laundry lists actually reduce our impact on our audience. 

Why More is Not Better

I spent years and years guiding my clients to create long lists of features and benefits… striving to fill that page with more good stuff than competitors.

Then I learned the truth thanks to mind science.

Our unconscious mind processes and filters long lists of things by averaging them. Consequently, when a prospect or customer sees that long list of yours – they don’t get the full force of that big long list.  They average of all of its power.

Yup, more is not better.

Here’s an example.  Let’s say you make a list 20 things that make your company credible. Like me, you want to fill that facts page.

• Let’s say the first three to five items on that list are way powerful, kickass distinction.
• The next five are somewhat powerful, but not exactly unique.
• The final ten are interesting.  Your competitors might also claim something similar.

Your audiences won’t see that big list as impressive. In fact, because of the big list you’ll lose the power of your first five kickass distinctions.  Why?

• If you only have the top 3-5 on your list, you get full power of those kickass distinctions.
• When you add more to the list, those top five are diluted by the lower value of the next one, or two, or more.
• That list of 20? It diluted the power of the first five so much that it’s all just noise to your reader now.

Since I learned the truth about our mind design, and that more is not better, I keep every single list to a maximum of five things.

Funny, I always focused on three to five key value propositions, focusing where sales, marketing and customers put their attention. Now I simply apply the same structure to every single thing that looks like a list.

The Bottom Line

We’ve all been taught that more is better. That’s simply not true for the human mind. The more items we add to the list, the more average we become.

Instead of focusing on creating that big long page of company distinctions, focus on a small number that are knock-it-outta-the-park powerful.

Yes, there will be white space on the page. That’s OK. Your audience will average your powerful few and you will impress, which is the entire point.