There are two questions customer ask before buying a product or service:

• Will this (insert your product or service her) make my life better?
• Will buying this product solve my problem?

If you can show how your product, (or service) can answer one or both of these questions, you’ve tackled the hardest part of selling.

Aren’t you silently asking the same two questions when you buy something?

Buying is an emotional process, but we’ve also got to satisfy the mind, the logical part of ourselves before we make a buying decision. The easiest way to do this is to address both the features and the benefits in sales presentations.

You’ve probably heard this before, but I notice in my business going back to basics is the best way to increase your sales. Features and benefits. Solve your clients problem. Make them feel better.

Lets say you are in the market for a new computer. Maybe you don’t know much about computers but you know that you’d like your new one to be fast, easy to learn, and have space enough to hold all your family photos. As you shop you have those three key points in mind. These are benefits.

So, you’re at the computer store, trying to figure out if the computers on display will hold all your photos, (solve your problem) and be faster than you can type, (make your life better), but the salesperson tells you all about the features of the computer. She’s talking up a mile a minute about ram, gigabytes and motherboards, – instead of how the computer will benefit you.

I’m not saying that you should talk down to your customers, no of course not. If you sell computers simply add the benefit along with the feature to your sales presentation.

“This computer has 999 gigabytes and should hold all the photos of your children growing up without ever running out of space. – unless you’ve got twelve kids! ”

or, if you are a therapist, you might say:

“When you come to me for acupuncture, I only use disposable needles, (the feature) which means you’ll never have to worry about risk of infection from needles. (the benefit).

If you’ve got a website or blog, you’ve still got to address both the feature, and the benefit and solve a problem.

You’ll do this by staying in your target niche and understanding your own value to your readers. The features might be an easy to navigate website full of articles in your niche. The benefit to your reader is being able to quickly find articles to help them research the valuable information quickly making their life better and solving their problem.

Once a reader, or customer knows that you will consistency solve problems for them, and make them feel better, you are creating loyalty. I’d rather go back to someone who I can count on to solve my problem rather than start over again in my search – wouldn’t you?

Most customers buy again and again for the same reasons.

• More money or monetary gain, financially free from worry.
• Time Management or better convenience
• Status and recognition
• Improvement of self – mind, body and soul.

For me, I like better organization – I need all the help I can get, so I’m always looking for tools, products, people to help me organize and have better time management. It’s my ‘buying button’, the benefit I need to solve my problem. If I find a website or a person who can help me, I’ll keep coming back for more. I look for people who specialize – since I know I
can trust them to help me the fastest.

In my business, I coach therapists in private practice. My specialization is teaching them how to market themselves. I help them make their life better by bringing in more clients without additional cash outlay and solve their problem of immediate cash flow. When I concentrate on those two key issues – my specialty and their problems, I stay busy, focused, everyone is
happy. If I stray too much – say, coaching on business planning or advertising, I’m out of my core niche and usually won’t solve their problem. My clients all have the same need – clients, and right this instant please!

So, every so often you should check in with your own marketing and sales.
How does your product or service fit when asking these two questions?

In all your marketing and promotional materials, if you concentrate on the benefit – and ask yourself, “how can I serve my client?” then you are on the right track.

Here’s a challenge for you today. Write down what your core product or service is, then turn it into a benefit driven sentence and leave it in the comment section below. I’d love to read what you all do and how you might help me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michelle A. Vandepas focuses on helping entrepreneurial therapists in private practice market themselves. Her book, Marketing for the Holistic Practitioner has helped thousands of start up therapists. She does this through her blog www.consciousdestiny.net, workshops and private consulting sessions via phone and email. You can contact Michelle – at – consciousdestiny.com.

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Posted on February 28th, 2008 by Ponn Sabra
Filed under: Entrepreneurialism