Too many benefits = no sale

Hi. I heard you were looking to buy something, and I’d like to sell it to you.

Here’s our latest thing. It chops vegetables like nobody’s business. That’s really going to save you some time in the kitchen.

By the way, it’s also great at shining shoes.

And if your car gets stuck in the snow, it can help you get it out. On the other hand, if you live in southern California, you can use it to wax your surfboard.

It’ll walk your dog. And clean your house. Get you a raise at work.

It will make you smarter than a smart phone. More beautiful than the Mona Lisa. Faster than a speeding bullet.

Are you sold yet? Or shall I continue?

Lack of focus
You’d think that lots of benefits would make your products or services more valuable in the eyes of buyers. Not so.

Buyers are only interested in the benefits that meet their needs. Everything else is a liability. “I’m paying for things I don’t need or want,” the buyer thinks. “Besides, if it does everything, it can’t possibly be very good at the one thing I’m interested in.”

Usually, the reason sellers start piling on the benefits is because they haven’t worked hard enough to understand what the buyer needs or wants. They figure if they talk long enough, the buyer will eventually stop them and say, “Yeah, that’s what I want.”

The most effective way to sell is to offer less, not more. If all your buyer needs is a vegetable chopper, focus on vegetable chopping. Everything else is beside the point – and will hurt your chances of getting the sale.