If you are selling something, ask yourself:”What am I really selling?” — Are you selling particular products, services, or features? Or you are selling benefits that you can get for clients.

What are benefits? For a consumer like me it’s simple – if you are trying to persuade me to buy stuff, I need to know why your thing is best for me, how it works, and what I can do with it. I need to know what it can do to help me achieve my goal.

I am not a fan for product feature comparison charts (even fancy), unless it can help me get to a decision quickly. Usually they’re data oriented, emotionless and long. It’s easy to lose focus – so easy. Similarly, I hate to hear a salesperson doing long presentation to me on how many nice features their stuff have, and how good their products are – frankly, that does not help.

What I really expect from you:

• You seem to know me (and my business) well and spend sometime chatting with me about my (business) value, my goals, my issues and hurdles, and why I find you;
• You know what I really need;
• Solutions you can provide (I believe many people want to take a leap to this step from the beginning, dangerous! Because you may get rejected);
• You know which of them is best for me and why;
• You’re ready to help me to be successful.

And you can be successful, too.

Do not try to persuade people by what you have, but by what your solutions can do for them to become successful, and why.