We Want Benefits, Not Features. WIIFM?

Sell benefits not features. Even though an army of sales and marketing experts has been giving this advice for years, it has never really gained traction.

Many of the websites I visit are little more than product specification sheets. This would be okay if they were selling scientific testing equipment or storage tanks. But many of these sites are trying to sell business and consumer products with little more than a list of features.

No one is really interested in the fact that your product has a certain feature. People want to know how that feature benefits them. Does it save time or money? Is it fun or entertaining? Does it give them status? Does it simplify or improve their lives? Sell them benefits of ownership, not product features.

For example, features of a power mower may be a four-stroke engine, a wider cutting area, and an oversized catch bag. Does this mean longer engine life, less time to spend mowing, and fewer times to empty the catch bag? Say so!

Buyers are bored by features and excited by benefits. In sales and marketing the buyer's emotions come first. So start selling those benefits.

Excerpted from the bestselling Rules of the Hunt by Michael Dalton Johnson. See more here.   Reprinted by persmission courtesy of www.salesdog.com