Closing the Sale: What Works Best, Selling the Benefits or Selling the Features?

By Dr. Larina Kase

Conventional wisdom stated that in order to sell products or services, you needed to sell the features. A car salesperson would go on and on about all the wonderful features of the car. The typical buyer, like me, who knows little about cars would find themselves getting lost. Their eyes would glaze over and they’d feel too stupid to ask any questions. So, they’d keep looking.

“Sell the Sizzle Not the Steak”

Thus began the new approach to sales which said to forget selling the features, and instead to sell the benefits. The car salesperson then began to sell the smoothness of the ride, the ease of navigating the controls, the money savings brought about by fuel efficiency, and so on.

This benefits selling approach can certainly been seen as an improvement over the previous features selling, but it doesn’t always work.

As I discuss in my book The Confident Leader we often take an idea, learn that it isn’t working, and go to the other end of the spectrum. This process is like a pendulum swinging back and forth, when in reality, the best approach may lie at either one of the sides or somewhere in the middle.

When to Sell the Sizzle, When to Sell the Steak

As a lifelong vegetarian, this is not my favorite metaphor to discuss, but it is the most widely known one in sales literature. Let’s edit it a little (to something I do love): wine. When to sell the taste, and when to sell the grape vintage.

Let’s take the average consumer of wines who doesn’t know much except that they like a wine that tastes good. Do you think you’d sell the features or the benefits?

You’d sell the benefits. You’d let them know that it’s a wine that pairs well with most foods, works well for most people so it’s great for dinner parties, is inexpensive, and other such benefits. The novice wine consumer would be sold.

Well, what if you took this same approach with a wine expert? They would be insulted and not buy from you. They would want to know about the vintage, the legs, the body, the tannins, and so on.

So, sell the features to experts and the benefits to beginners.

What about an Intermediate and Unknown Consumers?

In today’s internet age, most consumers are somewhere in the middle. As consumers, we can easily educate ourselves and achieve some level of familiarity with products and services. The more of a commitment (of resources including time, energy, and money) the decision is, the more likely we are to educate ourselves.

If you are not able to ascertain the expertise level of your prospect (by asking questions or surveying them in advance), assume an intermediary level and start your approach there. Be on the lookout for clues as to whether they are more expert in the topic and you can get into specific features or they are less expert in the topic and you can discuss benefits.

The Most Crucial Ingredient

No discussion of selling would be complete without mentioning the most important aspect—more important than what you say: establish rapport with your prospect. Seek to understand them and empathize with their situation, and help them feel comfortable. If your prospect feels uncomfortable, he will hide his expertise level. If she feels condescended to or if you speak at too high of a level, she may act as though she knows more than she does, and you will miss out on this targeted selling approach I’ve described. Learn about your prospect, establish comfort and rapport, frame your discussion around features or benefits accordingly, and you’ll have not just a sale, but a lifelong customer or client.

Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA helps business owners use the psychology of marketing to grow their companies. Get her popular no-cost monthly publication “Stand Out! Marketing That Grabs Attention and Gets Results” at http://www.pascoaching.com/standout