I recently learned an enlightening lesson from one of my clients: even the most seasoned sales reps need “recalibration” when it comes to fundamental sales skills. This lesson came via an experiment I conducted with a software industry client on using FAB statements – an important component of our sales workshops. I was informed that his seasoned reps didn’t have a need to learn FAB statements as that it was a “basic” skill they already possessed.
We put this statement to the test by creating a simple worksheet with two rows – each row had three columns for a Feature, Advantage and Benefit. The instructions to the reps were simple… in each row, write a Feature (about your company, your products, your services), the Advantage of that Feature and the Benefit if provides to your client. The sales reps were asked to write two statements.
The results were fascinating. Nearly half of the FAB statements written by a mostly seasoned sales group failed to pass muster. Here’s an example from one rep:
Feature – Product Matrix on supportline web site
Advantage – Customers can easily see our latest release vs. what they have
Benefit – Revenue generator. Chance for (company) to generate more revenue. Customer may update/upgrade or purchase additional product.
Can you see where the FAB statement falls apart? The rep, for the most part, was able to put together a Feature and Advantage but to whom does the Benefit apply to? Not the customer! The Benefit is to the sales rep – definitely not something that resonates with a client.
Test your sales team to find out how much they really know about fundamental sales skills. If you find they fall short, get in touch with us. Our sales classes provide multiple opportunities to build company-specific FAB statements. This will allows your team to practice applying the skills to their own products, ultimately enabling them to be more productive and effective in communicating product and service value to your clients.
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