Kevin Hallinan

Traditionalists have been preaching features-and-benefits selling for ages. Apparently they think it gets results, but I think it's a lot of unnecessary hard work. It's merely a safe way to sell unproductively. At best, it's arm's-length selling, and it's not effective today. 

Only customers whose needs fit with the company's core offerings are likely to establish a relationship that generates profit. It is critical for you to plan and implement sales strategies that will enable your sales force to gain, retain, and profit from long-term relationships with "good fit" customers.

When you interact with clients, they should be doing at least 70% of the talking, which means you're doing at least 70% of the listening. Listening is crucial for effective sales-it's the only way you'll learn what your prospect or client REALLY needs.

Looking for techniques to force prospects to act in a certain way is not the answer. It is that type of conduct that causes prospects to develop unfavorable notions about salespeople and exhibit the behaviors that give rise to the “How can I… ” questions in the first place. If you want prospects to react to you in a more favorable manner, you must first examine your own behavior.