May 6th, 2025

Written by Michael Gillespie

In this Issue:

• Perspective: Selling features vs. selling outcomes: Taking a hard look at what you’re really selling.
• Insight: The framework that will help you craft the simplest and most effective pitch possible for your membership product [Guide Included]
• Outlook: A quick note on being useful

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We painfully learned a lesson that reshaped how we operate: Customers hire us to get a job done, not to admire a bunch of features tucked within our product.”

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It’s time for a reality check.

Most of us don’t wake up each day wanting more features in our lives. Instead, we wake up wanting things to be easier for ourselves.

We want less friction.

We want more fulfillment.

We just want better outcomes.

Now, this idea isn’t a novel one. In fact, it’s pretty fundamental to how most of us operate and navigate our lives.

So, the idea that a membership product should create less friction, more fulfillment and better outcomes wouldn’t seem too significant on the surface…

...or would it?

Let’s dive in.

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PERSPECTIVE

Membership Features Are a Distractor For Operators and Members.

Are you talking more about what your product has instead of why it exists?

Weekly videos. A growing library. Expert interviews. Highly curated information.

Cool-sounding features that feel valuable - until you realize most members don’t even use half of them.

You see, the problem is that features and perks are highly marketable. And it’s these features that often inform the product messaging that many operators use to sell their membership product.

I call this the “feature trap”: leading with what you offer, instead of why it matters and the outcome it delivers.

Why do they even join in the first place?

Members don’t join because you offer 20 videos.

They don’t join because of your weekly podcast.

They don’t join because you write an exclusive email.

They join because they’re tired of feeling stuck.

They’re trying to get somewhere, and your job is to clear the way.

Your membership features are just the tools. But what your audience is really buying is the outcome.

If you only take away one thing from this email, it should be this: Features may attract - but outcomes retain.

The best-performing membership products get specific about the problem they solve.

They name it.

They empathize with it.

And they show a path forward.

When you get that part right, your features suddenly don’t have to work so hard.

Because they’re not being sold - they’re being used to work toward the outcome that gets a member un-stuck.

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