Here's Why Your Customer Won't Always Care If Your Product Is Better

if you think better always prevails in a high-tech environment, then here's a tale about the unequalled persuasive electricity of simplicity -

again while i used to be a young engineer in R&D, I developed a completely small and reasonably-priced element for replacing a alternatively pricey previous one in a venture i was working on.

in the future the pinnacle of a production line calls me up and schedules a meeting with me and a mission supervisor who may additionally want what i've advanced for every other project.

We begin the meeting and the mission supervisor explains:

i've a alternatively antique product.

despite its antiquated, it has proven very a hit with our clients, and i don't want to trade some thing...

My trouble is this one element it truly is out of date within the layout and i've a brand new batch to manufacture... it's hard to discover a straightforward seller with who has this aspect in their garage

... I heard you designed a cheap new thing that could update it - is that real?

So I display him my layout and reply:
"it's much higher than you believe you studied - see, now not handiest will my new cheap component replace your out of date element - it without a doubt replaces the entire module in which your obsolete thing is in, and it's a lot more sturdy than this old layout you currently have. Integrating my new layout into your product will actually save you hundreds of dollars in production charges!".

and that i had this pretentious younger engineer's grin on my face.

He became taken aback... couldn't consider how good this sounds...

He checked out me...
Then he looked at my new layout...
Then he looked at the head of the manufacturing line...
Then he calmed down and idea for a minute

Then he quietly were given up and said "in second notion, I suppose i'll manipulate to find a few vendor I should purchase that obsolete component from... thank you on your time anyway.."

And he left the room.

i was bowled over!

I checked out the pinnacle of the manufacturing line and stated "is that this a shaggy dog story?! What the hell simply took place here?! I showed this man or woman a dream solution for his hassle and he would not want it?"

and then he defined some thing i'll in no way overlook:

"look Shlomi, your layout is good, and certainly it will shop the task a variety of money, however have a look at this situation from that guy's factor of view - now he'll ought to pass get a finances for this new element integration... tests... regulatory... documentation... in preference to all that headache, he could just pass look a few extra for a vendor with the out of date aspect and it'll supply him a few piece of mind until the subsequent batch he will do someday inside the future."

the moral of the tale?

while selling B2B, the man or woman on the alternative end is usually shopping for for a corporation, not himself, but at the cease of the day - he is a person along with his personal self-hobby in top precedence, and if the selection in want for the employer contradicts that self-hobby of his - bet which desire he'll make?...

Yup - a better answer for the business won't constantly be better for the individual that needs to carry it out.

always present your product and its implementation as the easiest thing to do - truly due to the fact laziness is a very difficult adversary.