Focusing on Top Benefits Maximizes Perceived Value Through Averaging

This conversation with Dianna Booher, CEO of Booher Research Institute, reveals a counterintuitive truth about building credibility: people tend to average benefits rather than add them. The hidden consequence of overwhelming potential clients or partners with too many features, credentials, or reasons is that they mentally average these points, diluting the impact of your strongest offerings. This insight is crucial for leaders, salespeople, and anyone aiming to build trust and influence, as it offers a strategic advantage by focusing on clarity and impact over sheer volume. Understanding this principle allows you to present your value proposition with precision, ensuring your most compelling points resonate deeply and avoid being lost in a sea of information.

The Danger of the Full Truck of Information

The conventional wisdom in sales and persuasion is often to present every possible advantage, every credential, every reason why someone should choose you. The thinking goes: more information equals more convincing. Dianna Booher, however, unpacks research that flips this notion on its head. When faced with a barrage of benefits, people don't simply accumulate them; they average them out. This means that a string of moderately good points can actually lower your perceived value compared to highlighting just one or two truly exceptional ones.

Imagine you're presenting a new course. You might list its features: "It will teach you X (a 10/10 value), Y (a 9/10 value), and Z (a 5/10 value)." The potential client, evaluating these, mentally assigns scores. The 10 and the 9 are strong, but that 5 drags the average down significantly. Instead of seeing a powerful offering, they might average it out to an 8. The counterintuitive insight here is that by presenting less, you can achieve more.

"Most people would say, 'Let me throw the whole truck of information at you. Let me throw everything I can possibly tell you at you.'"

This is where the system breaks down. The speaker's intent is to impress with completeness, but the listener's cognitive process averages the input. This creates a downstream effect where the most impactful benefits--those that truly resonate and offer the highest value--get diluted by less relevant or less compelling ones. The "full truck of information" becomes a burden, obscuring the true value proposition.

The advantage lies in understanding this averaging mechanism. If you present only the two most valuable benefits, both potentially rated a 10/10, the client's average remains a perfect 10. This isn't about withholding information; it's about strategic prioritization. It's about recognizing that a focused, high-impact message cuts through the noise far more effectively than a comprehensive, diluted one. This requires a discipline that runs counter to the natural inclination to impress with breadth.

The Hidden Cost of Averaging Down

When individuals or organizations present a long list of benefits, features, or credentials, they are, in effect, asking the recipient to do cognitive heavy lifting. The recipient must process each item, assign a value, and then compute an average. This averaging process has a critical, often overlooked, consequence: it lowers the perceived value of the entire offering.

Consider a scenario where a company is pitching its services. They might list their extensive experience, their cutting-edge technology, their award-winning team, their competitive pricing, and their comprehensive support. Each of these points might be strong in isolation. However, if the client doesn't perceive every single point as equally valuable, the average score will inevitably be lower than the score of the strongest individual points.

"The research showed that people average, rather than add."

This averaging effect is a systemic issue in communication and persuasion. It means that the effort put into developing a long list of selling points can backfire, leading to a lower overall evaluation. The "hidden cost" is the lost opportunity to make a powerful, high-impact impression. Instead of being seen as an exceptional solution (a 10/10), the offering might be relegated to a merely "good" one (an 8/10) because of the mental averaging that occurred.

For those who understand this dynamic, there's a clear path to competitive advantage. By identifying the absolute top two or three benefits that will resonate most powerfully with a specific audience, and focusing solely on those, you can ensure your highest value propositions are not diluted. This requires a deep understanding of your audience and a willingness to resist the urge to showcase everything you can do. It’s about precision over volume, impact over comprehensiveness. This is where strategic communication creates lasting separation.

The Power of Focused Credibility

The core insight from Dianna Booher's research is that credibility isn't built by accumulating points, but by delivering exceptional value that is clearly perceived. The "averaging" phenomenon means that presenting too many benefits, even if individually strong, can dilute the overall impact. This creates an opportunity for those who can master focused communication.

When you present a client with only the most valuable aspects of your offering, you are essentially asking them to rate those specific, high-impact elements. If those elements are truly compelling, they will receive high scores (e.g., 10/10). Because there are fewer points to average, the overall perceived value remains high. This focused approach ensures that your strongest selling points are not buried under a pile of less critical ones.

"You would have done a lot better had you just mentioned the top two benefits to them."

This is where the "counterintuitive confidence" comes into play. It takes confidence to hold back information, to trust that your strongest points are sufficient. It requires discipline to avoid the natural urge to "throw the whole truck of information" at someone. The advantage gained is significant: you are more likely to be perceived as a high-value provider, a "10 supplier," because your strongest attributes are the ones that define the evaluation.

This principle extends beyond sales. In leadership, in team collaborations, and in any situation where credibility is key, focusing on the most impactful contributions and clearly articulating their value can lead to stronger relationships and better outcomes. It’s about understanding the cognitive shortcuts people take and leveraging them to your advantage, ensuring your most valuable contributions are seen and appreciated, rather than averaged into mediocrity.

Key Action Items

• Identify Your Top 2-3 Value Propositions: For any given interaction or offering, rigorously determine the absolute most impactful benefits. (Immediate Action)
• Ruthlessly Prune Your Pitch: Practice presenting only those top value propositions, consciously omitting secondary benefits. (Immediate Action)
• Audience-Specific Value Mapping: Tailor your top value propositions to the specific needs and priorities of your audience. (Immediate Action)
• Develop "Focus Statements": Craft concise statements that clearly articulate your core value, designed to avoid dilution. (Over the next week)
• Test Your Messaging: Experiment with focused pitches versus comprehensive ones in low-stakes environments to gauge impact. (Over the next quarter)
• Invest in Audience Research: Deeply understand what your audience values most to ensure your top propositions hit the mark. (Ongoing Investment)
• Embrace the Discomfort of Omission: Recognize that intentionally leaving things out feels counterintuitive but is key to maximizing impact. (Mindset Shift)