Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
As luck would have it, today there were five nearly identical white mid-size cars parked along side each other in the parking lot. While they looked similar, there were offerings from VW, Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet and Honda.
Your prospects would have seen five products that looked similar, were competitively priced, and that claimed nearly identical features and benefits. So how would each of those product salespeople differentiate themselves and their offerings?
Well, differentiating wouldn't have very much to do with the cars themselves...
It all boils down to how well each salesperson, or more realistically, which one salesperson really understands why you are interested in a new car, what you liked and didn't like about prior cars, dealers, service and experiences, and what you really want your new ride to do for you. Why wouldn't the salesperson defer to features and benefits? They are all the same and the prospect has heard them all before. What's wrong with a little reinforcement or pointing out how a feature is different from the competitor's feature? Everyone is doing that. It only serves to commoditize the product and company.
If you want your salespeople to effectively decommoditize your offering, have them stop talking about the offering!
