FAB Technique | Sales Methodology

by Adam Basheer, on 07-Mar-2023 11:00:00

Perhaps the simplest and yet most effective sales methodology is the FAB technique. It can be used in almost any sales environment; retail, B2B and B2C sales. There are many sales methods and techniques available but this is perhaps the best for more mastering technical sales or when you have a complex product or service. It is ideal for any situation where the end benefit is not clear or there are multiple features and benefits. This method can also be used in almost all marketing communications and as part of the entire sales and marketing strategy, not just for FAB selling.

FAB Technique | Sales Methodology      FREE DOWNLOAD  EMAIL MARKETING 12-POINT CHECKLIST

FEATURES ADVANTAGES BENEFITS = FAB SALES

Most people know product features and benefits but it is worth understanding what they are before we introduce the advantage into this sales methodology.

FEATURE

A feature is a distinctive attribute or aspect of something. It is easy to understand a feature when we examine a particular product feature example. Let's take a digital camera. It may have many features such as a single-lens reflex, 18-135mm zoom lens and be 24 megapixels. If you are into photography these features are well known however if you are new to the market then they require explanation. Most people will be new to your company or product thus for most people they will not know or understand the basic features that you have and why they are important, therefore they need to know the benefit.

ADVANTAGE

An advantage is to put something in a favourable or superior position. The advantage helps us understand how we get from the feature to the benefit. It is the context between the features and benefits. So the advantage of a camera having 24 megapixels means that you have a larger number of dots per area meaning you a capturing more of the image. This makes the image sharper and enables you to enlarge the image without losing quality. The advantage of a 35 - 200mm lens is to enable you to zoom in or out using the one lense, enabling good shots to be taken in a variety of situations, thus making the camera more flexible.

BENEFIT

The benefit is how the feature helps the customer. The benefit is what the feature can do for you. So if we consider our feature example of 24 megapixels then we can explain several benefits to the person taking photographs including a sharper image, the ability to enlarge without losing quality, a better quality image overall. If we take the 18-135mm zoom, benefits include greater flexibility when taking family shots, the convenience of not having to change lenses for different shots.

The benefits are derived from the features but as you might pick up from the benefits examples, there is a missing link. If I didn't know anything about photography then I wouldn't understand how you go from 24 megapixels to a sharper image or 18-135mm to greater flexibility.  There needs to be an explanation of how you get from one to the other. This is the part we often miss when selling something that we ourselves know very well and this is why the FAB selling technique is a great tool to use. We assume that people make the link but often they do not, and it leaves them not truly understanding or truly believing what we are telling them. Therefore we need the advantage.

So combining features advantages and benefits provides clearer communication and understanding. It then aids the memory of the prospective buyer because they understand how the benefit is derived. This is especially important for complex technical sales, selling professional services which are not well known or for selling your competitive advantage. It can then be worked into sales presentations, sales scripts and certainly into all marketing communication materials. 

There are many features advantage benefits examples in the link here including creating integrated marketing communications using the FAB technique. It will take you from developing your FAB selling methodology through to how to use this sales method by providing telephone sales script examples, ways to use it in B2B selling and B2C selling and how to use it when overcoming objections. For further assistance please contact Fit 4 Market.

 FAB Technique Guide

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Topics:FAB TechniquesSales MethodologySales Strategies

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