Selling benefits in USA - Canada sales: From prepaid cell phone service to POS software, sell benefits not features
Do you want to sell American products or services in Canada?
Or Canadian products or services in the US? Either way, it's
the same as selling products or services at home: at the point
of sale (POS), don't sell product features - sell customer benefits.
Even here in Detroit Michigan and Windsor Ontario, consumers buy
products for their benefits, not features.
Even products that are prepaid (cellular phone plans, and mobile phone cards, prepaid legal plans and other services) may be described in terms of their features and benefits.
Features are product characteristics that deliver benefits;
we buy products for their benefits.
- Features are product characteristics such as
size, color, horsepower, functionality, design, hours
of business, fabric content, etc.
- Benefits answer the customer’s question: What’s
in it for me?
This distinction is further illustrated in the following table:
| The feature is. . . |
The
benefit is. . . |
- Tangarine Interac POS point
of sale systems lets Canadian stores sell prepaid cellular
phone cards by printing a code number on the POS receipt paper,
replacing the old system where the merchant had to buy
prepaid cellular phone cards and long distance phone
service cards in various amounts.
|
- For merchants:
1.) Convenience
of not having to maintain inventory of several brands
and denominations of phone cards.
2.) Savings: No
need to purchase prepaid cell phone cards or long distance
phone cards.
3.) Protection:
Eliminates the chance of customers or staff stealing
prepaid cell phone cards.
- For customers:
Convenience & choice, since
the stores will never run out of their favorite prepaid
cell phone service in whatever amount they want to purchase.
|
- Tangarine POS point of sale
system lets Canadian store owners charge customers a
fifteen cent Interac transaction fee.
|
- For customers, it's more convenient
and less expensive than an ATM machine.
- For merchants, it's a new profit
center by charging per transaction.
|
- Tangarine Interac POS system
offers cash back ability just like an ATM machine.
|
- For customers, it's more convenient and
less expensive than an ATM machine.
- For merchants, it's a new profit center by charging
per transaction.
|
Product features are generally easy to see or describe,
but product benefits can be more challenging since they tend to be less obvious.
The most overwhelming product benefits are those that provide
financial or emotional rewards. It’s that
the benefit of a paticular toothpaste is not the brighter smile it creates; it’s what you might get with that smile. (An attractive mate, a better position, etc.)
Emotional rewards enable the buyer to feel better in some way. For example, sending
flowers to a family member or friend lets the buyer express
love. When we purchase products made from recycled materials, the buyer
may feel environmentally responsible.
Products that deliver financial rewards enable the buyer to:
- Make money (software for keeping track of a home-based business)
- Save money (a discounted airline ticket)
- Gain time or convenience (drive-thru restaurants).
Discovering the customer benefits of your products, and not just its features
To identify your product’s benefits, you must see things from
your customer’s perspective.
Don't just put yourself in your customers’ shoes mentally,
talk to them or take a survey asking them to identify your product’s
benefits. They might surprise you.
Look at who has bought your product in the past. What does that
customer's profile tell you about your product’s benefits?
In the future, you may want to set up a few systems to develop and track
product benefits:
- Ask customers for ways you can improve things.
- Pay attention to prospect inquiries and customer complaints.
Listen to what your customers say. Train and
reward employees for inquiring about the issues of concern to your customers and prospects to learn what they don’t like about your products or sevices and what they want changed.
Analyze this information and learn from it.
- keep an eye on your competition. Do the changes they've made in their products and services being offered suggest product benefits your customers may want?
Why you need to know your product’s features
and benefits
Understanding product features and benefits enables you to do such
things as:
- Describe your products in your marketing
collateral, or in a personal sales process
in a way that is most applicable to customers.
- Differentiate–explain how your products or services are different ("better")
than your competition’s.
- Use a n array of pricing and positioning strategies effectively
(see several strategy ideas below in "Strategies that are
based upon features").
Differentiation of product benefits
Products may be unique (specialty items) or virtually
indistinguishable from competitors’ products (commodity products)–or somewhere in between. Specialty products are not necessarily better
than commodity products, but they do demain different marketing
strategies. Frequently, an important strategy for specialty
products is differentiation. A company differentiates
its products when it sets them apart from those of competitive’
products in the minds of consumers Having a complete understanding
of how your product’s benefits compare to your competitors’
enables you to compete with them through differentiation.
|
<-------------------------------------
|
------------------------------------->
|
| Commodity Products |
Specialty Products
|
| Few, if any, perceived |
Highly unique features
|
| differences among |
compared to other products
|
| competing products |
competing for buyers' dollars
|
Strategies that are based upon features
- Introducing a new product feature - Being "the first" to offer a
new product feature is a proven competitive strategy. For example,
being known as "the first" organic body lotion to have
Vitamin E will position your company as a leader, at least for
a while.
- Improving/Modifying a product feature - Instead of being at the forefront of the industry with a totally new feature, you might just modify and/or
improve your product’s features. "Improving" your
product creates the impression that your company cares about customer satisfaction.
Making modifications to product features is a strategy some businesses implement in order to compete with a competitor who slashes prices. For example,
if the maker of one shampoo lowers its price, the
maker of another may add aloe vera as a "new improved"
feature but maintain the same price.
Don’t forget that modifying features usually leads to
changes in benefits. Realize the perceived benefits
your product offers so you can communicate them in all of your your marketing collateral.
- Grouping product features- Features are often grouped into
various product models—and prices—starting with
a basic model to a "fully loaded" model. Computers and electronic devices, cars, and even vacation packages offer a variety
of features to add to a basic product model. This can also apply to services. For example, if you're a lawyer
you might offer a certain fee for preparing a will,
another fee to additionally process powers of attorney, and another to
manage all of a client's legal affairs.
To learn more about the sales process, check out
The Sales Process Defined and
Advanced Sales Training sections.
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