Features and benefits selling is dead
Features and benefits selling has been around for decades and we are all familiar with the script.
- Build Rapport
- Talk about product features
- Enthuse about product benefits
- Try to close
- Overcome any objections
- Now close
And it worked well, until it did not
There are many reasons features and benefits selling longer works. For starters it is all about the seller, not the consumer.
“Look at me, look at my product or service that has almost magical qualities and just try not to buy it because I can tell it is perfect for you. Oh and even if you don’t think you want it, I can overcome any objection, just try me”
It is a script that we the consumers have seen thousands of times over the course of our lives (depending on your age of course) it is not fun, it is not interesting and we know how to shut it down.
Features and benefits selling is dead.
Fast forward to 2020
Thankfully there is a growing movement, a rebellion of business owners who are embracing heart based selling which flips the script and makes each transaction about the buyer.
About the consumers pain, about the consumers problem and if there is neither a pain or problem the salesperson
A sales process that is all about us, the consumer and involves honesty and empathy, two qualities mostly bereft of sales processes for decades.
Features and benefits selling which is all about the triumph of the seller over the buyer has given way to the heart based selling revolution engaged by business who understand.
- Stop selling
- Start listening
- Start putting the needs of the consumer ahead of the needs of the business
- Start selling with empathy