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Benefits. Benefits represent what advantage, savings or profit a customer will receive from the feature or features purchased. Benefits might include such advantages as security, longevity, enhanced image, loss of pain, increased value of property and so on.

Transition. A transition is a simple word or phrase that smoothly transfers the technical aspects of the feature to a benefit in the eyes of the customer. The transition helps to draw attention away from the cold facts and toward the warm benefits awaiting the customer.

I refer to the three components as "FTB." Thus, for every feature about my company, the product that we use, the equipment that we operate or the process that we follow when completing work, I must transition the featured aspect into a believable benefit to the customer. If I fail in doing this, I risk losing trust, interest and, worse yet, any future business.

Now, let me demonstrate the FTB technique using a hypothetical situation.

• Feature: By using the additional rebar we will strengthen the weight load for the parking lot
• Transition: … which means you
• Benefit: … will be able to handle the heavy trucks your company owns.

Many sales professionals within our concrete industry undoubtedly know about the many features of what they sell. It is critically important to realize that customers rarely buy features. Instead, they wish to purchase the benefits provided by a product or service. Until the connection between feature and benefit is made in the mind of the customer, they will refuse to make a buying decision. This makes the transition in the FTB technique the most important part of the triad This may sound strange to many contractors since knowing about products and services is so important, but all the knowledge in the industry will not help your sales unless you have a method to plant the features of concrete into the head of a customer and leave them agreeing with the great benefit that will be enjoyed.

Assuming that many readers of this article already have a stable of knowledge containing their company's features and the subsequent benefits to their customers, let me provide a few more examples of transitions that you may want to try.