Sales & Service Tip of the Week

Do you sell features or benefits when interacting with a customer?  Today, you must “carry” the feature to a benefit in order to justify the value or gain as perceived by the customer.  In this step, Active Presentation, you create the desire to buy.  Translate your products and services into benefits by using the FAB formula.  Features explain “what it is” you have to offer.  It could be a special trait or characteristic that describes the product or service.  Advantages explain “what it does”.  They are something distinctive or better than what the competition has.  The advantage becomes a “natural bridge” to get from the feature to the benefit.  Benefits explain “how the customer gains”.  This is the end result that creates a want or satisfies a need as perceived by the customer.  Remember from last week we need to uncover the customer’s buying motives first and then “match up” with the benefits.  This sales fundamental is a critical component in the Active Presentation.  Here’s an example:  “We are a full service supplier (feature) that provides you with one stop shopping (advantage) so you have the security and convenience (benefit) of buying all your needs at one time which gives you more time (another benefit) to do your job of serving your customers!”  Perfect the “FAB formula” and you are well on your way to becoming the sales and service professional you want to be.

Sales & Service Tip of the Week

Behind every favorable buying decision is a buying motive.  Buying motives identify what the product or service will do.  Buying motives establish how the customer gains.  It’s your job as a sales and service professional to uncover or discover the customer’s buying motives and equate them to specific benefits that the customer “sees” value in and is willing to pay for it.  Sounds easy, but it’s not!  The key is to appeal to customers’ emotions and feelings in order to surface their “true” buying motives so you can match your products and services to these motives, via benefits.  The complexity of the sale comes into play because people have different motives or reasons why they buy.  You can’t say the same things to all people.  If you can find their “pain” it will lead to a “gain”.  So memorize the following buying motives and apply to your specific products and services when you talk with your customers.  These buying motives are:  profit, safety, comfort, convenience, fear, envy and personal satisfaction.  Surface these buying motives of your customers and you’ll increase your sales!  Try it.  Believe it.  Do it.