Selling To Geeks

The last chapter of the book! This chapter showed us how to sell to geeks. This is usually done by forming a problem statement. I will be focusing in  on these 4 areas: What is a problem statement, what it is not, how to create a motivating problem statement, and how to make benefits believable.

What is a problem statement?

Problem statements are used a lot by geeks, whether its to choose what to wear that morning, or when choosing what to buy. What is a problem statement? Problem statements add some needed structure to life, breaking down many situations into different levels of problem-solution type steps. Though the problem statement can take this form there are other things they may focus on.

What a problem statement is:

-Issues

-Opportunities

-Objectives

-Method Questions

In order to formulate a problem statement for whoever you are trying to sell to you need to know who exactly you are targeting. This article on Forbes.com shows you how to figure out who is your target audience. While it sounds like this article is talking about when giving speeches i feel that this is completely relevant to selling to customers. This is relevant because when giving a speech you are selling your information to the audience, You have to do the same with products with customers. You need to figure out what content your customer wants in order to be able to market to them.

What a problem statement is not:

According to the book these are three things that a problem statement cannot be.

-A fact in not a problem

By telling us a fact about the product that isn’t really related to the problems this product will solve, then it completely disconnects geeks.

-The absence of a solution is not a problem

Trying to get someone to upgrade their product when their is nothing wrong with their current one, is not a solution.

-The absence of a benefit is not a problem

The benefit that they are trying to sell to you may not be relevant for what you are trying to get out of the product.

Its very important that you know what demographic you are trying to sell to in order to try and understand their needs. While knowing this will help you pin down their interests it is still hard to know exactly what the customer is looking for because their are many sub-cultures in every demographic. Take a look at the info-graphic below. We can see that it is focusing on geeks but we quickly see that their are many different type of geeks, all with very different interests. This is why it is best to have a brief conversation with you customer, whoever they may be, and figure out their interests.

How to create a motivating problem statement:

The book gives us these ways to create a motivating problem statement.

-Clarity

     *Foundational

     *Brief

     *Specific

     *Non-prescriptive

     *Measurable

-Value

-Just plain fun

     *Degree of Difficulty

     *Learning new things

     *Competition

How to make benefits believable:

-Craft a clear problem statement

-Demonstrate how the benefits of what you’re selling resolve the problem

-Show how the features of your offering directly deliver the benefits

This PDF shows in more detail how to sell to geeks.

Conclusion

It doesn’t matter who you are trying to sell to you should try and take the time to understand their needs and what they really want. Since this is the last article I thought I would show off some geeky pride with this info-graphic. Whether you have to sell to geeks or non-geeks it is important to appreciate the little things that make all of us different. This graphic shows different ways people enjoy their geeky side. I put this at the end since it’s pretty long. Enjoy your summer, and I hope you enjoyed this article!