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Are You Creating Objections?

By: Larry Sugarman

1/1/2009

So Rachkam redefined the traditional benefit statement as an advantage statement. While you can identify the advantages of your product, only your customer knows if those advantages offer a benefit to him or her.

True Benefit Statement

This isn't to say that you want to throw aside talking about the benefits of your product-- why would anyone buy it if it offered no benefit? Let's explore what a true benefit statement might look like:

Rep: Let me see if I have this right. You've told me that you give a lot of presentations using flip charts, and that you like to use color to emphasize particular points with your audience as well as to maintain interest.

Buyer: That's correct.

Rep: One of the difficulties you mentioned was that, because all your colored markers look the same, you have to pull off each cap until you find the marker you want. This often causes you to lose momentum and it distracts the audience. So you often end up using only one marker color.

Buyer: Exactly.

Rep: You said you were looking for some way to quickly and easily pick the right color when you need it, without having to search or lose eye contact with your audience. Is that correct?

Buyer: Yes.

Rep: I'd like to show you something that I believe will help. As you will notice, these markers all have color-coded caps that are the exact color of the ink. Is this what you were looking for?

Buyer: Absolutely.

The construct of a true benefit statement is: "As you said you wanted... I have...." In other words, we only offer the prospect those things about our product that we have established that they need and want. And how do we determine what the prospect needs? By spending our time with the customer engaged in meaningful questioning and effective listening so that we understand the problem he or she is trying to solve, and then, and only then, talking about our product's benefits toward solving that problem. Let's use our questioning and listening skills to create true benefit for our prospects.

Good selling.


Larry Sugarman is President of SMART Selling, Inc., which provides interactive sales training customized to a company's needs and marketplace.