Have you ever tried to recommend something to someone who was not at all interested in your solution – even though they would have benefited greatly from it?!

The reason why they don’t care is obvious:

They don’t even know that they would benefit. So you can either walk away – or you can try to change their perception.

Identify the unknown unknowns of your potential customers!

• There are things we know we know (known knowns).
• There are things we know we don’t know (known unknowns). And:
• There are things we do not know that we do not know. (unknown unknows).

Just think of any company that is lagging behind in technology. They simply don’t know what they’re missing out on when it comes to all the digital opportunities they could be taking advantage of.

Educate before you sell!

It is your job to make sure that the unknown unknowns become known unknowns. Make them aware of their problems by showing them the perspectives they cannot see.

Give them examples – show them what’s at stake!

That can be really hard. Many people don’t want their opinions to be challenged, especially those about themselves. Plus, nobody likes to have problems.

But if they listen to understand, they may realize they have a problem that needs to be solved. Then they are one step closer to developing a pain or a need.

As a digital product consultant, I sometimes spend much more time educating about the solution than implementing the solution. But if my customers are successful this way, we are all happy.

Only do it, if it really makes sense!

Inform and offer instead of selling right away. See how much attraction your solution creates for itself.

Better yet, focus on serving the customers who really crave your product. So only educate when you believe it will be of great benefit to both you AND your customer.