Written by Bill Osborne, TLI Faculty Member

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Making Recommendations Through Features
Benefits

Written by Bill Osborne, TLI Faculty Member
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Making Recommendations

• Welcome to Making Recommendations through
  Features Benefits!
• At this point in the sales process, you have
• Identified high potential prospects
• Called on the prospect gained favorable
  audience
• Conducted needs assessment

OVERVIEW

• You are now ready to Make a Recommendation
  Using Features Benefits!

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Making Recommendations

• Recommendations that sell include Features,
  Benefits and Value. To build an effective
  recommendation, you need to
• Identify the clients most essential (key)
  needs
• Match those needs to your products and services
• Articulate your Features Benefits
• Create Value
• Unbundle your Value
• Plan to persuade with Value that satisfies
  their needs
• Make your recommendation(s)

OVERVIEW
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Making Recommendations

Next lets work together through the process of
building a great recommendation!
MEET JOE!
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Making Recommendations

• Assess the Situation
• JG Auto Sales
• Remember, before you can make a recommendation
• to JG, you need to assemble the information
  
• youve gathered from your needs assessment,
  
• including
• Customer Profile
• Sales Patterns
• Marketing Strategy
• Merchandising
• Advertising Philosophy
• Advertising Budgeting

BUILDING A SOLUTION FOR JG AUTO
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Making Recommendations

• Assess the Situation, contd
• JG Auto Sales
• Additionally, your questions revealed the
  following
• details about his business
• He prices his cars from 2-4,000 to the
  mid-teens.
• Joes customers come from a radius of 5 to 10
  miles.
• His best times of year are Spring and Fall. His
  worst times are December, January and July.
• He is currently advertising in the Auto Trader
  and on Autotrader.com and uses the daily
  newspapers classified section.
• His competition comes from franchise dealers and
  independent lots nearby. Hes getting about 8
  of the business in his market.

BUILDING A SOLUTION FOR JG AUTO
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Making Recommendations

• Assess the Situation, contd
• JG Auto Sales
• Most importantly, you learned that Joes
  
• problems are
• He wants to increase sales and take customers
  away from the franchise dealerships.
• He wants to grow his share of the used car market
  to about 10.
• Joe inherited the business from his father-in-law
  and he feels that he has to overcome his image
  problem.
• He also wants to increase traffic during midweek.

JOES PROBLEMS
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Making Recommendations

• Once you and the prospect agree on his/ her
  advertising needs, you can move forward in the
  recommendation process.
• Remember that your focus needs to be on matching
  your products to their needs.

AGREE ON HIS NEEDS
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Making Recommendations
USING FEATURES, BENEFITS VALUE TO
SOLVE PROBLEMS

• Using Features, Benefits and Value to Solve
  Problems
• The process of utilizing Features, Benefits and
  Value follows 7 Steps
• Identify their problems most essential
  advertising needs
• Match their needs to your products and services
• Describe your Features Benefits
• Establish Value
• Unbundle your added Value
• Create a persuasive presentation
• Make your recommendations
• Value ells-- Its a Call to Action!

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Making Recommendations
ANSWER WIIFM

• What are Features, Benefits Value?
• Features ? Tell!
• Describe your products services
• Brag about your company
• Features are the what
• Benefits ? Sell!
• Answers the questions, WIIFM, Whats in it for
  me? in the customers mind.
• A benefit is a howhow it will help the
  customer.

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Making Recommendations
THE VALUE WILL GEL YOUR SOLUTION
IN YOUR CUSTOMERS MIND

• What are Features, Benefits Value, contd
• Value ? Gel!
• In your customers mind, the value of your
  products and services gel your solution with
  their needs.
• By illustrating the value of your products to
  your
• customers, you increase their level of loyalty
  and trust in your companys ability to satisfy
  their needs both now AND in the future.

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Making Recommendations
WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF YOUR
PRODUCT?
What are the features of your products?
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Making Recommendations
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF YOUR
PRODUCTS?
What are the benefits of your products?
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Making Recommendations
SO WHAT? YOUR ADVERTISER NEEDS TO
UNDERSTAND HOW IT WILL BENEFIT HIS OR HER NEEDS
So What?!
Remember Features Benefits Value (What
How WIIFM)
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Making Recommendations
THE VALUE WILL GEL YOUR SOLUTION
IN YOUR CUSTOMERS MIND

• Creating Value in Advertising
• The business of your publications advertising is
  more than just selling spaceit is the
  application of
• Marketing Knowledge
• Analysis
• Advertising Program Design
• Multimedia Planning
• All of these concepts work together to solve
  advertisers problems.

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Making Recommendations
THE VALUE WILL GEL YOUR SOLUTION
IN YOUR CUSTOMERS MIND

• Creating Value in Advertising, contd
• The only thing that matters in todays business
  world is your customers perception of the value
  of your product in relation to his or her needs.
• Value DOES NOT necessarily mean offering a lower
  price or lower cost product. It DOES mean
  delivering solutions that produce results no
  matter how expensive!

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Making Recommendations
BUILDING VALUE BEGINS WITH YOUR
KNOWLEDGE OF THE CUSTOMER

• Value begins with knowing
• What the advertiser wants to accomplish.
• What the advertiser expects the consumer to do
  after seeing the ad.
• Who the target customers are in terms of
  demographics, lifestyle and purchase behavior.
• What the advertisers competitors are doing.
• What strategies have worked or not worked for the
  advertiser in the past.
• What the key benefits are that the advertiser can
  deliver to the customer.

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Making Recommendations
TOTAL COMPETITIVE VALUE
Total Competitive Value Value of Total
Advertising Plan as perceived by the advertiser.
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Making Recommendations
TOTAL COMPETITIVE VALUE

• Total Competitive Value is comprised of
• Essential Needs
• Competitors Values
• Current Value
• Added Value

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Making Recommendations
JOES TOTAL COMPETITIVE VALUE

• Joe is currently receiving competitive value
  from
• Auto Trader
• Auto Trader.com
• Daily Classifieds
• Your recommendation must contain value equal to
  what he is currently receiving and value beyond
  what he is currently receiving from your
  competitors.

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Making Recommendations
UNBUNDLING VALUE

• Unbundling Value
• Unbundling is breaking down ALL of the things a
  customer will receive by running an ad in your
  publication.
• Our offer for Joe includes a 4 Color Insert at a
  rate comparable to Auto Trader.
• On the next slide, well unbundle all of the
  value included with the 4 Color Insert.

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Making Recommendations
ADDED VALUE

• Unbundling Value
• Added Value
• Upscale art along w/ color will improve his
  image.
• A midweek madness promotional idea will increase
  traffic.
• Your market research will allow him to target his
  prospective customers.
• You can insert his ads into zones that best
  represent his customers demographics.
• For a small additional investment, you can put
  his ad on your website with a hyperlink to his
  website.

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Making Recommendations
TELL THEM WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL
THEM

• Make a recommendation that gets results!
• Tell them what you are going to tell them
• Why Am I making this presentation?
• What Is my primary goal?
• Who Will hear this presentation?
• What are the hot buttons?

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Making Recommendations
TELL THEM WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL
THEM

• Make a recommendation that gets results!
• A Skilled Persuader
• Manages relationships well (other person
  oriented)
• Manages advertisers expectations
• Encourages involvement (ownership and
  commitment-oriented)

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Making Recommendations
SUMMARIZE SCHEDULE REINFORCE

• Make a recommendation that gets results!
• Remember to
• Summarize your key points
• Schedule a follow-up program
• Reinforce the fact that they are making a great
  decision

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Making Recommendations
SUMMARY

• Summary
• Remember these key points when making a
  recommendation
• Identify the clients most essential (key) needs
• Match those needs to your products and services
• Articulate your Features Benefits
• Create Value
• Unbundle your Value
• Plan to persuade with Value that satisfies their
  needs
• Make your recommendation(s)

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Making Recommendations
QUESTIONS DISCUSSION
Questions Discussion On behalf of The
Leadership Institute, I would like to thank you
for attending this training and wish you the best
of luck with all of your future endeavors.