The truth is that in the service industry, most clients don’t care how the intricacies of your process work behind the scenes, they just want to know what it’ll do for their business and why they should invest in it. The challenge for professionals, especially in tech, is translating complex systems, algorithms, and processes into language that not only explains but also sells to the clients you’re trying to onboard or retain. They may not have technical backgrounds, so often, you may need to explain and demonstrate without falling into “talking shop.”
After all, sometimes the gulf between technical excellence and business value can be massive, whic means bridging that will need a different kind of skill than the ones that made you good at building solutions in the first place. Clients need to understand not just what your product does, but why it matters to them specifically, how it solves their current problems, and what their world will look like after implementation.
That may seem like a tough ask, but you’re more than capable of it. Let’s explore how to get started:
Start With The Problem, Not The Solution
The vast majority of clients don’t want to hear about your technology until they know you understand their headaches. Perhaps you’ll find that one sees their system crash during busy periods, the next could feel like their team wastes hours on repetitive tasks, and a third might think customers leave because things take too long. These problems cost them money, stress out their employees, and hurt their reputation, and those costs are what make your solution valuable.
Talk through what’s going wrong in their business first, get them nodding along because you understand their frustration, then introduce your technology as the fix. This way, they see your solution as something they need, not something nice to have. The connection between their daily struggles and your proposed solution becomes more clear.
Use Analogies That Connect To Their Industry
Technical concepts make sense when they’re explained through things clients already know. You might suggest how data encryption for a bank works like their physical vault system. System redundancy for a manufacturer is like having backup production lines ready if the main equipment breaks down, and that’s important to bake in. These comparisons help because they build on knowledge clients already have.
Custom software development for your cybersecurity company becomes much easier to understand when described as having a security guard who never sleeps, never takes breaks, and recognizes every person who should or shouldn’t be in the building. These analogies stick in people’s minds because they connect new information to familiar concepts, even if that’s a baseline. You can then showcase, segment by segment, how this process is achieved.
Show Them The Day-After Experience
You could tak through features, but it’s also wise to walk clients through what their workday looks like after your solution is running. That could include their morning routine changes, how certain tasks disappear from their to-do list, and they can respond to customers much faster. This storytelling approach helps them see the practical benefits and begin imagining it, the same way a realtor will show you what you can do with the property and how you’d live there, not just what’s present.
With this advice, you’re sure to better break down and sell technical concepts to a client.
