As an entrepreneur you don’t only have to sell your products to customers. You also have to sell your ideas and strategies. Your partners, potential investors and even your family members who want to you to justify your lack of employment are going to ask questions. At least half the time they are going to be fairly skeptical about your decisions and how you came to them.
When we encounter this situation, our first instinct is often to pull out complicated charts and point out why we have made a decision or constructed a strategy. The level of detail we have put into our projects has often brainwashed us into thinking that everyone else expects the same.
They Don’t Know what You Know
Unfortunately, other people do not have the same detailed understanding of your business. You have spent weeks, months or years researching a topic that is probably not even acquainted with their own field. They also do not have the patience to sit down and listen to every detail you want to hash out. Their time is valuable and you need to keep things as straightforward and basic as possible to sell your idea to them.
Apple has applied this theory for years. When you think about the inside of an Apple product and the time and energy that has gone into it, you see an extremely complex system. When you see it on the screen of your television during an advertisement, you have a different impression. Most people are in awe of how simple the product is and almost mistake it for being inferior to competitors because they can actually figure out how to use it.
How to Keep it Simple
One of the best ways to keep your product simple is to present it in bits and pieces. If you show everything to your audience right away they will be overwhelmed and shut down on you. Take time to think about the different components of your project and explain them separately, while at the same time finding ways to tie them in with each other.
Most importantly, you must communicate your idea clearly and in a language that they will understand. Even if you think they are smart enough to understand the complexities of what you are talking about, assume they don’t want to waste the brain power doing so. If someone is trying to have a lighthearted discussion with you or has limited time to talk, you can’t afford to make them to follow a hundred different arrows in their head while they are trying to follow you at the same time.
Of course, this is only a rule of thumb when you are talking to people outside your own field. A colleague may want details if they are interested in doing business with you. In this case, you need to demonstrate that you are competent in your field and have done the research to support the strategy your business is going with.
Being an innovator and a salesperson are two very different roles. However, as an entrepreneur you must learn to incorporate both into your business model. When you are trying to sell your idea, you must redirect the energies of your brain to think like a layperson so they will follow your pitch.
Kalen Smith is the founder of Engineer-a-Business, a provider of business-to-business services and informational products for developing technology businesses. Read more about Kalen here.
Could not agree more! This is something we have been very passionate about at ReTargeter. Keeping our model simple, easy to understand and effective has been instrumental in our growth. This is a great post for folks building companies and selling new ideas / products.
Great point- that an entrepreneur needs to incorporate 2 very different roles: innovator and salesperson. The more we work to simplify and break down our message into chunks, the better we come to understand our ideas and our message ourselves. I agree, in communication clarity and simplicity are key.
I agree with Liz. Mastering both roles as innovator and salesperson will benefit not only whoever you’re pitching to, but also yourself. The KISS (Keep it Sweet and Simple) should always be applied to explanations for those who aren’t familiar with your field. Thanks for the great advice!
I agree that, in selling, more is not necessarily better. A good salesperson knows when to avoid overselling. Similarly, in innovation more is not always better. In my book “Becoming an Entrepreneur” I give an example of an aspiring entrepreneur who innovated so much that the industry couldn’t accept the changes. By reducing his amount of product innovation he was able to offer something acceptable to his target market.
In talking about entrepreneurs as innovators or as salespeople we can easily forget that more is not better. For an entrepreneur, the right amount of innovation, sales, or any other activity is the amount that gets the job done… and great entrepreneurs are people who get the job of building a company done by getting ‘in the shoes’ of their target customers.
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