Understanding and being able to explain the difference between benefits and features is an integral part of telemarketing. You won’t create desire for a product or service simply by listing its properties. Instead, you have to show potential customers how these properties translate to real-world benefits.
At Blue Donkey, we look at it this way: the ‘feature’ is the fact about the product, for example: the engine size, the guarantee length, and the awards it has won. The benefits are what those features mean to the customer, for example 0-60 in 5 seconds, longer peace of mind, and better value for money.
Speaking in features mean a buyer has to go through the mental process of working things out for themselves, to engage someone more successfully you can make features significant, and easier to understand but explaining the benefit as you discuss the properties.
The more succinctly and effectively you can relate the features of your product to the benefits your customers will experience, the better. To help you make this link in all telemarketing situations, we’re taking a look at three great examples of benefits versus features.
1. What’s in it for me?
When you make a telemarketing call, the main thing that customers want to know is what’s in it for them. Before you pick up the phone to make a call, spend a minute or two trying to answer this question. Tailor your call to the specific needs of the customer you’re calling. This bespoke approach will help you to connect with your customer and ensure the benefits you describe are applicable to them.
2. The Popeye analogy
If you’re looking for an easy way to describe the difference between benefits and features, you just need to take a look at everyone’s favourite strongman. Explain to them how they represent Popeye in his normal state. Although strong and capable, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. The product you’re offering is the can of spinach. The feature of the spinach is its high iron content. The benefit of the spinach is that it turns Popeye into a supercharged fighter.
3. So what?
Most buyers won’t be interested in the bells and whistles you’ve developed for your product. All they want to know is what these bells and whistles mean for them. When thinking of ways to describe features versus benefits, put yourself in the place of your customer. Go through your product’s list of features and then think, “So what?”. In other words, consider what these features mean for your clients.
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