There’s an age-old saw (pun intended) about selling benefits rather than features. Guess what? You shouldn’t be selling benefits either! You should be selling the value.
I like to use the Leatherman® tool as an example: Why do people buy a Leatherman? Do they buy it because it has scissors, tweezers, a toothpick, a corkscrew, and a saw in the same tool? Do they really fall in love with the Phillips head screwdriver or the can opener? Is that why they buy it? No. These are just features of the product.
Do they buy it because it can open a bottle of wine, cut some wire or saw a large branch? No. These are just benefits of owning a Leatherman.
People buy a Leatherman because of their values. Maybe they value the sense of having everything they need, right in their back pocket, whenever they need it. Maybe they buy it because it makes them feel like MacGyver. Maybe they want the opportunity to fix something on the spot and look like a hero in front of their date. Maybe they don’t have room for a box of Craftsman tools in their tiny apartment. Values cause prospects to become buyers. Not features. Not benefits. Values.
So, how does this relate to selling efficiency? Take a high-tech lighting control system, for example. Does your prospect buy features – a certain number of control points and dimming ballasts? How about benefits – the ability to dim to a certain brightness or shed 25% of the lighting load during a demand-response emergency? Or is the prospect motivated by gaining greater control in general? Control boosts employee morale and productivity by allowing them to set their own lighting levels. Control allows the building owner to feel as if he or she at least has some options when an unforeseen demand-response event triples his cost/kWh.
Ultimately, you have to ask yourself two questions: “What is my prospect really buying?” and “What should I really be selling?”
Once you discover the value your prospect perceives, you shouldn’t be selling anything else. If they’re buying lower lighting power density, then guess what? That’s what you should be talking about. But I bet that’s not what’s motivating the purchase, which means you need to be talking about something entirely different.
