When most people think of selling items, they think of listing a bunch of features and asking which color they want. While that can work for some customers, most people want to be presented with the information in such a way that they’re wowed and interested from the very beginning. Selling skills are necessary, of course, but most companies don’t focus on the presenting skills needed to grab their attention, keep them interested and close the deal, which is why sales presentation training may be necessary.
The Test
Before you starting searching online to find the perfect program, you should have your salespeople do a simple test to check whether they’re using the benefits and features of the product successfully.
Advantages and features of your product can be considered common knowledge, and you want your customers and potentials to stay focused during your presentations. Most salespeople present to many features without enough benefits because features are easy to learn and memorize.
The first step is to pick a service or product that you sell regularly and do your normal pitch while recording what you say. Next, you’ll want to take a single sheet of paper and draw a line down it, with one column being for benefits and the other being features.
Listen to the pitch you just said and write down each feature and benefit in the appropriate column.
Benefits/Features and Differences
Most people don’t understand the difference between a benefit and feature. For example, the braking system on a vehicle is a feature. It gives protection to the driver and all passengers, especially when braking quickly (which is a benefit).
In most cases, you can take the feature (what the product does) and then explain why that’s necessary for the customer.
Another example includes a coffee maker that is programmable. It makes coffee, and you can program it to turn on and brew whenever you want. That’s the feature, but the benefit is that you can always wake up in the morning to freshly-brewed coffee without having to do anything.
Totaling the Tally
Once you’ve completed the test above, you can make note of how many benefits and features you use and if they’re similar. It’s usually best to present one feature with a few benefits and continue until you’ve finished or the customer is ready to buy.
Sales presentation training may be a necessity, especially if you want employees to learn and do their best. Visit The Sales Coaching Institute to find out more.
