Feature Advantage Benefit Selling

A very good friend of mine once asked me, "what are we really selling"? So many people say so many different things. If you visit a lot of different sites today on selling most of them if not all of them promote "benefit selling." If you have read my book or attended any of my sales seminars you would know that I do not use FAB (feature, advantage, benefit selling) techniques. I only use it as a base line from which I draw knowledge about what I am selling. Essentially, I dont use FAB to sell my customers or prospects.

Take a person who wants to buy a car. The salesman taught to use feature, advantage, benefit selling. Might say, have we got a beautiful car for you today, and its on special! Just look at this beautiful car, top comes down so you can enjoy a nice country ride with the wind blowing through your hair, soft leather interior for you to just relax into, especially after a hard days of work, its a beautiful candy apple red and it has a CD player so you can listen to your favorite music! The customer says great, I would love to have a convertible, with a leather interior, but I want it in black and I want it with satellite radio.

See the problem with feature, advantage, benefit selling is that people can always object to features and advantages. You run the risk of causing a "disconnect" between you and your customer, of being accused of not listening.

So what about benefits, theyre good arent they?

Well yes, they are

Have you ever had someone tell you how great something is, how great the features are, all the advantages to owning, the benefits they'll enjoy for years to come?

Have you ever found yourself drifting, your thoughts wandering aimlessly, as a salesperson starts telling you about features and benefits that you dont even care about? Youre just nodding your head, trying to be polite hoping the salesperson will get to their point or just stop talking?

There is a BIG difference between selling something based on benefits and selling something based on "desired results".

In regards to selling, the definition of benefit selling is: "In what way is it useful for me?"

While when you are selling "desired results" the definition is: "Is it going to do what I (the customer) want it to do?"

A very big difference.

You see the only way for you to know what your customer or prospects "desired results" are, is that you as a salesperson must:

1. Ask good questions
2. Be present
3. And LISTEN

Then you can sell. You take all of the information that your prospect has just given you, and then you "tailor" your presentation to give your prospect their "desired results".

The "desired results" then becomes an EXPECTATION on the part of your prospect due to your promise. A promise between you and your customer. A promise on which your relationship to do business rests.

Now you have accountability.