Tweet

Features, Benefits and Solutions

Written by: Colly Graham

Article Overview: A solution is, by definition, the resolution of a problem. If you don't have a problem, you don't need a solution.

Features, Benefits and Solutions

A solution is, by definition, the resolution of a problem.
If you don't have a problem, you don't need a solution. Elementary? Sure, but it's amazing how often it's forgotten by salespeople intent on pushing their products. Major sales are lost every day by amateurish attempts to resolve nonexistent problems.

Actually, a better word than nonexistent would be unperceived. When a salesperson's solution fails to connect with a customer, it's usually because that customer has not perceived that he or she has a problem, and therefore feels no urgency about "resolving" it. This is true, of course, even when the problem is blatantly obvious to the salesperson, and it's why they so often are frustrated in attempting to demonstrate to prospects that their perceptions are wrong and they're actually in trouble. Think of how difficult it is to sell life insurance to people in their twenties: If you're still convinced of your own immortality, what problem is there to solve?

The unperceived issue is related to the old distinction between features and benefits. In order to sell a feature, you've got to show it has a benefit, that it has some value to the prospect or customer. No value, no benefit, no sale. Pushing a feature on a customer for whom it has no benefit is equivalent to pushing a solution for an unperceived problem.

In his book Solution Selling, Michael T. Bosworth adds a useful nuance to this old distinction by introducing an intermediary term: advantage. If a feature is something that exists in the product or service itself and a benefit is the value that a customer sees in that feature, an advantage is the feature's potential value -- an inherent value that may or may not be seen as such by a given customer.

Bosworth gives the example of a coffee cup. The handle of the cup is an existing feature. Its advantage is that it enables you to drink coffee without burning your fingers. Its benefit is that it prevents something you had wanted to avoid; it anticipates and provides a solution to a potential problem. But the handle is only a benefit to a coffee fancier. If you don't drink coffee (or some other hot drink), the handle feature is merely an advantage, not a benefit.

For a more sophisticated example, consider the caller ID feature than many telecommunications companies now offer their customers. It's certainly an advantage in that it enables customers who want to screen their callers. Is it a benefit? Only to customers who perceive value in that advantage. Is it a solution? Only to customers who believe that they have a problem -- in this case, a surplus of incoming calls that they don't want to deal with. If you're not bothered by such calls, if the tracing potential of this technology makes you uneasy, or if for any other reason you don't see a problem in unscreened calls, then by definition this feature has no benefit for you, and the salesperson who provides you this "solution" probably will get nowhere.

Effective selling always starts in the customer's mind, with some discrepancy to be resolved or some problem overcome. If the customer perceives there's no problem, you've got no solution

Related Articles
  Create a Powerful Marketing Story in Three Steps
  How to Turn Your No-Sales into Cash by Turning Your "Features" into "Benefits."
  Word of Mouth
  You Can't Sell if You Don't Get the Offer Right
  Selling Benefits

Article Tags: attempts, benefit, coffee cup, distinction, fingers, immortality, inherent value, insurance, life insurance, michael t bosworth, nuance, perceptions, prospects, salespeople, salesperson, urgency



Related Forum Posts
Re: Website Name Help - Its good that you have come up with the idea of setting up a website for your business. Now As it is into Business Solutions, I would recommend that you also include this into the name of the website. This will help you getting better results as far as SEO is concerned. You can start building a brand with this name. As you have already got the name booked, you can try changing it to something on the lines of Business Solutions as in azimabusiness or azimabusinesssolutions. Its a long name but still is good from the SEO point.
Help me name my moms business - I think Infinity Cleaning Services sounds better than Elite Cleaning Solutions... Why the Solutions? What is there to be solved? You simply get a rag with some Windex on it and wipe away.... plug the vacuum and Vac Away, get a mop and mop away. Stick to Infinity Cleaning Services... ICS sounds cool...
Searchable famous entrepreneurs - Hi Evan, I definitely like the new sort able "Famous Entrepreneurs" features, but you should also consider including a Famous Entrepreneur search feature. For instance, you could have a blank field so that people can simply type in the name of the entrepreneur they're looking for and then call up all the related articles/profiles on that person. I'm just not a huge fan of going to the "Features" page and pressing "Ctrl/F".
Categorizing the Famous Entrepreneur Profiles? - By the way Evan, what do you think about my idea to categorize your list of Famous Entrepreneur Profiles by industry rather than by alphabetical order? For instance, if I was a small business owner looking to enter the food industry, I might want to look for inspiration from famous entrepreneurs in a related field (like profiles on Dave Thomas, Harland Sanders, Debbi Fields, etc...). It just seems a bit time consuming having to run down the long list of names you have on the "Features" page. Thanks
Help me name my moms business - My Mom is a dynamic entrepreneur and running several businesses. Recently she started a commercial cleaning business. I have thought of some name for my mom's cleaning business, but would like some other suggestions. I have narrowed it down to, either: Infinity Cleaning Services, or Elite Cleaning Solutions. She is located in South Florida, and many of the other names are taken. Thanks,


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Starting A Set of Books

Smart & Simple Internet Techniques

The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.