5 Ways To Make Benefit Lists Memorable

"Customers buy benefits, not features."

So goes the refrain, but many sales reps (and almost all marketeers) are challenged when it comes to differentiating between the two. Actually, it's easy. A "feature" is something that the product or service "does"; a "benefit" is a positive change in the customer's condition.

To give a very basic example,the safety roof on a car is a feature. That it can save your family from being killed or injured in a wreck is a benefit.

As a general rule, customers remember benefits far longer than they remember features. However, it's in your interest to make your benefits as memorable as possible, because the longer they stick in the customer's mind, the easier it will be for you to close the sale.

Sales guru Barry Rhein recently explained to me how he makes sure that customer benefits are memorable. Here's what I remember from that coversation:

• #1. Keep them short. Most people can only hold three thoughts in their short-term memory at one time. If you try to have more than three, the customer will start forgetting them. If you can, get it down to two.
• #2. Keep them unique. Make sure that any benefit that you present is unique to you and your firm. Example: "we're the only company that guarantees you a productivity increase" is better than "our product increases your productivity."
• #3. Keep them concrete. The vaguer the benefit, the less likely it is that the customer will remember it. Example: "We decrease average inventory costs by 25 percent" is better than "we radically reduce your inventory costs."
• #4. Keep them simple. Replace technical jargon with everyday language. Example: "connects you wirelessly almost anywhere" is better than "fully compatible with wideband 802.11."
• #5. Keep them clear. Edit out the meaningless biz-blab. See the post "Vote: The World's Worst Biz-Blab" for a list of the worst examples of what to avoid.