Page 43 - Oscar Adler - Sell Yourself in Any Interview_ Use Proven Sales Techniques to Land Your Dream Job (2008)

ADDRESSING EACH INTERVIEWER’S INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

perceived as a benefit by a two-year-old is certainly different
from what would be perceived as a benefit by a teenager.
Even within a single age group—let’s say teenagers—the
benefits will be different for different members. A parent
might encourage her child to “study hard” and follow up
with a benefit that is meaningful for the particular child:

❏ “. . . so that you can get into a good college.”

❏ “. . . so that you can improve your grades.”

❏ “. . . so that you can get a good job and earn money for
a car.”
❏ “. . . so that I won’t ground you for the rest of your life.”

Almost everything parents tell their children ends in a bene-
fit. Effective parents constantly judge the different needs and
wants of their children, and they adjust the benefits associ-
ated with their statements accordingly.
Exhibit 2-4 will help you to learn how features and bene-
fits relate to specific needs and wants. In this example about
a passenger car, the car’s features are listed on the left side of
the table; possible benefit categories are listed on the right.
Each benefit addresses a need or want of a potential customer:
comfort, prestige, safety, economy, or convenience. Identify
the need or want that each feature/benefit combination
addresses, keeping in mind that some benefits may address
more than one need or want.
Exhibit 2-4 is not an exhaustive list of possible benefit
statements. It is simply an opportunity for you to begin to
learn to connect appropriate benefits to a specific need or
want and to relate them to a corresponding feature. You may
think of other benefit statements that fit our example; that’s
great. The more you practice, the easier it will be to use this
skill during an interview.

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