Sell The Benefits, not Features!!

Good Morning!

People don’t buy what they need, they always buy what they want!

The biggest mistake that most salespeople make is that they take their product with a bag; full of literature, overwhelm the prospect and start talking about the features.

These people are peddling, not selling. A professional knows how  to sell a benefit or how to convert a feature into a benefit. 

This phrase is very important: “What it means to you is…” A feature is stated and what it means to the prospect is mentioned in the form of benefits.

For example: The car’s tyre size is X or this car is equipped with power brakes and ABS. ’What it means to you is that when you are driving on the highway it will give you tremendous safety.’ Here, the salesperson is giving the benefit of safety.

A good sales professional will always tie the benefit to a specific need of the customer which is called “personalization and value addition”. The resulting positive advantage of a feature becomes a benefit. A beautiful glass door is a feature. How do you translate it into a benefit? It gives an open look. The visibility attracts people and increases traffic resulting in increased sales and profitability goes up. 

In today’s competitive world, most companies can match features but the biggest differentiating factor is the people behind the company, starting from the salesperson. The best company or product will be rejected if the salesperson does not build a level of comfort in the buyer. 

First, the potential customer buys the salesperson, then the product and company. There are only two motivating factors for people to buy:

1. Either to gain a profit or to avoid a loss. 
2. Either to gain a pleasure or to avoid a pain. 

These two can be further divided into increased productivity, profitability, convenience, security, peace of mind, savings, status, etc. Just as beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, similarly, a benefit only becomes a benefit when the customer perceives it as such. Lead free paint is a feature whereas good health or healthy living is a benefit.

So, remember, Always sell the Sizzle, Not the steak!!