Having spent so many years in retail, I always enjoy being on
the listening end of a sales persons presentation.
As I listen patiently and attentively, I privately critique the
sales person as they make their pitch.
I look for certain things, the basics, are they making eye
contact with me, do they have a healthy knowledge of their
product, do they ask me open-ended questions? Etc., etc.
The one thing that I have noticed about the majority of sales
people, even the ones I see on infomercials, is that they spend
the majority of their presentation discussing their products
features, and not it’s benefits.
As a consumer it is very important to know all the features of a
product, however, I find it much more important to know the
benefits of the product.
What is it going to do for me?
How much money will I save?
How will it make my life easier?
These are the questions your potential customer wants to have
answered. They want to know how they will benefit from your
product.
For example, I was in my bank the other day opening a safe
deposit box. As I sat filling out the paperwork, the branch
manager wisely seized his opportunity to be proactive. He asked
me if I was registered for their on line bill payment. When I
replied that I had not, he proceeded to tell me all about it.
He told me how easy it was to sign up, how easy it was to
access, and how easy it was to pay my bills over the computer.
He even gave me an on line presentation right there in his
office. The only thing missing was the pop corn.
During his entire verbal and visual presentation, he never once
mentioned a benefit to the product. The features were great, but
how did this benefit me?
What he should have included in his presentation, was that by
using on line bill paying, I would no longer have to purchase
checks, and I would no longer have to purchase stamps, I would
be saving money!
The benefit to this product was, I could save money!
We all want to save money, but this point was never mentioned.
Needless to say, I enjoyed the presentation, and I did sign up
for the on line bill paying.
The next time you are selling one of your products, take the
“features and benefits” and reverse them. Tell your customer up
front what your product can do for them.
Think “benefits and features” not “features and benefits”
Tell them how your product can save them money, how it will make
their life easier, tell them how it will benefit them. It will
make all the difference.
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