Appendix A
} Product mix
The particular assortment of ______and ______that a business offers in order to meets its market’s needs and its company’s goals.
} Target Market
A particular group of ______that a business seeks to attract.
Sometimes, a business can take an ______good or service and change it so it will fulfill the ______of another target market.
Example: some products can be altered to accommodate people with certain disabilities.
} How to obtain customer feedback
Ask the ______
To compete in the marketplace, a business must ______or find products that will fulfill its customers’ changing needs and wants.
Obtaining customer feedback is a good way for a business to ______how it is meeting its customers’ needs and what it needs to do to ______customer satisfaction.
} What is a Feature?
A feature is a ______characteristic or ______of a product.
It is something the customer can touch, feel, ______, see, or measure
It helps ______the product.
A feature answers the question, “______?”
◦ Ex: color, style, size
} What is a benefit?
A benefit is the personal ______or ______that a customer wants from a product.
It is how the feature helps a particular ______
For customers, it answers the questions:
◦ How will I ______?
◦ What’s in it for ______?
} Feature-benefit Selling
Prove to customers your product has ______that ______them
Customers buy ______-not features
Compare to ______
Determine what each customer is ______in a good or service
} Three types of benefits
Salespeople should be able to explain these three types of benefits to customers:
◦ Obvious or ______benefits
◦ Unique or ______benefits
◦ ______benefits
} Obvious or apparent benefits
Advantages that need ______explanation by the salesperson.
The customer already knows the ______
Ex: Neutral colored carpeting
◦ What is the obvious benefit?
Even if benefits are obvious, salespeople should still point them out and use them to ______the ______of the product to customers
} Unique or exclusive benefits
Advantages that are available only from ______good, service or business.
Is a selling ______over your competitors
Ex: a car that “parks” itself is a novelty
◦ Offers a huge ______to customers that have trouble parallel parking
} Hidden benefits
Advantages that cannot be ______or understood without the assistance of a salesperson
Ex: buying a pair of shoes
◦ You can see the color and style
◦ You can not see how comfortable they are until ______to try them on
Ex: purchasing a computer
◦ Warranties/24-hour helpline
} Feature-benefit charts
Step One: Find your product’s features
◦ Construction and materials:
What is the ______?
Who ______it?
How is it ______?
What’s the ______between these two items?
◦ Appearance and style
Appearance is a ______factor in many buying decisions
Customers consider color, ______, and design in everything they buy – cars, clothes, accessories, appliances, furniture, etc.
◦ Unique or novel features
Having desirable ______that your competitor does not have
◦ Durability
How long a product will ______and give dependable service
◦ Product uses
What the product will ______and how it can be used
◦ Service and warranty
Especially important when selling products such as ______, electronics, and cars
Feature-benefit charts
} Step two: Know where to get facts about product features
◦ The product itself
Use the product and ______provided
◦ Customers
Testimonials
◦ Manufacturer’s brochures and publications
◦ Other sales personnel
◦ Promotional materials
Product ______
Catalogs/______
} Step Three: create a feature-benefit chart
◦ After you know what type of information you need and where to obtain the facts about your products, prepare a ______chart
List all the product’s ______, beginning with the ones that a customer or client will see first
List the less-obvious or ______features
For each feature that you identified, ask, “What does this mean for the ______?”
Write each ______beside its feature
A feature can provide more than ______benefit
Appendix B
Target Market/ Feature Benefit Activity
Adapted from Michael Hicks’ Target Market Activity
______
Split students into groups. Each group takes a piece of banner paper (6 ft at least), lay it on the floor and designate one person to lie down on the banner paper and be the ‘tracee’. The group will trace the outline of the ‘tracee’, then cut out the figure. When you are done, it should be an ‘almost’ perfect match of the size and shape of the ‘tracee’.
Next, each group will receive the information on the person who will be a representative of your ‘target market’.
You will receive one of these examples of your target market:
Jada: 17, African American, upper income family (dad is a doctor; mom is a marketing rep for Wachovia), plays school sports (volleyball and softball), writes for her school newspaper; graduating with top honors from HS and college bound.
Steve: 46, White, middle class, has associates degree, electrician who is self-employed, married with three children (one is going to college this fall), works 50-60 hour weeks, drives a pickup and is in the local Methodist church band (plays drums).
Claudia: 28, Hispanic, divorced, high school graduate but plans on going back to school at night to get her nursing degree, manager of the deli department of Lowes Foods, one child, is active in the Hispanic community in regards to charity work, coupon cutter who will drive out of her way for a bargain.
Alex: 17, Asian, plays baseball in HS, plays video games and likes to compete in local gaming tournaments, cancer survivor, plans on attending a community college to become an entrepreneur after HS, member of his HS DECA, will vote for the first time in next year’s elections, member of the Young Republicans in HS.
Cory: 33, African American, single, Bachelors Degree in Music Theory, plays in local hard rock band (bass guitar), also has his own business teaching bass and electric guitar , doesn’t have health insurance but is in the market to purchase it, cooks at home, has hiked the Appalachian Trail from SC to Maryland, likes outdoor activities.
Sarah: 67, White, widowed, former pediatrician, participates in Senior 10k runs, member of the local school board, has a grandson who won a football scholarship to Wake Forest; has motorcycle license and belongs to a group of Harley Davidson aficionados who ride once a month for a weekend to the beach or mountains, enjoys beach music and teaches Shag dancing.
Wild Card: You will come up with your own REALISTIC representative of a target market. Be creative! Give them a name. Tell me some things about them (age, sex, race, education, lifestyle, marital status, kids, hobbies, etc).
You will give your figure a face (can be from a magazine, drawn, etc). We can talk about enlarging it to fit.
Decorate your figure as to what they would look like, wear, etc.
Decorate your cutout person with pictures of products you think would appeal to him/her (you may print these from the internet, cut from magazines, etc and glue or tape them to the person).
· What types of products and/or services could you realistically see this person using, buying, etc.?
· What product/service features would appeal to this person?
· What benefits would this person look for in a product/service?
· Why would the company who makes the good or provides the service want to market to this particular person (the representative of the target market)?
You can answer these questions for each product/service by typing up a reason why on a separate sheet of paper and attaching it to your figure.
THESE MUST BE TURNED IN BEFORE YOU LEAVE CLASS TODAY! Work smart, delegate tasks, be creative and HAVE FUN WITH THIS!!