Seeing What Sticks: The Old Fashioned Way to Sell

How do you know when your pasta is done cooking? You take one noodle and throw it up against the wall. If it sticks, it's done. The old-fashioned sales technique of 'features and benefits' makes me think of throwing a whole pot of noodles against the wall to see what sticks. Why not narrow it down to your client's criteria instead of taking a shot in the dark and throwing everything you can at it?

Dale Carnegie described 'features and benefits' selling as listing all of the features your product has and touching on the benefits that they will give to your prospect or client. I think this is wishful thinking in some ways. Why not narrow this down to what your prospect or client ACTUALLY wants and needs?

Features and benefits is the quickest way to expose yourself as an old-fashioned sales person. Does it work? About as well as throwing a whole bunch of pasta against the wall. And as an added bonus, it makes you seem smarmy and outdated.

This brings to my mind the character of Gil Gunderson on 'The Simpsons'--a hapless, nervous, paranoid, salesman who uses old-fashioned techniques (by the book). He sweats, begs, lists off reason after reason without paying any attention at all to his customers, always just positive he's not going to make the sale. He always ends up failing because it's all about him, never about his potential client or their desires.

Features and benefits doesn't work because it focuses on you instead of your customer or client. It also puts you in the frame of continuing to ask the wrong questions.

What can we use instead of features and benefits? Criteria. Whatever you do in life, business, love, criteria is the answer. Through the process of criteria elicitation, you know exactly what to focus on for each individual prospect, friend, family member, romantic interest. . .it works across the board. You improve your odds and the predictability that you will also get what you require from the situation.

This might seem harsh, but the way I see it is if you throw enough stuff on the wall, you've got dirty walls. Features and benefits, for the most part, are not effective, and they simply mark you as someone who is unskilled and unprofessional.

With all that said. . . there is an exception to the rule. When your prospect knows absolutely nothing about what they are there to buy from you. Say they've never seen or heard of the product or service and they have come to you to learn about it. Under these very specific conditions, features and benefits can be helpful. But even then, it should still be considered the second step. Elicit their criteria first and then give them your features and benefits.

Speak directly to their hearts, their emotions, their deepest desires, because if I can speak directly to you about what it is you want, if I can talk about persuasion, and about the benefit to you of being able to master it, all of the sudden I might start having a little bit more of your attention.

About the Author

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies. Get your own completely unique content version of this article.

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