Page 21 - Oscar Adler - Sell Yourself in Any Interview_ Use Proven Sales Techniques to Land Your Dream Job (2008)

THE POWER OF FEATURES AND BENEFITS

is the customer. Whenever you are looking for a job—whether
it is your first full-time job after graduation, a new job that
will move you forward in your existing career, or a job in a
completely new field—you need to sell yourself.
In sales, we start with the features of a product or service
and end with its benefits. Ending with the benefit is essential.
The last thing you say is the thing that people remember
most. In perhaps the simplest example, most parents quickly
learn this lesson, ending their statements with a benefit that
is meaningful to the child: “After you eat your dinner, you
may have a cookie.”
When interviewing for a job, you need to present the fea-
tures (i.e., skills and experience) you have to offer and high-
light them by ending your statements with the benefits those
features will have for a prospective employer. You need to
end every statement by answering the interviewer’s real
question: “What will you do for me?”
During my many years as a sales executive and career
coach, I have discovered that few people understand the
importance of using feature/benefit skills as part of their
business or personal communication repertoires. Some have
indicated that they “sort of knew about” features and bene-
fits, but they never really learned how to use them. Attendees
of my job-hunting workshops tell me how helpful under-
standing feature/benefit skills can be and that they felt
empowered when they saw the skills at work.

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN FEATURES AND BENEFITS

The difference between a feature and a benefit may seem
subtle at first. Once again, a feature is simply a trait—a fact.

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