Page 41 - Oscar Adler - Sell Yourself in Any Interview_ Use Proven Sales Techniques to Land Your Dream Job (2008)

ADDRESSING EACH INTERVIEWER’S INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

ADJUSTING BENEFITS TO SUIT
EACH SITUATION

Job hunters who are unskilled in translating features into ben-
efits often make the mistake of using the same benefits in
every situation and with every interviewer. Remember, the
feature stays the same, but it will mean different things to
different people. It is up to you to determine the appropriate
benefit.
Here is a simplified example. In this scenario, you are the
owner of a men’s clothing store, and the only suits you have
left are navy blue with vertical stripes. A man about 4 feet, 10
inches tall walks into your store. What benefit could you offer
him for buying your suit? “It will make you look taller,” you
could tell your “vertically challenged” customer, who proba-
bly will recognize that as a benefit, and you will have made
a sale.
Later, a man about 6 feet, 10 inches tall comes in looking
for a suit. What is the benefit of vertical stripes to him? If you
give him the same benefit (“It will make you look taller”),
chances are he won’t buy the suit because he clearly does not
need or want to look taller. In fact, how tall or short the suit
makes him look may be completely irrelevant to him. The
benefit for him may be, “This suit is stylish and makes you
look successful.”
Unfortunately, in too many cases people use the same
benefit over and over, and then they wonder why they don’t
make progress in their job search. Even when you end your
statement with a benefit, if you fail to change the benefit to fit
the needs of your listener, you actually could create a negative
impression. In the first scenario, if the salesperson does not
change the benefit to accommodate the tall gentleman’s
needs, that customer will not buy that suit and most likely

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