Worldwide there are about 300 million people trying to start about 150 million businesses. About one third will be launched, so it can be assumed that 50 million new firm births per year or about 137,000 per day. Roughly, the same numbers of firms start and close each year. The dynamic nature of business is referred to as “creative destruction,” the process through which healthy, vibrant firms create innovations, often to the detriment of those that fail to innovate and stay competitive.
Businesses close for many reasons, understanding many, though not all, of the national disparities requires understanding the difference between persons who are voluntarily pursuing an appealing business opportunity (opportunity entrepreneurs) and those who are doing it because they have no other source of income (necessity entrepreneurs).
Selling be it goods or services is the driving force of every established business, however the strategy of knowing how and what to sell has not been properly emphasized.
Although the value of any good or service is always based on the perception of the buyer, this does not imply that the value cannot be ascertained. In actual fact, the most successful B2B and B2C businesses are based on universal building elements of value and sales.
What do you sell
A truly holistic approach to selling means conveying Features and Benefit elements to prove the business’s value to prospects. Features tell, benefits sell. Features are often technical in nature, describing what the product or service does. Benefits, on the other hand, paint a picture of success in the prospect’s mind of how it will change their life in some way.
How to sell benefit instead of features
As it was stated earlier that the value of any good or service is always based on the perception of the buyer, therefore Reps cannot properly explain their product’s benefits without knowing their buyer’s goals, challenges, and desires. As what appeals to one prospect might not resonate with another.
Asking the right question is necessary. After properly assessing a prospect situation, it is important to map out each feature to the prospect’s needs. The link between capability and problem or desire turns a feature into a benefit.
It is tempting to explain every feature of a product. Although prospects want their money worth, they usually don’t equate more features with higher value. If your user can’t immediately tell what he or she will get out of this product of yours, then chances are they’ll move on. In fact, studies show that consumers rarely buy just for the sake of buying. What do they buy? Something that will solve their problems (or that claims to, at least).
While many marketing folks choose to focus on a product’s shiny bells and whistles (aka the features) to initially entice their users, they’re missing out on the real draw by focusing on how their product will improve a user’s life (aka the benefits) and how they will feel by using it.
Selling the sizzle and not the steak
Famous salesman Elmer Wheeler, coined the phrase “sell the sizzle, not the steak” in the 1920s. the sizzle is just as enticing, if not more so, than the steak itself because it contributes to the experience and emotion that comes with eating a steak.
Said in today’s terms, prospects won’t typically make a purchase unless they can see how the product will improve their lives. The purchase should solve a pain point for the customer that makes their overall experience better. To bring this old saying to life, it is important to focus on selling benefits instead of features because focusing on the benefits turns a prospective customer into a buying customer.
Increasing customer acquisition is solemnly dependent on how the product is been position. The prospect doesn’t want you to sell them something rather they want you to solve them something this create certainty of why they should acquire your product.
HOW DO YOU POSITION YOUR PRODUCT: IS IT A FEATURE OR BENEFIT?
