The Beauty of Benefits
By Huthwaite
Know How to Apply Advantages to a Client's Needs
As we saw in the last installment of The SPIN, there are three ways to demonstrate capability during a sales call. The acronym "FAB" may help you remember the three ways - it stands for features, advantages and benefits. Demonstrating capability is vitally important to anyone who wants to develop a greater mastery of face-to-face selling skills, so today we're going to take a second look at features, advantages and benefits.
To recap: features are characteristics of your product or service. Advantages show how products, services, or their features can be used or can help the customer. Benefits show how the product or service can meet an explicit need expressed by the customer. "It has a V-8 engine" is a feature. "It has a V-8 engine, so you'll be able to accelerate on hills" is an advantage. "It has a V-8 engine, which you said you must have" is a benefit.
Some sales training models lump advantages and benefits together, but Huthwaite's research shows that the difference between the two is critical. An advantage assumes a customer need that may not really exist, while a benefit responds to a customer need that is already on the table.
Because advantages are based on assumptions that may be unfounded, they can actually create buyer objections. "It has a V-8 engine, so you'll be able to accelerate on hills," says the salesperson, but the customer may reply, "I don't live near any hills, and I don't want to pay for something I don't need."
The beauty of benefits is that they are held in reserve until the customer has stated a desire or an intention to change. When the customer says, "I need to do something," the sales rep is ready to respond with, "Let me show you how we can help." Skillful sellers first help buyers understand problems, and then demonstrate that they have the capability to solve the problems.
The features/advantages/benefits terminology isn't important. What is important is using questions to uncover and develop customer needs, and then demonstrating how you can meet those needs.
From: The SPIN® e-Newsletter
©2007 Huthwaite, Inc.
JHS-027-013015
Related Insights:
Objection Prevention
Selling New Products -- Part 2
Demonstrating Your Capability Effectively in Larger Sales
Objection Handling Versus Objection Prevention
Why do Advantages Run out of Steam
The Sales-Training Approach to Objections
As we saw in the last installment of The SPIN, there are three ways to demonstrate capability during a sales call. The acronym "FAB" may help you remember the three ways - it stands for features, advantages and benefits. Demonstrating capability is vitally important to anyone who wants to develop a greater mastery of face-to-face selling skills, so today we're going to take a second look at features, advantages and benefits.
To recap: features are characteristics of your product or service. Advantages show how products, services, or their features can be used or can help the customer. Benefits show how the product or service can meet an explicit need expressed by the customer. "It has a V-8 engine" is a feature. "It has a V-8 engine, so you'll be able to accelerate on hills" is an advantage. "It has a V-8 engine, which you said you must have" is a benefit.
Some sales training models lump advantages and benefits together, but Huthwaite's research shows that the difference between the two is critical. An advantage assumes a customer need that may not really exist, while a benefit responds to a customer need that is already on the table.
Because advantages are based on assumptions that may be unfounded, they can actually create buyer objections. "It has a V-8 engine, so you'll be able to accelerate on hills," says the salesperson, but the customer may reply, "I don't live near any hills, and I don't want to pay for something I don't need."
The beauty of benefits is that they are held in reserve until the customer has stated a desire or an intention to change. When the customer says, "I need to do something," the sales rep is ready to respond with, "Let me show you how we can help." Skillful sellers first help buyers understand problems, and then demonstrate that they have the capability to solve the problems.
The features/advantages/benefits terminology isn't important. What is important is using questions to uncover and develop customer needs, and then demonstrating how you can meet those needs.
From: The SPIN® e-Newsletter
©2007 Huthwaite, Inc.
JHS-027-013015
Related Insights:
Objection Prevention
Selling New Products -- Part 2
Demonstrating Your Capability Effectively in Larger Sales
Objection Handling Versus Objection Prevention
Why do Advantages Run out of Steam
The Sales-Training Approach to Objections
Visit Huthwaite's Website: http://www.huthwaite.com
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