How to present fuel economy on a Toyota Prius

by Bill T
(Dallas, TX)

I recently sold a Toyota Prius and used the feature-function-benefit approach which really helped me close the deal. I will use your format to give details.

My customer had an older Ford sedan. She told me it got about 17 miles per gallon. While showing her the Prius I told her it averaged 49 MPG. (the feature)

I explained to her the car ran on gas only when needed and that an onboard computer controlled when it ran on gas and when it ran on electricty. (the function)

I took the Prius 49 MPG and deducted the mileage her current car gets, 17 and the difference is 32 MPG.

She told me she drives around 22,000 miles a year. I took that number and divided it by 17 which equalled 1,294 gallons of gas. I then took the Prius MPG of 49 and made the same calculation which showed she would use only 445 gallons in a year, a difference of almost 850 gallons. I took that number times the cost of a gallon of gas, currently 2.60 and showed her she would save $2,210 a year just in gas savings. (the benefit)

I hope this is what you meant and someone else can use this. It really helped me.