It sounds heretical for a sales training organization to say: "Stop selling features and benefits!" Many have been preaching features-and-benefits selling for ages. Apparently it still gets some results, but it usually requires a lot of unnecessary hard work. And sometimes it becomes a safe way to sell unproductively. Features and benefits do not lead people to make buying decisions. It merely confuses the issue.

For those of you who are skeptics, try this quick exercise: On a blank piece of paper, draw a vertical line down the center of the page. At the top left side, write your company's name. Across the page, on the top right side, write the name of your major competitor. Down the left side of the page, write the numbers 1, 2, and 3. Do the same on the right side of the page. Now, under your company's name, list the top three benefits of the product or service that you're selling. Be sure these benefits explain why people buy from you.

Now ... I've got bad news and good news for you. The bad news is: you're fired!

The good news is that your largest competitor just hired you (whose name you wrote in the exercise above).

Go back to the right side of your paper. And since it's now your first day at work for your new boss, record the top three benefits of the product or service you'll be selling now. When you're finished, you'll probably discover that it's difficult to distinguish between the left and right sides of the page. Look down both lists, and for every benefit listed that shows up on both the right and left sides ... cross them off. They don't count. Why not? - Because they're not a unique and compelling reason for someone to do business with you.

Can you imagine sharing the results of this exercise with your prospective customers and clients? In truth, many salespeople do it every day. Prospects are used to hearing the same features-and-benefits presentations day after day. Chances are, each time you make a presentation, the prospect already has heard everything you're going to say ... from the competition! If you're selling in the traditional way, the only thing setting you apart from the competition is the company name on your business card. In our training programs, we call this the "cold spaghetti" method of selling: you throw a big bowl of cold spaghetti (features and benefits) on the wall (at a prospect) and hope something sticks.

Your sales presentation is confusing your prospects, and when there are no distinguishing characteristics between competing businesses, guess what becomes the deciding factor? You guessed it ... price.

Many sales professionals dedicate significant time into delving into the psychology, behavior, and techniques associated with this quote by David Sandler – the founder of The Sandler Sales Institute: "When people make decisions, they are either moving toward pleasure, or away from pain. People make decisions intellectually, but they buy emotionally."

Many salespeople attempt to appeal to a prospect's intellect. They try to arouse curiosity about what their product or service can do for the prospect. That's features-and-benefits selling ... and by and large, it doesn't work – at least not as effectively as we would like. Benefits appeal to the intellect, but not to the emotions. Pushing benefits is a little like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. It creates an adversarial relationship between the sales professional and the prospect, which is the exact opposite of what we need to do to productively advance the sales conversation.

So, stop selling features and benefits and learn how to nurturingly ask great questions that help a prospect share what's really going on. Listen and learn. A prospect will tell you what they need and, more importantly, why they need it. You'll be more successful, more profitable, and ahead of your competition.

© Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.