How To Sell Features to Benefits To A Customer? | Consultative Selling

There is, of course, a very clear distinction between the features of a product or service and the benefits of that product or service. In reality, customers are interested in purchasing the benefits only. It is the benefits that they want, not the features.

Let’s take the example of a motor car. The features of a particular model could be that it has power steering, electric windows, automatic door locking, overdrive and a sun roof. Now let’s link those features to the benefits. This vehicle has power steering, which means that it is light to handle, particularly in small areas, and after a long journey you will certainly arrive feeling less tired. It has electric windows, which means that from the driver’s seat you can easily adjust any window, so stopping the frustration of having to lean across and wind down a window. It has automatic door locking, which means that when you shut and lock the driver’s door, all the doors are locked – particularly useful on cold, wet days. It has over- drive, which means that you will have greater fuel economy, and with the price of petrol, this could be a well worthwhile saving. And it has a sun roof, which is an excellent feature for those gloriously hot, sunny days, when you can press a button, slide back the roof and have the sun streaming in.

You will notice I have used the link phrase ‘which means that’. Don’t overuse this phrase, but it is a very useful reminder not to oversell features. There is also a very useful test that you can apply, not only to yourself but to any salesperson you encounter who seems only to be selling the features. This is the ‘so what?’ test.

The salesperson says that this car has overdrive – so what? The salesperson says his company car is the market leader – so what? We are the biggest..., largest..., smallest..., longest established..., nationwide..., local.... All of these are ‘so what?’ features. What really matters is what they mean to the buyer. ‘We are the largest’ means, ‘We have the experience and re- sources to satisfy your requirements’. Many salespeople become so obsessed by their own company and products that they fail to realize the importance of relating such statements to their customers’ benefits.

Before we leave the subject of features and benefits, it is imperative to remember that true professionals talk only about the features and benefits that relate to their customers, and that every customer is different. For example, the car salesman who strongly sells the features and benefits of the cocktail cabinet installed in the motor car, but who doesn’t take the trouble to find out if his prospect is a teetotaller, could lose the sale, or at least bore the customer while he labours the feature. Be conscious of the ‘What’s in it for me?’(WIIFM) factor in the conversation process.