Ten Things to Remember When Using Benefit Statements

By lee r. van vechten

In the sales world, there is often confusion about features and benefits. What is the difference and what difference do they make for the telemarketing professional? First, both benefits and features must be believable. Second, neither should be recited to a prospect before a need has been uncovered. And third, we should all realize by now that customers do not buy features, they buy benefits. This is as true for selling over the phone as it is for face to face encounters.

Just to be sure we really know the difference between features and benefits, here are their definitions.

Features are the characteristics of a product or service inherent in its makeup: i.e., comes in red, green or blue, and has solid state microchip components.

Benefits are what these features will do for your company: i.e., will save you time, will fit in small spaces, can be paid for over 10 years thus saving you money, etc.

Following is a list of 10 selling skills including how to use benefit skills to enhance your features presentation.

1. Selling skills are learned, they are not inherited or God-given; please believe it.

2. Selling skills are not memorized, or mechanically recited. They are used and applied creatively based on what you have heard and your response.

3. Selling skills are not based on stand-alone actions or statements. They are comingled with your entire presentation, melding together like the colors of a fine painting.

4. Benefits are never implied as in, “This automobile gets 48 miles to the gallon!” They are clearly and confidently spelled out to insure that they are understood: i.e., “George, what this means to you is a yearly fuel bill that will cut in half your current fuel expense.”

5. Benefits are never left naked! You must see if the benefit is truly as important as you suspect. As in, “If this fuel savings can accomplish that kind of dollar savings, you would be interested in that, wouldn’t you, George?” (And wait for your answer.)

6. Benefits are related to needs. Without a need, benefits are either blind or useless. The simple reason why needs are determined by your probing sequence is so that you can choose the appropriate benefits supported by the matching features.

7. Benefits are related to buying motivations. To review: fear, need or greed. The above examples of fuel and miles per gallon probe the greed motivation. The thought process to be transferred was:

a. Good transportation

b. at half the cost

c. satisfying your requirements

d. and saving you hard-earned dollars

e. that you can use wisely or foolishly!

8. Wherever possible, benefits should be specific for direct measurement or comparison purposes. For example: “Thinking of your current fuel cost per week, is it close to $30.00? Good, what we are talking about here is a savings of better than $750.00 per year!! That has to make sense to you, doesn’t it?” (Wait for your answer.) The math used is 52 weeks times $15.00.

9. Use benefits to determine real needs. If your target bites hard on one of your benefits, you have determined a real need and most likely the buying motivation. These three areas, NEED, MOTIVATION and KEY BENEFIT, are the keys to a successful call objective.

10. Know that you don’t need a cast of thousands in benefits to close a sale. If you and your supervisor have determined that you have eight benefits and 17 features for a specific product or service, please do not believe that you must recite all you know before you can accomplish your call objective. It’s like our famous quote: “Will you stop waving your hand!!?? I am not finished with my presentation yet!! I’ll tell you when to buy!! And, for your information, it will be after I have explained these other features and benefits!! So, SHUT UP!!”

Well, these are ten important things to consider when using benefit statements. To review, they are not mechanical in nature. They (benefits) are free-flowing and very much a part of the total presentation. They are not accented, made to stand alone, or disjointed. Benefit statements are natural and given with confidence, based on your determination of the need. Benefits are definitely related to the buying motivation that you suspect will be the reason for purchase or satisfaction of your call objective, no matter what that objective is.

USE YOUR IMAGINATION

Have you ever heard the expression “Smooth as silk”? Well, you might say that about an accomplished communicator, inbound specialist, inbound/outbound sales rep.; one that sounds so natural, so self-assured. The more confident you are the more comfortable you are with your selling techniques and vice versa. Then you can become really imaginative with your presentations. This one is hard to show with an example but here we go.

COULD-BE-BETTER EXAMPLE

“Mr. Broner, you will be able to save money by purchasing your paper supplies in bulk. Other accounts of mine have reduced their overall paper expense as much as 9 percent per year. Can I interest you in a bulk purchasing arrangement?”

GOOD EXAMPLE

“Mr. Broner, I’ve been curious about how you purchase paper, and also what’s important to you and your company, especially as it relates to sharp purchasing; you know, things like quantities, discount, inventory space and so on. Does it make sense for you to carry inventory in order to take an additional 9 percent discount? (Wait for answer.) Good. One of the features of our service is automatic inventory control if you agree to annual usage in order to take advantage of your maximum discount. Would that be helpful?”…and so on, and so on.

You’ll note in the good example, the telemarketer was checking for the correct motivation: in this case, greed (save money). Also, can this paper be inventoried; is there space? Then a few features and back to the discount offer and slowly toward the close, as opposed to the first example where the benefit is assumed to be important as was the motivation. Look, folks, targets have to be courted, just like companions.

LOOSEN UP

We know that starting telemarketers are often more regimented or unyieldingly formal when they start their benefit/feature presentation. We also know that targets are cool to this treatment. No one likes to have a number done on them. They want to listen to people who sound interested in their needs as opposed to those who are mechanical and stilted in their approach.

Once you truly understand the difference between features and benefits, loosen up!! It’s O.K.!! We suggest you tape or role-play your current statement to determine where adjustment would help. Don’t try to clone the telemarketer in cubicle number four. Be yourself…you’re good, right?

Good Selling!