Acquire product knowledge to communicate product benefits and to ensure appropriateness of product for the customer

 A feature is a physical characteristic or quality of a product.  It is something the customer can touch, feel, smell, see, or measure  It helps describe the product.  A feature answers the question, “What is it?”  Ex: color, style, size

 A benefit is the personal satisfaction or advantage that a customer wants from a product.  It is how the feature helps a particular buyer  For customers, it answers the questions:  How will I benefit?  What’s in it for me?

 Prove to customers your product has features that benefit them  Customers buy benefits-not features  Compare to competition  Determine what each customer is looking for in a good or service Customer is buying the benefit of the beautiful, healthy smile. Customer is not buying the feature of the whitening gel…

 Salespeople should be able to explain these three types of benefits to customers:  Obvious or apparent benefits  Unique or exclusive benefits  Hidden benefits

 Advantages that need little explanation by the salesperson.  Easily recognizable benefit that the customer can see without much explanation  The customer already knows the benefit  Ex: Neutral colored carpeting  What is the obvious benefit?  Ex: “This shirt is made of cotton so it is soft and will keep you cooler in hot weather.”  Ex: The obvious benefit of a watch is being able to always know what time it is.  Even if benefits are obvious, salespeople should still point them out and use them to prove the value of the product to customers

 Advantages that are available only from your good, service, or business.  A benefit that only comes with a particular product.  Is a selling advantage over your competitors  Ex: a car that “parks” itself is a novelty  Offers a huge benefits to customers that have trouble parallel parking  Ex: “If the pizza does not arrive within 30 minutes of when you order by phone it is free.”

 Advantages that cannot be seen or understood without the assistance of a salesperson  A salesperson must explain this benefit since it is not readily visible  Ex: buying a pair of shoes  You can see the color and style  You can not see how comfortable they are until persuaded to try them on  Ex: purchasing a computer  Warranties/24-hour helpline  Ex: buying a watch  The watch never needs a new battery and charges itself based on your wrist motion.

 Feature-benefit selling: the part of a sales presentation where the salesperson points out that a good or service has features that will benefit the customer  Feature-benefit chart: a listing of a product’s features with their corresponding benefits

 Construction and materials: What is the material? Who makes it? How is it made? What’s the difference between these two items?  Appearance and style Appearance is a dominant factor in many buying decisions Customers consider color, line, and design in everything they buy – cars, clothes, accessories, appliances, furniture, etc.  Unique or novel features Having desirable features that your competitor does not have  Durability How long a product will last and give dependable service  Product uses What the product will do and how it can be used  Service and warranty Especially important when selling products such as appliances, electronics, and cars Step 1: Find your product’s features

 Step 2: Know where to get facts about product features  The product itself Use the product and information provided  Customers Testimonials  Manufacturer’s brochures and publications  Other sales personnel  Promotional materials Product bulletins Catalogs/manuals

 Step 3: Create a feature-benefit chart  After you know what type of information you need and where to obtain the facts about your products, prepare a feature-benefit chart List all the product’s features, beginning with the ones that a customer or client will see first List the less-obvious or hidden features For each feature that you identified, ask, “what does this mean for the customer?” Write each benefit beside its feature A feature can provide more than one benefit

ProductFeatures (What are they?) Benefits (What do they mean?) ComputerVariety of modelsYou will be able to select different components to build a system that meets your specific needs Monitor sizeLarge monitors that come with these computers enable you to see the entire page. Gives a clear understanding of how the document looks MemoryThese models can be loaded with sufficient memory so your computer can handle any program Print capabilityHandle all your printing needs in your home or office

 Communicate product benefits  Ensure the appropriateness of the product for the customer  To better meet the customer’s needs and wants

 Decide which features and benefits appeal to each customer.  Customers buy the benefit, not the feature.  Different customers want different benefits from the same product.  Listen, question, and observe the customer to determine customer needs and desires  You only need to explain the benefits that pertain to the current customer.

Emphasize and or demonstrate the benefits to the customer:  Use descriptive phrases  Explain technical benefits in a language customers can understand  Make sure customers know the benefits because benefits sell

 Observe customer when you are talking about a benefit.  Move to another benefit or continue based on reaction.  Before moving on, you might want to question further in order to clarify the benefits the customer is looking for.

 Using the example given, create a feature-benefit chart for an MP3 player you would like to own, or the one that you do own. Think about all its features and what you like about them.  Activity Develop a feature-benefit chart for a new portable MP3 player.  Use the following features in your chart:  reduced physical size  increased hard drive size  improved shock absorption  FM tuner  voice recorder  color LCD screen

 Select 4 different products. (You should select a specific product…Samsung HD TV not “TV”)  Create a Feature/Benefit Chart in PowerPoint for each product.  For each product, identify 3 physical features and the corresponding benefits of those features.  The table should also include the product name, description, and a picture.