Summary

• Features produce potential benefits before they connect to customers' goals, actual ones after they connect.

• Features that do not relate to customers' goals dilute your sales presentation and diminish your product's value.

• Specific descriptions of features make it difficult for customers or competitors to redefine them to your detriment.

• Internal benefits provide value to your customers; external benefits provide value to your customers' customers. When you have both types in a sale, you generate the most value.

• Value is either measurable or perceived, but the key to value is whether the customers accept its worth.

• Perceived value has no proof.

• Measurable value has proof and shows your expertise in the customers' industry.

• Indirect savings use cost-avoidance calculations and perceived value; direct savings use measurable value.

• Products without unique strengths are commodities that will be chosen based on Column 1's lowest price and fastest delivery—or Column 2's measurable benefits.

• When you know your unique strengths and those of competitors, you choose sales opportunities that give the best returns.

• Selling to customers that place the highest value on your unique strengths is the catalyst to success.

• Unique strengths must be considered unique by customers, not only by your company; produce measurable value and generate direct savings as cost justifications; and use measurable value to create barriers to competition.

• Packaging enables you to combine unique strengths of various products to form "new" products. It also helps you to create new products with unique strengths from products that did not have them separately.

• If you fully understood customers' goals, you would not need to ask them whether a particular option interests them.

• Use analogies so that customers can relate to your unique strengths through everyday experiences.

• Product Profile sheets analyze your products so that you can evaluate their strengths.

• Competitor Profile sheets analyze your competitors' products so that you can evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.