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2. Sell an emotional experience, not features. Eh, that works for your market. 3. Tell stories because software is boring. Now we're getting somewhere, this

• MPSimmons 16y ago
  I think the underserved market is pretty much non-geeks. I don't really think non-geeks like features as much as they like being able to do things.
  • dpcan 16y ago
    I kind-of agree with dtby because I've been able to sell some of my web software because of my massively exhaustive list of features. For my customers, it left them thinking, man we have to have this, we had no idea there was a software solution for all these problems.
• tptacek 16y ago
  Bzzzt. You are having a common nerd/guy adverse reaction to the word "emotional", but as someone who has sold software and services to huge companies staffed with gun-totin' Ron Swansons for 15 years, let me assure you, everyone is receptive to emotions. They're just different emotions†. Watch Patrick's talk. Particularly the Google slide. † "Fear" is one my industry has used to great effect; "egotism" is another one.
  • dtby 16y ago
    And as someone who has sold software and services to huge companies with gun-totin' Ron Swansons for over 15 years, let me assure you that this is untrue. So, yeah, it's a question of approach. Which was my entire point.
    • tptacek 16y ago
      You've never seen the "better" product, with superior performance and more feature check-boxes, lose to the product with the more attractive user interface? Because I feel like that's the oldest blues song I've heard sung.
      • dtby 16y ago
        Of course. But I don't believe that every sale I have lost for what I believe to be non-rational reasons is inherently an emotional decision. Sometimes I just don't understand the motivations of my customers.
        • tptacek 16y ago
          We're spiraling here. All I'm saying is, emotional appeals are very much in play in most markets, very much including old conservative white males in '50s-era financial products businesses (fear; get - me - home - in - time - to - see - the - kids; fraternity) and young thin white males at software shops (vanity). Someone said, "sell emotional experiences and features". You said something to the effect of "eh, maybe that works in your market". Here's where I cut in: bzzt! It works in virtually all markets. Even in buy-by-committee enterprise sales, there are emotional appeals that will give you an edge. A fun exercise: look at the most successful, best marketed products in a variety of fields, and spot the emotional elements. Start with Github.
          • dtby 16y ago
            It's all good. I've lived an odd life, but essentially every dollar I have made has come from someone thinking he is getting more value for his dollar than I am charging him for my software/service/whatever. Considering the businesses in which I have often found myself, that has often meant that they felt they were smarter than me. I doubt any of them felt an emotion beyond greed. If that counts, then I'm well and truly wrong. Then, again, you managed to drag a huge thread out of me based on my emotional reaction to your (frankly offensive) "Bzzt" so maybe you're right for "most" markets.
            • 16y ago
  • ahoyhere 16y ago
    Now now, tptacek, you know that thinking you're superior isn't an emotion if it's a fact ;)