245: We Buy Benefits Not Features

<p>Japan loves data and detail.  All good, but it can be a trap when you are here trying to make sales in Japan.  In a Western sales model there is a defined process to go through and the buyer is also trained on how that works as well.  In the Japanese case there is a love of detail bias.  This will take you down the  wrong path, if you let the buyer control the sales call.  Which is what happens to all the Japanese salespeople here, by the way.</p> <p> </p> <p>The buyer loves the detail, the spec, the features of the product. They can’t get enough of that stuff.  The problem is we don’t buy the features, we buy the outcomes, the benefits.  In sale’s training we often use the example of buying a hand drill at a DYI Center.  There are tons of detail on the drill – weight, speed, power source, battery life etc.  We are not buying a drill, because what we are really after is a hole of a certain diameter in brick, metal, concrete or wood etc.  The drill‘s features are not what we are buying, but that is often all the salesperson talks about.</p> <p> </p> <p>So here in Japan we have to be careful, because the buyer can drag us down into the morass of the detail and features of the product or service.  We have to control the sales call and redirect the conversation away from only the detail on the spec and move on to the outcomes, the benefits these features will provide for the buyer.  Generally speaking, most salespeople around the world get to the feature bit and only a tiny minority elevate the conversation to cover the consequent benefits from the features.  Japanese pitchpeople have trained the buyers here to focus on the spec, the detail, the data.</p> <p> </p> <p>We need to get to a higher level of discussion.  We need to be drawing word pictures they can see in their mind’s eye.  We need to be describing all the future benefits they will get from this purchase. This requires telling stories, talking about outcomes and results.</p> <p> </p> <p>Having done that we need to show some evidence that what we say wor