Packaged offerings benefit the buyer. Canned offerings benefit the seller.
When an offering is packaged, it’s done so with the buyer in mind. The package is a combination of products or services that affords the buyer additional value, often trading a little bit of decision making freedom for simplicity and that increased value. The buyer gets a little more of what they want, and foregoes a little of what’s less important to them.
When a product, service, or sales pitch is canned, its done so for the benefit of the seller. A canned sales pitch is a convenience for the seller. The salesperson is no longer required to put any thought into the presentation, pay any attention to the recipient of the presentation, or do anything different than the previous presentation. Any consumer benefit of canning is dumb luck, and not by design.
No relationship is built or maintained with canning.
Next time you’re streamlining your product, presentation, offering, whatever… ask yourself who will be benefiting from the change. You or your buyer? Ask yourself, “Am I packaging it, or canning it?”
