Article Written By: Simon Ackland | SMI Business Impact
Are you maximising sales? Do you want to increase your conversion rate from prospects to clients? Start here...Benefits sell, not Features.
A client of mine always said "This product is brilliant, if they hear about it, they will buy it!".
He firmly believed it and in his niche market, it was indeed a great product...BUT, it didn't sell itself. He came to me because he was struggling to get sales. The product was just too complicated (it was a new financial services based product) and he was telling prospects, investors and distributors about all the facts and not demonstrating how the buyer was actually going to benefit from it. Because they didn't understand it, they were sceptical...you know how the rest of the story goes.
The issue of handling features and benefits in marketing messages is critical to successful selling. This is an area where many sellers, even experienced sellers, are most likely to make a fatal blunder. And it doesn't matter what your business is or what you sell...household appliances, groceries, architect services, cars, houses, drilling rigs, engineering services.
Part of the problem usually involves confusing features with benefits. A feature and a benefit can be one and the same, but most often, they are not. As with my client, it is a mistake to assume that some wonderful aspect or feature of your product will do the selling. Most often, it will not.
Before we say more, let's clarify the difference between a feature and a benefit. A feature is most often some physical aspect of a product - its colour, the size of the engine, the thickness of the metal, the quality of material its made of and so on. Most often, a feature is a "thing".
A benefit on the other hand is something more subtle. A benefit is what the product or service can do for the prospect...
- How it can make his or her life better
- How it can save time
- How it can enhance prestige
- How it can make life fun and easy
- How it can save money or cut costs
- How it can reduce risk
- and more
So a beneift is not a thing - it is an aspect of the customer or client's life that is made better.
Benefits come from features which is why it confuses some people. For example, a car comes with a 200 kw engine. That's a feature. But what does this do for the person who buys the car? The size of the engine lets you accelerate easily to overtake other cars and trucks on a country highway. It gives the driver the power to pull a horse float or caravan with ease. It gives the feeling of pleasure at having all that mechanical power at the end of your foot. All of these are benefits. Something the client feels, gets or is satisfied by.
To maximise your sales, you need to be conscious of where to use features and benefits in both your face to face selling and in printed and digital media...your brochures, your website, annual reports, product profiles, tender documents. So many websites and brochures explain who "we" are and what "we" do and what "our" products or services are. But your website (and other printed documents) are or can be a 24/7 sales tool...so the content must sell. It must tell stories (how others used your service/product and what benefits they gained), have quotes from happy customers, demonstrate the features but also explain the corresponding benefits. Answer the question, "Why should I do business with you and your organisation over all the other options out there, including doing nothing!"
Its simple to start thinking about benefits. Get all your team together. Draw two columns on a white board or even on individual pieces of paper and list the features of your company, your product(s), your service(s) down the first column and then brainstorm the benefits that go with each feature down the other column.
The benefit is the result or what your product or service does for me...your customer or client.
And this is what you should sell - the benefits. Benefits are what people really care about. They want to know how their lives will be made better by your product or service more than what the product is made of or how you do the service. When you spend too much time talking features, you run the risk of "me oriented" selling rather than focusing on the customers needs. You will make more sales focusing on customer needs.
Its much smarter to focus on the customer - on his or her needs, desires, longings, problems, demands - and then paint a picture that clearly and vibrantly shows the customer how they can get all of the above if they buy your product. Its know as "selling the sizzle and not the steak".
There's no sizzle in features! Look at this example:
"Our premium chair is upolstered with the finest Merino lambs wool which is hand-made onto a fully imported cherrywood frame. The chair reclines to a 56 degree position, yet preserves a compact position that takes up less space than a normal recliner chair half its size..."
It sounds pretty good but its all features. Merino lamb's wool is great, imported cherry wood is nice - but how does the customer benefit? You can't assume the customer will know, so you have to spell it out by describing the benefits, as in:
"Our ergonomic chair is designed with your comfort in mind - the 56 degree reclining position gives strong support to your lower back, meaning you never experience back pain and are able to rest for hours on end without the need to fidget, adjust or change seats. Our fine Merino lamb's wool upolstery feels like heaven against your skin - you experience relaxation with a sense of luxury, and your guests will be impressed by the rich look and sense of style it adds to your living room..."
Here you can see the customer benefits - physical comfort, no back aches, gaining a feeling of pride or prestige from guests who admire your excellent choice of home furninshings.
Never list, use or describe a feature without also telling potential buyers just how that feature will affect them in their real lives, how it will improve their lives, how it will enhance personal comfort, deliver a feeling of pride, satisfaction, gain, saving and so on.
Another great way to discover what your products or services benefits are is to make a "You Get" list. Write down "You Get" 10 times on a piece of paper and name specific benefits to follow each "You Get". If you write, "You get a 200 kw engine..." you have just listed a feature. That's not enough. Complete the process by also saying, "You get a 200kw engine that never leaves you stuck or sluggish on a steep hill and thrills you when you take tight curves on a carefree drive in the country.
Just remember, a feature is most often some physical aspect of your products, but the benefit is all about the customer and what the customer gets, experiences, and is satisfied by. The latter - benefits - is what really sells.
To your business success....Simon
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