Do you believe that simple sells? All too often in complex businesses, we think complexity is cool.
We like to share all the details of our innovation. We revel in discussing things like configurations, feeds ‘n speeds, architectures, patents, designs and more.
Technology buyers think that’s pretty cool. The problem is, they aren’t the ones with the money to buy our stuff.
The people with the money are the business people. They don’t care about our first ever whizbang whatchmafloppy cloudgizmo.
They care about making money, saving money, making more money, saving more money. It’s that simple.
That’s why it’s important we keep it simple when we talk about our stuff. That’s why we want to keep it simple by focusing on how our stuff helps our customers make or save money.
Then the people with the money can understand why they need to buy our stuff. When we make it simple.
So stop with the chest thumping complexity.
Make it simple for your buyers to understand how your stuff solves their problems.
Simple is Successful Marketing!
Technology buyers have money, but their role is increasingly strategic. So, as you say, the bits and bytes and feeds and speeds that we relied on for differentiation in the past have been supplanted by other topics that are more business-oriented. But not always. Technical buyers still want technical discussions, and salespeople must be prepared.
As vendors, we assume that what differentiates our products in a positive way is that they are sophisticated and full-featured. Customers, on the other hand, want products that are simple to use and easy to adopt. Look at how ERP solutions developed. As developers sought to broaden the customer base for ERP solutions, features were added, which increased complexity.
That created a fine line for salespeople to walk. More than a few times, I showed the same product to two different companies in a day. It was not unusual for one prospect to say “great software, but it’s way more than what we need,” while the other said “it seems kind of under-featured for what we do here.”
Full-featured and sophisticated are not bad words, unless they’re perceived as adding to the hassles of adoption. As with anything in selling, it’s best to make sure you’re “situationally aware,” and adapt your approach according to need.