November 21, 2008 94 Comments

Sell Benefits Not Features

Evolution Twitter isn’t amazing. The ability to connect to many voices in a collaborative way is amazing. Facebook isn’t the future. Having mutual social environments that permit deeper understanding of each other’s interest is the future. It’s important that we learn how to talk in terms of benefits and not the features.

This was an old sales lesson that I learned from Jason Chudnofsky, the CEO at Pulvermedia. He had a course that he’d been teaching for many years on that exact point. It’s not the various features that convince someone to buy. They might influence your purchase, but you buy benefits. With this car, you’ll save on gas. With this car, you’ll draw lots of attention. With this software, you’ll stay closer to the pulse of the larger community.

Do you see the difference?

Far too often, I hear social media enthusiasts talking about the software from the perspective of its features, but we’ve already proven that features don’t trump benefits. Twitter has fewer features than Pownce and Jaiku, and yet, we’re all on Twitter.

Blogging isn’t cool because you can tag, because you can use RSS, because there are all kinds of hot templates. Blogging improves a company’s organic SEO, gives their leadership a voice in the conversation, brings potential wide-funnel sales activity into a business.

Are you with me?

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  • http://blog.deadpansincerity.com davidmiller

    couldn’t agree more.

    Technology is irrelevant unless it makes our lives better.

    Keep things simple & appeal to peoples real needs & desires – that’s what makes them tick.

  • http://www.thearsonistaffair.com Madison McGraw-Girl Arsonist

    Summed up very well, though features and benefits seem to melt into each other and become difficult to seperate. A good lesson indeed. Thanks for the reminder. Also, I wonder if you break it down more…are men be more attracted to the feature aspect & women to the ultimate benefit?

  • http://blog.deadpansincerity.com davidmiller

    couldn’t agree more.

    Technology is irrelevant unless it makes our lives better.

    Keep things simple & appeal to peoples real needs & desires – that’s what makes them tick.

  • http://www.thearsonistaffair.com Madison McGraw-Girl Arsonist

    Summed up very well, though features and benefits seem to melt into each other and become difficult to seperate. A good lesson indeed. Thanks for the reminder. Also, I wonder if you break it down more…are men be more attracted to the feature aspect & women to the ultimate benefit?

  • http://storyofpicture.blogspot.com/ Aldhis

    Yes, I am!
    Thank you for reminding me that benefit is what the consumer really use instead of the feature. So many features but none of it bring any benefit to your customer will only cost you a lot instead of bringing more profit.

  • http://claremunn.com Alasdair Munn

    100%. Selling the benefits is the only way that organizations are going to realise the value of social media.

    Social media is about adding a set of business tools to an organization rather than been seen in the latest fad.

    This also allows people to start seeing that social media tools are not a collection of pre-existing social networking sites, rather the right tools should be used according to an organizations structure, culture, objectives and in accordance with their entire organizational plan.

    Twitter’s model is great, however large organizations should not only be talking about using twitter to connect and collaborate with customers. They should be thinking of using the same toolset to engage in organizational collaborative, searchable conversations.

    Approaching a social media strategy through looking at the benefits allows you to go beyond the tools and to look to ways of integrating your social media into the very fabric of your organization. Combining social media tools with your CMS. LMS, measurement, analytics etc provides purpose built powerful business tools.

  • http://www.digital-era.org Sofia

    Oh I’m with you.

    However – so many times we live in a bubble of tech savvy people. We get enthusiastic about tech features because we tend to talk to a lot of techies.

    And yes, we tend to forget that for the majority ‘how’ it works is not as important as ‘what’ it does… (damn, I feel a blog post coming on)

  • http://storyofpicture.blogspot.com/ Aldhis

    Yes, I am!
    Thank you for reminding me that benefit is what the consumer really use instead of the feature. So many features but none of it bring any benefit to your customer will only cost you a lot instead of bringing more profit.

  • http://claremunn.com Alasdair Munn

    100%. Selling the benefits is the only way that organizations are going to realise the value of social media.

    Social media is about adding a set of business tools to an organization rather than been seen in the latest fad.

    This also allows people to start seeing that social media tools are not a collection of pre-existing social networking sites, rather the right tools should be used according to an organizations structure, culture, objectives and in accordance with their entire organizational plan.

    Twitter’s model is great, however large organizations should not only be talking about using twitter to connect and collaborate with customers. They should be thinking of using the same toolset to engage in organizational collaborative, searchable conversations.

    Approaching a social media strategy through looking at the benefits allows you to go beyond the tools and to look to ways of integrating your social media into the very fabric of your organization. Combining social media tools with your CMS. LMS, measurement, analytics etc provides purpose built powerful business tools.

  • http://www.digital-era.org Sofia

    Oh I’m with you.

    However – so many times we live in a bubble of tech savvy people. We get enthusiastic about tech features because we tend to talk to a lot of techies.

    And yes, we tend to forget that for the majority ‘how’ it works is not as important as ‘what’ it does… (damn, I feel a blog post coming on)

  • http://www.debworks.com deb

    got it. clear. benefits will always trump features. duh!

  • http://www.debworks.com deb

    got it. clear. benefits will always trump features. duh!

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog John Jantsch

    Hey Chris – I stopped using the B-word (blog) when pitching the idea to small business folks because the features (or at least what they thought of as the features) turned them off – it’s only when I focused on getting site traffic and ultimately more leads, that they were willing to listen about a blog.

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog John Jantsch

    Hey Chris – I stopped using the B-word (blog) when pitching the idea to small business folks because the features (or at least what they thought of as the features) turned them off – it’s only when I focused on getting site traffic and ultimately more leads, that they were willing to listen about a blog.

  • http://scottpurdie.com Scott Purdie

    Im totally with you Chris. I think too many of us get sucked into the amazing things products/services can do. However the best products/services benefit from letting the user kick ass more after using their product.

    Sometimes less features are also a benefit.

    Great post.

  • http://scottpurdie.com Scott Purdie

    Im totally with you Chris. I think too many of us get sucked into the amazing things products/services can do. However the best products/services benefit from letting the user kick ass more after using their product.

    Sometimes less features are also a benefit.

    Great post.

  • http://www.aadjemonkeyrock.com Aad ‘t Hart

    I absolutely agree… however it’s difficult fighting a product / feature focused organization ;-)

  • http://www.aadjemonkeyrock.com Aad ‘t Hart

    I absolutely agree… however it’s difficult fighting a product / feature focused organization ;-)

  • http://twitter.com//davebenjamin David Benjamin

    Chris,

    This is a good reminder for those that have not gone through any form of sales training. I like to paint the picture for my clients, let them visualize what it looks like after making an important decision and enjoying the benefits that come from that decision . No Benefits typically equals No Value.

  • http://twitter.com//davebenjamin David Benjamin

    Chris,

    This is a good reminder for those that have not gone through any form of sales training. I like to paint the picture for my clients, let them visualize what it looks like after making an important decision and enjoying the benefits that come from that decision . No Benefits typically equals No Value.

  • Pingback: Repeating the ‘mistake’ of selling features and not benefits

  • http://trbdesigns.com reiko beach

    I have also stopped using the b- word (like John) when I tell them that they could have a place for putting presentation notes, bullitens, answer questions, get feedback, put up news themselves…they say yes.

  • http://trbdesigns.com reiko beach

    I have also stopped using the b- word (like John) when I tell them that they could have a place for putting presentation notes, bullitens, answer questions, get feedback, put up news themselves…they say yes.

  • http://www.danomi.com Young Che

    Not to mention the ability to have ongoing conversations with, well… everyone is certainly a Social Media benefit that makes it indispensable.

  • http://www.danomi.com Young Che

    Not to mention the ability to have ongoing conversations with, well… everyone is certainly a Social Media benefit that makes it indispensable.

  • http://www.raleighpublicrelations.com Bobby McDonald

    I’ve actually recently had this discussion with several people in my office. I understand what I’m trying to sell my clients on so I see the features as benefits but many of the clients haven’t taken that step yet. We need to focus on the benefits, the results. @John Jantsch and @reiko beach Interesting choice to stop using the b-word. I’ll have to try that.

  • Jeff Webster

    Great points, Chris. Whenever speaking to any client or co-worker about the topic of social media I try to stress this as the biggest takeaway. Understand what this technology is enabling and don’t get caught up in the special features of any one tool because we’re going to continue to see tools come and go for years.

  • http://www.raleighpublicrelations.com Bobby McDonald

    I’ve actually recently had this discussion with several people in my office. I understand what I’m trying to sell my clients on so I see the features as benefits but many of the clients haven’t taken that step yet. We need to focus on the benefits, the results. @John Jantsch and @reiko beach Interesting choice to stop using the b-word. I’ll have to try that.

  • Jeff Webster

    Great points, Chris. Whenever speaking to any client or co-worker about the topic of social media I try to stress this as the biggest takeaway. Understand what this technology is enabling and don’t get caught up in the special features of any one tool because we’re going to continue to see tools come and go for years.

  • http://tiffanymonhollon.com/blog/ Tiffany Monhollon

    I think one reason many people focus on the features is that maybe they don’t fully understand how to sell the benefits, especially from an organizational perspective. Talking benefits one thing, but in a real world corporate situation when you are talking ROI, that level of conversation and knowledge can be daunting, to say the least.

  • http://tiffanymonhollon.com/blog/ Tiffany Monhollon

    I think one reason many people focus on the features is that maybe they don’t fully understand how to sell the benefits, especially from an organizational perspective. Talking benefits one thing, but in a real world corporate situation when you are talking ROI, that level of conversation and knowledge can be daunting, to say the least.

  • http://catskillcottageseed.com Richard Reeve

    When I saw your question for this post on twitter, I knew you would write the answer benefits. I agree completely. If we were carving our messages in stone, the goal the same: delivery of what in this here head over to that there head.

  • http://catskillcottageseed.com Richard Reeve

    When I saw your question for this post on twitter, I knew you would write the answer benefits. I agree completely. If we were carving our messages in stone, the goal the same: delivery of what in this here head over to that there head.

  • http://www.kellycotiaux.com LadyOTrout

    WIIFM (Whats In It For Me?)- that is what it comes down to – how can I make money? how can I save time? how can I save money?

    Thanks for the reminder, Chris. I have been evangelizing and I needed a boot to remember what hooked ME in the first place!

  • http://www.kellycotiaux.com LadyOTrout

    WIIFM (Whats In It For Me?)- that is what it comes down to – how can I make money? how can I save time? how can I save money?

    Thanks for the reminder, Chris. I have been evangelizing and I needed a boot to remember what hooked ME in the first place!

  • http://noelbellen.blogspot.com/ Noel Bellen

    “Sell Benefits Not Features” works both in Sales and Marketing. I have never known anyone losing sleep over a feature …
    Thanks for spreading the word.

  • http://noelbellen.blogspot.com/ Noel Bellen

    “Sell Benefits Not Features” works both in Sales and Marketing. I have never known anyone losing sleep over a feature …
    Thanks for spreading the word.

  • http://www.askaround.ca Wendy Stone

    Marketing 101 . Features are only there to provide benefits: Sell the sizzle not the steak. Many thanks to Professor Litvak at Ottawa U, and to Chris for reminding me.

  • http://www.askaround.ca Wendy Stone

    Marketing 101 . Features are only there to provide benefits: Sell the sizzle not the steak. Many thanks to Professor Litvak at Ottawa U, and to Chris for reminding me.

  • http://www.pluggedinco.com Matt Foley

    Couldn’t have said it better myself… It’s all about taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture, rather than focusing on “does this platform have this or that” and basing decisions on that alone. Features are great, especially if they make the consumer/company experience better, but emphasizing the features at the expense of the benefits is shortsighted.

  • http://www.pluggedinco.com Matt Foley

    Couldn’t have said it better myself… It’s all about taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture, rather than focusing on “does this platform have this or that” and basing decisions on that alone. Features are great, especially if they make the consumer/company experience better, but emphasizing the features at the expense of the benefits is shortsighted.

  • http://Twitter.com/Ed Ed

    Hm? What’s that?
    Sorry, I was busy hearing a lot of cool stuff from folks
    on Twitter and able to engage.
    What were saying? Something about benefits?
    I heard your voice coming from this blog.
    Now listening.

  • http://Twitter.com/NextInstinct Ed

    Hm? What’s that?
    Sorry, I was busy hearing a lot of cool stuff from folks
    on Twitter and able to engage.
    What were saying? Something about benefits?
    I heard your voice coming from this blog.
    Now listening.

  • http://www.thisweekinlondon.co.uk Paul Parkinson

    It’s not just true in the tech space. All too often (sales)people confuse features with benefits.

    FWIW, my take on the difference between Features and Benefits is illustrated by the “So What” Test.

    Take a given products feature or benefit and say it out loud. If you can say “So What?” to it and not sound like an idiot it is a benefit; otherwise it’s a feature.

    Product X will save me £100,000 a year over my original supplier. So what? You’re an idiot.
    It’s a benefit

    Product X has blue blinken lights. So what? Well, they’re prettier than red ones.
    It’s a feature.

    See – try it yourself. You will be AMAZED how many “proper” companies confuse features with benefits…

  • http://www.thisweekinlondon.co.uk Paul Parkinson

    It’s not just true in the tech space. All too often (sales)people confuse features with benefits.

    FWIW, my take on the difference between Features and Benefits is illustrated by the “So What” Test.

    Take a given products feature or benefit and say it out loud. If you can say “So What?” to it and not sound like an idiot it is a benefit; otherwise it’s a feature.

    Product X will save me £100,000 a year over my original supplier. So what? You’re an idiot.
    It’s a benefit

    Product X has blue blinken lights. So what? Well, they’re prettier than red ones.
    It’s a feature.

    See – try it yourself. You will be AMAZED how many “proper” companies confuse features with benefits…

  • http://www.VendorCity.com JC Cameron

    Thanks for the valuable reminder, Chris. All too often, those of us responsible for building solutions, forget this very important lesson. The problem is that it is way too easy to fall down the features hole because it is so much simpler to talk about them then to create the perfect benefits pitch.

    With VendorCity, we are trying to work hard on the benefits side and not focus so much on individual features when describing our offering. Oh, and thanks again for mentioning us in the Deb Works interview (http://tinyurl.com/5t98uc).

  • http://www.VendorCity.com JC Cameron

    Thanks for the valuable reminder, Chris. All too often, those of us responsible for building solutions, forget this very important lesson. The problem is that it is way too easy to fall down the features hole because it is so much simpler to talk about them then to create the perfect benefits pitch.

    With VendorCity, we are trying to work hard on the benefits side and not focus so much on individual features when describing our offering. Oh, and thanks again for mentioning us in the Deb Works interview (http://tinyurl.com/5t98uc).

  • http://kevintouhey.wordpress.com Kevin Touhey

    I don’t know much about sales and marketing (that’s why I often lurk here), but I couldn’t help making a comment. You’re absolutely right. I used to think that a camera phone was useless technology, I thought, “I want to talk, not take pictures!”, but then I saw an ad for a camera phone where a traveling father was taking pictures of the places and things he was seeing and sending them to his daughters and I was hooked. I travel a lot too, giving speeches and workshops and a camera phone allows me to show my daughters and wife what and who I see. Anyway, the purpose behind this little anecdote was to let you know that you’re absolutely right..lol… Sell benefits, not features.

  • http://altitudebranding.com Amber Naslund

    *jumping up and down and clapping*

    If we ever have a hope for transforming the way that businesses communicate with online tools, we have to start by skipping the specs and moving straight to the “what problem is this going to help me solve” issue. Lingo sucks.

    We keep begging for people to take all of this seriously, but we’re not yet succeeding in putting it in terms that translate into meeting goals and objectives. Sometimes that means starting with the end in mind, and working backwards. What do we want to achieve? Then, what’s going to help us do that? Then, and only then, are the implements fair game.

  • http://kevintouhey.wordpress.com Kevin Touhey

    I don’t know much about sales and marketing (that’s why I often lurk here), but I couldn’t help making a comment. You’re absolutely right. I used to think that a camera phone was useless technology, I thought, “I want to talk, not take pictures!”, but then I saw an ad for a camera phone where a traveling father was taking pictures of the places and things he was seeing and sending them to his daughters and I was hooked. I travel a lot too, giving speeches and workshops and a camera phone allows me to show my daughters and wife what and who I see. Anyway, the purpose behind this little anecdote was to let you know that you’re absolutely right..lol… Sell benefits, not features.

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