chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Sell Benefits Not Features

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Seph — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:53:39 -0000

100% Agreed. One major problem with beginners is that they fail to understand the prioritized benefits of their product/brand. You wouldn't sell convenience to a mother of two shopping in the frozen foods section; you'd emphasize say nutrition then price. Great stuff Chris!

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We teach Silicon Valley and we'd love to see you on board!

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

evden eve nakliyat — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:10:39 -0000

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Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

frank — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:25:25 -0000

Selling benefits vs. features ...

I think the true challenge here is depth of knowledge and experience. When you are new to a tool (or anything else for that matter) it's common to see the features - the wow factor stuff. But as you begin to understand the tools better, gain some real experience using them as well as practical application ... you then begin to see the benefits more clearly. That takes time!

Keep the excitement about the features, keep using, exploring, testing & messing up ... eventually you land on true benefit ... or you figure out there is none and move on :)

--
http://twitter.com/franswaa

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Katie Langston — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:41:35 -0000

Chris, excellent post and a very important point regardless of what you're selling--whether it's software or soft drinks.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Kate Brodock — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:41:38 -0000

Chris,

Couldn't agree more. Again, this is a strategy vs tactics comparison. If you can identify WHAT you want to do and WHY, you then get to the HOW.

Especially when new ways of HOW are popping up every day, it's crucial to focus on the WHAT and WHY more.

Cheers,
Kate

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

mark — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:02:58 -0000

well put chris, well put!

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Gopal Shenoy — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:11:10 -0000

Yes, yes, yes. It applies to anything and everything one tries to sell especially in the B2B space. I as a prospect is not looking for features - I have painpoints that I am trying to solve - talk to me how you can solve these and how I can look good within my organization of having contributed to the bottom line.

Telling me that others are doing it and hence I should do it as well holds good only if you can tell me what business benefits others gained - I need real proof from real buyers and not from analysts.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

MLDina — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:47:55 -0000

You're absolutely right! It's the value of services like twitter and other social media sites to the user. There's also such a concept as too much of a good thing. Sometimes I find other social media sites overwhelming because they offer too many options. Anyone else feel the same way?

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Mr Javo — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:27:09 -0000

Totally agree Chris. When the people who you are targeting are not specialist on the matter, they won't know what to do with the features presented by your business. Instead, if you tell them the benefits, they will be more interested and so then, after they buy the product, they will check the features to make possible that benefits...

Great advice!

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Tim Jahn — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:22:10 -0000

This is a great, very important point. It's the message, not necessarily the medium. It's not the tools, it's the content.

Hit it right on the head Chris.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Kelly — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:08:56 -0000

totally agree! been trained by the best companies on the importance of "value-based" or consultative selling. it does work. called the FAB statement: feature, then advantage, then benefits to the client...does work!

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

darrin grella — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:29:43 -0000

I am with you my man. This is great information that we all need to embrace.
Thanks.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Susan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:33 -0000

I'll add that the most compelling benefits solve a problem - a really painful one. Articlating the problems you can solve with the features you offer can be a great way to get to a compelling articluation of your benefits.

Joel Roberts offers this great course called the Language of Impact - worth checking into if you struggle with articulating the benefits of anything you are offering.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Scott Dodds — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:54:49 -0000

This is so obvious and yet so often forgotten it makes me wonder if there is something biological going on. We should set up an automated way to re-post this message every so often to remind ourselves. Hmm, maybe there's a cool new feature or tool that can do that...Doh!

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Brett Tilford — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:25:57 -0000

Great post Chris and so true. This is an insight I need to better incorporate in my business.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Toma Bonciu — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:18:44 -0000

This is so true. My wife and my brother have their own business in which they sell "real estate online advertising" for the owners helping them to sell their properties.
If she presents the benefits : you'll sell faster, your property will get the attention it deserves, the buyer will contact you directly then it's ok. And this method is much more successful then, for example, presenting the differences between our product and others.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Laura Roeder — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:42:54 -0000

I am constantly trying to explain this to people. When I tell people that I work with social media sometimes they think that facebook would be a "magic pill" if only they understood how to use it. Each medium is just another place to stick your message, and another place to form relationships.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Sandeep Arora — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:14:37 -0000

Here is a related post "How to sell Social Media to your Boss?" .
http://www.readwriteweb.com...

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Craig — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:11:42 -0000

Nice and simple but well said. It's all about what someone can gain about it. Not a laundry list of terms and features that mean nothing to the average person. It's what can you do for them.

Craig
www.budgetpulse.com

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Eric Morgenstern — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:28:11 -0000

Focus on Excellence, Not Difference, and transcend the feature / benefit conversation. What matters most, from the recipient's point-of-view, is how your offering is "my best choice," instead of the traditional focus on differentiation. McDonalds (I'm loving it), UPS (What can Brown do for you?) and Allstate (You're in good hands with Allstate) are all positions of excellence, not difference. Read more about our point-of-view at:

http://www.morningstarcomm....

keep up the great work, Chris!

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Amber Naslund — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:25:48 -0000

*jumping up and down and clapping*

If we ever have a hope for transforming the way that businesses communicate with online tools, we have to start by skipping the specs and moving straight to the "what problem is this going to help me solve" issue. Lingo sucks.

We keep begging for people to take all of this seriously, but we're not yet succeeding in putting it in terms that translate into meeting goals and objectives. Sometimes that means starting with the end in mind, and working backwards. What do we want to achieve? Then, what's going to help us do that? Then, and only then, are the implements fair game.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Kevin Touhey — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:25:33 -0000

I don't know much about sales and marketing (that's why I often lurk here), but I couldn't help making a comment. You're absolutely right. I used to think that a camera phone was useless technology, I thought, "I want to talk, not take pictures!", but then I saw an ad for a camera phone where a traveling father was taking pictures of the places and things he was seeing and sending them to his daughters and I was hooked. I travel a lot too, giving speeches and workshops and a camera phone allows me to show my daughters and wife what and who I see. Anyway, the purpose behind this little anecdote was to let you know that you're absolutely right..lol... Sell benefits, not features.

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

JC Cameron — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:53:20 -0000

Thanks for the valuable reminder, Chris. All too often, those of us responsible for building solutions, forget this very important lesson. The problem is that it is way too easy to fall down the features hole because it is so much simpler to talk about them then to create the perfect benefits pitch.

With VendorCity, we are trying to work hard on the benefits side and not focus so much on individual features when describing our offering. Oh, and thanks again for mentioning us in the Deb Works interview (http://tinyurl.com/5t98uc).

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Paul Parkinson — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:48:14 -0000

It's not just true in the tech space. All too often (sales)people confuse features with benefits.

FWIW, my take on the difference between Features and Benefits is illustrated by the "So What" Test.

Take a given products feature or benefit and say it out loud. If you can say "So What?" to it and not sound like an idiot it is a benefit; otherwise it's a feature.

Product X will save me £100,000 a year over my original supplier. So what? You're an idiot.
It's a benefit

Product X has blue blinken lights. So what? Well, they're prettier than red ones.
It's a feature.

See - try it yourself. You will be AMAZED how many "proper" companies confuse features with benefits...

Re: Sell Benefits Not Features

Ed — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:41:23 -0000

Hm? What's that?
Sorry, I was busy hearing a lot of cool stuff from folks
on Twitter and able to engage.
What were saying? Something about benefits?
I heard your voice coming from this blog.
Now listening.