I am not fan of features and benefits selling. I don’t even think that approach belongs in a retail sales environment. The better approach is to qualify the prospect for need – What are they looking for? What is it they need to have/do? What is their time frame? You get the idea.
Unfortunately, many features/benefits salespeople exist in the marketplace and they seem to be everywhere. This approach leads to the negative stereotype salespeople – pushy, talkative, bad listener, etc.
Managesmarter.com provides an excellent tip within an article titled Transcend the Negative Stereotypes of Sales:
Tip No. 3: Understand how your customers market services and generate profit.
Don’t assume your customers are all alike. You cannot truly help your customers until you understand their business models. Instead of selling the features and benefits of your product, ask questions and listen to discover ways your customer faces their competitive challenges. You will then distinguish yourself as a resource who can help them increase profits through better salesmanship.
Here’s what I like about that tip – it is hard to get caught in the features/benefits loop if you are attempting to understand how your prospect’s business model makes money. The secondary effect is the fact that you do not appear to be the stereotypical salesperson…not small secondary effect!