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A little thought goes a long way

My kids attend a public speaking course called “Think and Speak Up”. The main idea behind the class is that in order to be an effective public speaker, you need to think before you speak i.e. be prepared before you speak. A recent conversation with a very action oriented CEO who wants to launch in the US got me thinking that the “Think and Speak Up” approach applies to companies as well.

It takes a certain personality to go and strike out on their own. Small business owners and startup founders are generally action-oriented folks who want to get stuff done. This tendency, while admirable, can be costly especially when entering new markets. While it is very tempting to just go out and hire some people and just start selling, it is usually counterproductive in my opinion, unless you have gone through and analyzed the following.

The Market –  When selling your product/service, you need to have a clear understanding of what else is out there. For example, what do the options look like to your buyer? What trends would they be seeing that you need to factor in? Are there compliance directives in place or coming along that would impact your customers? In short, you need to understand the lay of the land.

The competition – The buyer is probably doing something internally to address the problem that you are proposing a solution for. In addition, there are probably other companies in your space doing something similar to you. Both internal and external solutions are potential competition for you. You need to understand what you are up against before you go out and sell.

Positioning – Given the market and the competition, where do you need to be? You need to figure this out well in advance of hitting the streets. If you don’t you will waste time and money chasing after the wrong prospects. Keep in mind, your positioning in a foreign market could be very different from your domestic audience. Also keep in mind that you may need to change your positioning based on market feedback aka pivot. However to enter the market without a positioning hypothesis is folly.

Value Proposition – Once you have a clear idea of the market, the competition, where you want to be, you need to come up with why you? What makes you unique. We are not talking bells and whistles here, we are talking about real value to your buyer. The value proposition has to be in the context of where you are operating and it could vary from geography to geography.

People say the difference between success and failure is perseverance and a deep pocket. I would argue there is a third factor that is at play here and that is thought. Action without thought might make you feel like you are getting somewhere but like a hamster on a treadmill you might be moving fast but not getting anywhere.

Agree, disagree or have another opinion? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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Does your customer know what you are talking about?

Let us face it, technology startups are often founded by geeks, employ geeks and hence are, more often than not, geekdoms. There is tremendous value in it. However, there is a significant downside to this as it relates to communication.  Geeks speak geekspeak and unfortunately that is all the customers hear a lot of times. This is a HUGE mistake.

Never forget who you are in the business for. It is your customers. If your value proposition is not clear to the customer, you will perish. The customer needs to see value. She needs to know that you understand her pain and will help her. She needs empathy not geekspeak. And this is true even when you are speaking to tech buyers. You need to be very clear on how you and only you understand the pain they are feeling and can help them. If you can establish that empathy and can weave it into the product you are pitching, you are already ahead of the competition.

Abandon the geekspeak and the discussions on all the bells and whistles that your product has. Instead, focus on business value it creates or the business pain it alleviates. Use simple, easy to understand language. For example, instead of saying “the product has an enterprise class data warehouse based on a dimensional data model, supported by all major RDBMs, that houses information from disparate sources”, you can say that “using a single repository of data all the business users see the same version of truth. This allows for accurate and timely decision making and meaningful interdepartmental communication”. By eliminating geekspeak you have shown how the product is meaningful to the business user. Nice technology is good, in fact it is essential, but it is not an excuse for clearly articulated benefits. It is almost as though most technology companies operate behind a cloud of geekspeak, and it is the company that breaks through the clouds and communicates simply, that stands out.

So, spend some time. Understand the business problem you are solving, develop empathy with your potential customers and analyze your competition. You should then be able to come up with a story that resonates with the customer. If you are able to do that, you have the power to change the dialog, project yourself as the hero and differentiate yourself from the competition. And that can’t be a bad thing.