Benefits-Based Selling: The Simplest Sales Tip of All Time!

Posted on 06/01/2016 in Selling Skills

Presenting information sounds like the easiest thing for a salesperson to do well, yet many sellers make mistakes such as 1) information overload; and 2) citing features instead of benefits. Follow the guidelines listed below on benefit-based selling when presenting information to your customers:

Benefit-Based Selling

  1. The most successful sales professionals highlight benefits. Average sellers primarily use feature language and don’t communicate the benefits to the customer.
  2. Benefits are not always obvious to the customer. It isn’t a benefit unless the customer understands the WIIFM (the “me” in What’s In It For Me refers to the customer). A benefit is a clear statement about how your company and product/service can help the customer.
  3. Each customer is different, especially for those decision criteria that are most important to them. As such, you need to highlight different benefits for different customers. See below for some examples. This is why you must ask questions first.

Depending on what is most important for each customer, express the appropriate benefits. In addition, don’t forget that different benefits often vary for different decision makers. Common types of benefits include:

  • Save money
  • Make money
  • Save time (including productivity)
  • Convenience
  • Security (“peace of mind”)

To make effective “benefit statements” use connector phrases or clauses to highlight the cause-and-effect relationship between features and benefits. Listed below are some good connector phrases to use.

“...because...” “...this means that you...” “...this allows you to...”

“...by using (this product/service) you will be able to...”

And here is the simplest sales tip of all time! Include the word “you” or “your” when describing benefits (or WIIFMs) to the customer.

“This service will allow you to …” and “You save time and reduce your costs.”

For more tips on benefits-based selling visit our Essential Selling Skills Online Series.  This twelve part series contains over 6 hours of online training with Module 11 focusing on Presenting Information as Benefits.