Do you craft benefits around buying motives?

When you're presenting the features of your service or product do you craft the benefits around the customer's buying motives or do you present the features only and let the customer fill in the benefits? -realtor

i dont see how you could be much of a salesman if you didnt do that so yes, i do that -BobSales

I asked that because I thought that was a big thing with High Probability Selling, presenting just the features and not the benefits. -realtor

My B2B background has me firmly entrenched in the benefits camp.

Given that the SR cannot know in advance which features are appealing, to lead with a features-dump would be hit-or-miss. Rather than take that chance, why not feel out the prospect for what appeals, how to prioritize these, and drive home the related benefits?

Besides, when you get deeply into 'needs' vs 'wants', you're portraying an interest in your customer.

Good luck & Good selling!
Pat -OUTSource Sales

Customers buy products & services because of benefits, not because of features. But there are a boatload of salespeople out there who - regrettably - only focus on features, but they most certainly could boost their sales performance if they'd get on the benefits trackinstead of the features-only track. -Skip Anderson

Isn't the short of this, high probability offers, that when you offer the wrong benefit you could be barking up the wrong tree but when you offer a feature the prospect chooses the perceived benefit? -realtor

It's not a "benefit" if it doesn't appeal to this particular prospect. The implication is that the benefit comes from probing for needs and, then, aligning those needs with the offering at-hand.

When a "features dump" is attempted, the rookie SR is spraying everything out there for his suspect to (hopefully) cling onto something.

When a skilled SR probes for needs and qualifies appropriately, there are no such things as "wrong benefits".

Good luck and Good selling!
Pat -OUTSource Sales

Spot on, Pat! -Skip Anderson

If I'm not mistaken composing an offer around features is high probability prospecting for telephone prospecting not presentations. Big difference. -Houston

I looked it up and it is my mistake not yours. Thank you Houston. -realtor

Features can be used to sell our products and services, but only if we present them correctly. Just doing a "feature dump" will give the prospect "information overload" and will result in the customer "having to think about it" or being unsure about making a buying decision.

After every important feature (important to the prospect) you should explain the benefit of the feature and then, to make sure they are tracking with you, use a Tie Down. This combination not only helps the prospect understand the product but it also allows them to gain the confidence through the sales process that allows them to comfortably make a buying decision. -Joeylean

Salespractice.com has many sales proffesionals/experts roaming the forums. This will help you get information in context, when you have questions on a certain subject. I once asked about dress codes and had 5 peices of advice within 3 hours.


I beleive in not only feature benifets, but feature benifet story. I like to tell a story about how a benifet helped me or someone I know.

of course, as mentioned above. This only helps if it is on a feature your client has interest in. -Jaron Watkins

Hi Joey. I agree.

For those at S.P. who may not know what tie-downs are, maybe you could post some examples.

Skip -Skip Anderson

A Tie Down is a statement that is converted to a question directed at the prospect. This is powerful because too often in the sales presentation the sales professional becomes prey to making value building statements about the product or service without getting buy-in from the prospect. It is vital that the sales professional remember that if he or she states something about the product or service that is being presented that is good, but if the prospect says it then that is gold. Remember that the definition of a sale is the transfer of belief and/or enthusiasm. Tie downs aid the sales professional in ensuring the transfer of belief and/or enthusiasm for the product or service. Read through the below examples and notice the difference between using a tie down and not.

Example #1 (Not using a Tie Down)
Sales Professional: “This training will save your company money?”
Prospect: (no response)

Example #2 (Utilizing the Tie Down)
Sales Professional: “Wouldn’t you agree that this training will save your company money.”
Prospect: “Yes, I can see how it would.”

Tie Downs are simple to think of regardless of the question. One method is when presenting a value building statement incorporate one of the following phrases within the statement and turn it into a question aimed at your prospect.
· Wouldn’t it?
· Isn’t it?
· Wouldn’t you agree?
· Couldn’t it?
· Doesn’t it?

Use some Tie Downs in your next sales presentation and you will see the difference! -Joeylean

Thanks Joeylean. Positive rep for you. :) -realtor

Buying is an emotion driven state, not a logical one

To truly recommend your product and highlight the benifits, you must find out what the customer values before you can recommend.

Only then will you get the most out of your presentations -MrCharisma

-Joeylean