How to Sell Your Product or Service - Product Inventory (2/11)

Summary

This module emphasizes the necessity of creating a product inventory before sales, which includes listing features, benefits, and advantages. It illustrates the process with an example of software for small businesses, highlighting how an automatic report generator can save time. The key takeaway is to connect features and benefits to advantages over existing solutions, sparking interest in potential customers.

Takeaways

• 📝 **Create a Product Inventory**: Before selling, understand all aspects of your product.
• 🔑 **Feature Identification**: List out distinct features of your product that you want to highlight.
• 💡 **Benefit Statement**: For each feature, articulate how it benefits the user.
• 🚀 **Advantage Statement**: Explain why your product is superior to alternatives or current solutions.
• 📋 **Organize Information**: Use a structured format with columns for features, benefits, and advantages.
• 🤔 **Answer Potential Questions**: Prepare to answer questions that may arise during sales presentations.
• 🔄 **Iterative Process**: Features may have multiple benefits, and each benefit may have an advantage.
• 💼 **Software Example**: Use the software's automatic report generator as a practical example to explain the process.
• 📈 **Automation Advantage**: Show how automation can save time and improve efficiency, which is a key selling point.
• 🏆 **Competitive Edge**: Emphasize the advantage over what the customer is currently using or what competitors offer.
• 📚 **Homework Assignment**: As a task, list features, benefits, and advantages to prepare for sales effectively.

Q & A

What is the purpose of creating a product inventory before selling?

The purpose of creating a product inventory before selling is to ensure that you understand all aspects of the product, so you can effectively answer questions and avoid floundering during your presentation.

How is the product inventory broken down into steps?

The product inventory is broken down into three steps: identifying the feature, stating the benefit, and outlining the advantage.

What is a feature in the context of product inventory?

A feature is an aspect of the product that you want to highlight, which is typically something that distinguishes your product from others.

Can you provide an example of how to list a feature?

An example of listing a feature could be: 'Our product has an automatic report generator feature.'

What is meant by the term 'benefit' in the product inventory?

A benefit is what the feature allows the user to do or achieve, such as increased efficiency or convenience.

How do you create a benefit statement for a feature?

You create a benefit statement by explaining how the feature will allow the user to perform a task or achieve a result, for example: 'This feature will allow you to program all the reports you need to generate.'

What is an advantage in the context of product inventory?

An advantage is something that your product offers over others or over the current solution a potential customer is using.

Why is it important to include the advantage in your product inventory?

It is important to include the advantage because it ties the feature and benefit to a tangible improvement over what the customer currently has, making the product more appealing.

How can you demonstrate the advantage of a feature in a sales pitch?

In a sales pitch, you demonstrate the advantage by showing how the feature and benefit provide a better solution than what the customer is currently using or considering.

What is the homework assigned in this module?

The homework is to list out the features of your product or service, for each feature list out a benefit, and for each benefit, consider the advantage it provides.

Why is it crucial to do this homework before selling your product or service?

It is crucial to do this homework to ensure that you can effectively communicate the value of your product or service, which is essential for successful selling.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Creating a Product Inventory for Sales

This paragraph discusses the necessity of creating a product inventory before engaging in sales activities. The speaker emphasizes that a comprehensive understanding of the product is crucial to effectively respond to potential customer inquiries. The process involves listing features, benefits, and advantages of the product. Features are aspects of the product to be highlighted, benefits are what these features enable the user to do, and advantages are the superior offerings of the product over competitors or existing solutions. The speaker provides an example using software with an automatic report generator feature, explaining how it allows users to automate report generation without manual intervention, thus saving time and effort. The homework for the module is to list out the features, benefits, and potential advantages of one's own product or service.

Keywords

💡Product Inventory

A product inventory is a comprehensive list of all the features, benefits, and advantages of a product or service. In the context of the video, it is emphasized as a crucial step before engaging in sales activities. It ensures that the salesperson is well-prepared to answer questions and effectively present the product. The video script mentions creating a product inventory as the first step in the selling process.

💡Feature

A feature refers to a specific aspect or characteristic of a product that can be highlighted. In the video, features are the first element of the product inventory and are used to describe what the product can do. For example, the script mentions 'our product has an automatic report generator feature' which is a feature of the software being discussed.

💡Benefit

A benefit is the positive outcome or advantage that a customer gains from a product's feature. The video script instructs to list a benefit for each feature, indicating what the feature allows the user to do. It is the second part of the product inventory and is meant to connect the feature to the user's needs, such as 'which will allow you to program all the reports you need to generate'.

💡Advantage

An advantage is what sets a product apart from its competitors or what makes it better than what the customer is currently using. The video script stresses the importance of not only listing features and benefits but also the advantages, as this is what truly interests the customer. It is the third part of the product inventory and is exemplified in the script with 'the advantage is that you won't have to stop what you're doing and go back to your computer'.

💡Sales Pitch

A sales pitch is a persuasive presentation intended to convince someone to buy a product or service. The video script uses the term in the context of formulating how to present the product's features, benefits, and advantages in a way that would be compelling to potential customers during a sales pitch.

💡ABCs of Selling

This term refers to the fundamental principles or basics of selling. The video script uses 'ABCs of selling' to emphasize the importance of understanding the product inventory before engaging in any sales activities, suggesting it as a foundational aspect of the sales process.

💡Software

Software, as mentioned in the script, is a type of product that can also be considered a service. It is used as an example to illustrate how to create a product inventory. The script discusses a generic software for small businesses, highlighting its features, benefits, and advantages.

💡Automatic Report Generator

This is a specific feature of the software example given in the script. It allows for the automation of report generation, eliminating the need for manual creation. The script uses this feature to demonstrate how to articulate the benefits and advantages of a product during a sales pitch.

💡Homework

In the context of the video, 'homework' refers to the practical exercise assigned to the viewer to apply the concepts discussed. The script outlines a simple task for the viewer which is to list out features, benefits, and advantages of their own product or service as a way to practice creating a product inventory.

💡Small Business

The term 'small business' is used in the script to define the target market for the software example. It helps to contextualize the product inventory for a specific audience and gives a real-world application of how the concepts discussed in the video can be applied.

💡Presentation

A presentation, as used in the script, refers to the act of formally describing the features, benefits, and advantages of a product to a potential customer. The video emphasizes the importance of being prepared with a product inventory to avoid 'flipping' or failing during a presentation.

Highlights

The importance of creating a product inventory before selling.

The necessity of being prepared to answer questions about the product.

The concept of the product inventory being broken into three steps.

The first step is identifying the product's features.

The use of a feature statement to highlight the product's aspects.

The second step is creating a benefit statement for each feature.

The third step is formulating an advantage statement.

The significance of the advantage statement in differentiating from competitors.

The process of listing all features of a product or service.

The task of listing benefits next to each feature.

The importance of understanding the advantages over existing products or services.

An example of how to structure a sales pitch using features, benefits, and advantages.

The example of selling software with an automatic report generator feature.

How the automatic report generator feature allows for programming reports without manual intervention.

The advantage of the automatic report generator over manual report generation.

The homework assignment to list features, benefits, and advantages.

The purpose of the homework in preparing for product or service sales.

The emphasis on doing homework on features, benefits, and advantages before selling.

Transcripts

now in this module what i want to talk

about is what i call the product

inventory before we sell before we go

out there and share our information with

anybody we need to make sure that we

understand all aspects of that product

so what we're going to do is create a

product inventory now you have to do

this before you go out there and start

selling if you don't have this ready

you'll be asked questions and you won't

know how to answer them and basically fl

your presentation so we need to do this

this is kind of the abcs of selling here

we need to go through this now the

product inventory is broken up into

three steps now the first one is called

the feature a feature some aspect of the

product that you want to highlight and

typically you use this s our product has

fill in the blank whatever feature list

out feature that you currently have now

once you have that feature now our

product has fill in the blank feature

benefit

stature statement second benefit stat

which will allow you to so other words

this feature will allow you to and the

third part here is the advantage

statement and that means so for example

me put all together our product has this

will allow you to

that

exp walk through these first one feature

some aspect of your product different

aspects of your product what i want you

to do is create a list of all the

features that your product or service

has to offer just create a list can

brainstorm create a list then right next

to each of these features i want you to

list a benefit for each feature list a

benefit now each feature may have

several benefits could have more than

one so feature benefit and then right

after that in the third colum so to

speak i want you to add the advantage

now this is important a lot of people

always talk about the feature and the

benefit but always leave out the

advantage what is an advantage an

advantage is something i have over

somebody else or if i use a certain

product right now what's the advantage

of buying from you when i'm currently

using this see if i'm okay with what i'm

using i don't care about your features

benefits but if you can ti those

features and benefits to advantage

better than what i currently have then

i'm interested the idea let's walk

through an example let's say that you're

selling software i like to use software

because it's kind of a product and it's

kind of a service at the same time but

let's say that you're selling software

some generic software for a small

business right and now this software has

a certain feature which allows you to

automate report generator which means

you can program when the rep will be

generated you don't have to do it

manually so here's what you would say in

your sales pitch you would say our

product has an automatic report

generator feature which will allow you

to program all the reports you need to

generate the advantage and that means

that you won't have to stop what you're

doing and go back to your computer and

actually generate the report it will do

it automatically do you see the

advantage maybe today they're doing it

manually walking back to the desk and

actually actually programming the

reports and actually printing them out

but by using the autom feature it is now

an advantage so here your homework in

this module very simple very simple i

want to take small steps i want you to

list out features and for each feature

list out a benefit there may be more

than one and it's okay for each of those

benefits there may be an advantage maybe

more than one create cols and then list

those out to provide a work can through

process will help formulate benefit and

advant have to do before you begin

anything in terms of selling your

product or service so now is the time to

do some homework feature benefits

advantage go to

it