What Are You Really Selling?

Selling is a vital part of any enterprise's overall marketing effort. If your sales are not enough to cover all your expenses plus provide a profit, your company will not be around very long.

Some sales people, when you ask them what they sell, will list off the products or services they have to offer. However, an answer like this is only partiallyFeatures & Benefits correct.

Features & Benefits

If you're selling a fancy phone to a certain public, are you selling them high-tech gadgetry? Or are you selling benefits such as convenience, ease-of-use, time saved, etc.? People - especially consumers - buy benefits ("What's in it for me?").

They're not really buying the feature that the phone can store up to ten phone numbers. What they're buying is CONVENIENCE.

Stored phone numbers save time when dialing. So convenience and time saved are the benefits to the customer. That's what they get out of this purchase. When you sell, always turn product or services features into benefits.

Like this:

"Because this phone has a speaker-phone and automatic dialing, you can call someone with the push of a button (ease) and continue to work hands-free while you wait for them to answer, or even while you talk to them (convenience)."

Features pertain to (have to do with) products. Benefits pertain to people.

ALWAYS TURN PRODUCT OR SERVICE FEATURES INTO PEOPLE BENEFITS.

The reason that turning features into benefits works so well is because the benefits are what impinge. They get the buyer emotionally involved.

Features involve logic. Benefits involve emotions. We often buy on emotion and justify it with logic.

Example: Man buys a new, expensive Mercedes. He justifies it by saying, "Well, you know these things are really built with precision. They're quality cars that will last for a lot of miles… blah, blah."

True. But we also know that he REALLY bought it because he wanted to be in that particular class of people who have style, who can afford luxury. In fact, we could really say it's an image thing, which we'll look at it a minute.

So, don't put your customers to sleep by chanting off a laundry list of product features. Instead, create want and desire by emphasizing people BENEFITS.

Marketing and sales people should know all the important features and aspects of whatever it is they are promoting or selling - and be able to turn each one into a customer benefit in their sales presentations or advertisements. It just takes a bit of practice.

Image/Status

Some products are easier to sell when you emphasize their image, status, or glamour more than their features and benefits.

For instance, a Rolls Royce has a certain image and status. Most people who buy a Rolls are not that concerned with its various features and benefits. They are more concerned with the overall image this car conveys: Class, wealth, status, etc.

Products that have romance, status, an interesting history, glamour, and so forth need to be sold accordingly. So determine whether the products or services you are marketing or selling -- and the people you are selling them to – require a "features and benefits" approach or an image/status approach.

Sell features and benefits to people who are not particularly image-conscious, and sell image to those who are.

One way to remember to sell benefits (or image when that's called for) is the old saying, "sell the sizzle, not the steak."

Example: Two salespeople are selling the same product. But they use two different approaches. All other things being equal, who do you think would get the most sales...

Salesperson "A" uses the STEAK approach. He sells time shares in Hawaiian condos. Salesperson "B" uses the SIZZLE approach. She sells romantic hideaways in paradise.

Look for the romance or image or drama in your product. If it has some, sell that. And as a general rule, always push benefits harder than features.

Solutions

Another powerful selling approach is to offer a solution. To keep things simple, let's use the phone example again. We know the phone has a feature that lets you store up to ten phone numbers.

The benefits in this are the convenience of not having to look up the numbers and dial them manually, and the fact that it's fast. Fast, convenient, easy.

The solution might be that this phone system gives the customer a fast and reliable means of communication with the outside world. Basically, isn't that what they want?

Naturally, in a mature market such as phone-system sales, you'd have to show how your system delivered this solution more reliably or economically than the competition's, and so forth. But you get the idea. This method of selling is very effective when the situation calls for it, because it fills a need or desire.

Solution selling works especially well for products like technical equipment and so on. But it can work well for sales of services, too. For instance, when someone hires a consultant, they're not just looking for information. Ultimately, they're looking for answers and solutions.

You should work out which is the best overall sales approach for your products or services: image, solution, or F&B, or a combination.

Impulse Sales

Ah, yes… you're standing in line at the checkout counter in the grocery store, and you spy that rack of batteries. You know that some of your favorite gadgets are going to quit running because their batteries are running low. So you grab a pack of batteries and add it to your collection of groceries. It was a quick, impulse sale.

Or you're shopping in the mall, and you walk by a kiosk that has the most fascinating costume watches on display. On impulse you walk over, try one or two on, and out comes your purse and you now are the proud owner of an eye-catching accessory item – one that may or may not tell the time all that well, but sure looks cool.

Millions of dollars are spent on impulse sales every year. Probably, every month!

If you sell impulse items, you're not going to spend a lot of time explaining a dozen features & benefits. Your sales people should be trained to get to the point quickly and point out the one or two killer features and benefits that sum it all up, and ask for the sale.

Part of the "trick" here is to attract attention. You need to have your merchandise prominently displayed in high-traffic locations where people have to walk by (or in some cases, drive by).

Even people who market life-changing or life-enhancing services an utilize IMPLUSE sales. Have you ever seen healthcare professionals offering health screenings in a mall? You probably have.

The greeter will say something like, "Do you know what we're doing over here?" This creates a bit of mystery and is an attention-getter.

Next thing you know, you're getting your blood pressure checked, or something similar. A good thing to do!

So… what's your sales strategy or approach? Do you have it nailed? Is it working? Could it be better? Maybe the answer lies in some of the above.

Happy selling!!