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How to sell complex product?

11 pointsby nidhi40over 8 years ago

6 comments

endswapperover 8 years ago
My response assumes that there is a need for a complex product. In general, unless there is a specific need for complexity, complexity is incompleteness, lack of polish, or a failure to target needs properly. Customers don&#x27;t want complex products they want simple products. However, showing a simple &quot;slice&quot; of a complex product that addresses a larger problem or need makes sense, and is a case for the complexity.<p>Understand your customers needs and how you provide value.<p>The existing comments provide a good jumping off point, but with few specifics we can only speak in general. If you add more details I will follow-up.<p>The bottom-line is that your customers don&#x27;t care about your product. They care about how your product helps them.<p>You want to understand the processes and problems that each individual customer is dealing with. If you don&#x27;t have intimate knowledge of these already you have to ask strategic questions that reveal these.<p>Once you understand this, and demonstrate it in relevant terms to the customer, ask for the business. This not meant to be sarcastic or condescending at all. I have been in numerous meetings with smart people, executives, sales people. So often, they understand the need and demonstrate it, and then never ask, and they wonder what happened. Typically, it helps if you are confident when you ask.
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lisefromcaptizover 8 years ago
Will assume you refer to pitching &#x2F; sales conversation.<p>The worst you can do in sales is talk a lot (a good rule is talking 20% of the time, maximum).<p>I&#x27;d recommend: - writing down the types of customers you might have (user personae) - capturing the value you offer to each segment in 1 sentence.<p>Let&#x27;s take Facebook example: For users: Connect 24&#x2F;7 with your friends For businesses: Sell products to your target in a clic! For game developers: Push your apps to the biggest pool of players. For media: Your content introduced to up to 1.7 billion people worldwide... For investors: Get great ROI on a growing product the whole world is using.<p>A first conversation should spark interest. Then, you can ask questions and go on to features &#x2F; details.<p>It&#x27;s very hard to be concise, you might fear leaving some advantages of your product out, and it takes a lot of work and market feedback to make a short pitch right ...<p>I hope this helps :)
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ruler88over 8 years ago
I&#x27;d echo a lot of the other things people said here: simplify your product.<p>Even if you are selling a complex product. There are probably certain components&#x2F;services that are simple. Try to isolate those simple components and just sell those. Talk to your customers, they are probably buying for just 1 reason not all the features that you offer. Make all the other parts add-on features.<p>I recently read about the XYZ statement that I think would be helpful in your case. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;medium.com&#x2F;pitch-like-a-pro&#x2F;creating-a-pitch-deck-simplify-your-message-1b8a3959a577" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;medium.com&#x2F;pitch-like-a-pro&#x2F;creating-a-pitch-deck-si...</a>
CarolineWover 8 years ago
tl;dr I don&#x27;t know what you&#x27;re asking.<p>I&#x27;ve gone to look at your other comments and submissions, and I&#x27;d guess that English is not your native language. As a result you might (probably will) find it hard to write a short paragraph expanding on your question.<p>But with a simple, bare question like this you are unlikely to get any kind of response. You really need to explain more. Why is your product complex? Who is it for? Have you tested your market to make sure that what you have made is relevant to someone? How many have you sold so far? If only one or two, can you get your customers to talk to other possible customers? Do you know who your potential customers are?<p>If you haven&#x27;t sold any at all, why did you develop it? Who did you have in mind?<p>Given my assumption that English is not your first language, here&#x27;s a thought. Write a more complete description about your product, question, problem, etc, in your own language. Then at the top explain that English is not your first language, include your original, and then include a Google translate of it. If you use short, very simple sentences, then Google Translate can usually carry the meaning, but not the subtle nuances.<p>I hope that helps.
behnamohover 8 years ago
What do you mean by &quot;complex&quot; and compared to what?<p>&quot;Complex&quot; is different from &quot;complicated&quot;. Just as &quot;easy&quot; is different from &quot;simple&quot;.<p>Enterprise solutions seem pretty complex, but if you&#x27;re focusing on small businesses, then even a mobile app could be considered complex.<p>Completely depends on the situation.
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gesmanover 8 years ago
Simplify it.