Recently I had a lengthy conversation with a friend of mine about the importance of trying to reacquaint dealers and vendors alike with focusing on benefits over features.

We both admitted that we’ve done a lot of thinking on this subject. Comparing notes, both of us have observed that the number one priority we hear from dealers when it came to product knowledge “don’t tell me about the product tell me about how to sell the product!”

In my friends’ case, he first heard that from a dealer 17 years ago (mine was, ah, more recent than that). The song, as they say, remains the same.

Sometimes I feel like I beat this drum all the time: frequently telling my dealers that when talking to customers “features don’t sell, benefits sell.”

Vendor reps dealer need to structure their conversations to say that “this is the feature or function, and here is how you sell it.”

That means you have to understand the difference between features and benefits. Let’s talk about 2.35:1 aspect ratio projection and scope screens.

The elimination of black bars is a simple way to sell the benefit to the client. That’s all they need to know.

The opposite example is HDMI, version 2.0.whatever. HDMI is laden with features, but few tangible benefits that the client will care about. Tell a client about deep color, or any of the surround effects that they do not and cannot see a big improvement compared to their current experience and their eyes glaze over and you have lost them.

That’s not good salesmanship.

During my friend’s time as an AV Pro, he was once asked by a client “Why should I buy Crestron.”

He didn’t have a good answer prepared that a client, a non-AV-nerd would appreciate.

Reflecting on it, he asked himself, and then asked his Crestron rep “Why should I sell Crestron?” Working together, they hashed out an elevator pitch that stood him in good stead for years after: “Because they are streamlined and simplified solutions, connecting you to technology so you can enjoy its benefits.”

Focus your conversations with your clients on what matters: How they’ll benefit.