The Art of WIIFM in Sales

The Art of WIIFM in abverkaufThe Art of WIIFM in SalesExperienced salespeople will often joke, Everyones favorite radio station is WII-FM. Theyre referring to the acronym WIIFM Whats in it for me? And no, this doesnt mean you, the salesperson. It means your prospect or potential customer. Use WIIFM to Your Advantage Your sales prospects needs should be on the top of your mind as you make your pitch. Every prospect you approach will consider yourpitch from the point of WIIFM. Thats why its so important to talk about the benefits rather than the features of what youre selling literally tell him whats in it for him. Prospects dont care that you need to close at least three more sales this month, or that youre shooting for a big win before you leave on vacation. And why should they? Neither of those things benefits them. Your prospectwants to hear about what he or she stands to gain by buying your products, and it should be something pretty substantial if you want himto move quickly . This is why benefits outsell features so dramatically. The Benefits of a Purchase Benefits are specific examples of what the prospect stands to gain if he buys from you. As a result, they appeal directly to the WIIFM mindset. Features, on the other hand, are specific facts about a product. They dont explain how the product will improve your prospects life. Lets say youre selling cars. If you tell a prospect that a specific model accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds, thats a feature. Its nice to know, but it doesnt do much to persuade him to sign on the dotted line. But if you tell the prospect that the cars high acceleration allows him to safely merge onto the freeway, thats a benefit. You are telling the prospect WIIFM. Or lets say your prospect is an older woman, nearing retirement age, who isnt as concerned with acceleration as she is with reliability and her post-retirement budget. Shes lukewarm because although she really wants a new car, she doesnt want to have to worry about a car payment when she punches that time clock for the last time in a few years. You can go on and on about the cars features, or you can point out that if she buys now, the car will most likely be paid off, or close to it, by the time she retires. Wouldnt she rather have a car payment now rather than then? As for his paid-off trade-in, it has 90,000 miles on it. You might mention that in all likelihood, its notlage going to get him through her retirement without major costly and unexpected repairs.Thatswhats in it for her. The So-What Factor Another important thing to keep in mind is that one prospects benefit is another prospects so what? Not everyone has the same needs. They dont value the same things equally. WIIFM also implies that you should take the time to understand what the prospect is looking for and where hes coming from. Then match the benefits you choose to discuss those needs.