How does it work?

So you are the leader of a technology company with a really innovative product, and you’re meeting with a really important prospect for your business. And that prospect wants to know how does it work? And there’s a couple of ways you can answer that question.

The expert’s answer

If you’re a expert, you’re a technical domain expert in this industry that you’re working in, it’s gonna be really tempting to dive in and explain the amazing techniques and innovation and theories and systems that you’ve built into the product, because it is. It’s amazing. It’s just an incredibly valuable innovation. But I would encourage you to choose a different tack.

“It works great.”

There’s a guy named Phil Jones who wrote a book called ‘Exactly What to Say’, which I was reading the other day. And one of the ideas he had caught my eye. When a client asks you, “How does it work?”, turn off your product brain and turn on your customer brain and say, “It works great. And let me tell you all the ways this is great for you.” And by the way, none of those ways it’s great for them is about the inner workings and how it functions. Those things can come later in the conversation. Once that prospect is assured and believes that what you have is a match for the issues that are painful for them and the problems that they are ready to stop, give you their attention, invest time, trust you, and commit for you to help them solve this problem. How it works is details that can come later and fill in the blanks and help them be ready for it. All those things that come later, you’re gonna be so much better off if you stick in customer brain and start with the reassurance that you have a solution that is just right for you.