Mr. Watson knew what he was talking about. Selling technology in the first half of the twentieth century, before the moon landing in 1969, was not an easy sale to make. Companies then, like many still today, did not understand the value of technology to improve their business.

New customes are the life blood of every business. Without predictable demand generation, no matter how well intended a company’s mission or goal, it will suffer with growth.  

If you’re suffering with poor sales the challenge isn’t new customers, its new interest!  Interest is the key to consistent growth regardless of industry or buyer. If you need attention for your services interest motives behavior.

Why do good technology companies suffer with demand?

The demand for technology has never been greater but still most technology provider suffer with too few customers. Why? The answer is simple: They are using the wrong demand generation strategy and marketing messaging of Product Vs Service marketing.

Product vs Service Marketing

The US technology market is generally a Product Marketing society struggling with how to Market the value of Services.  Why?  Because products are much easier to describe than services to Non-Technical Buyers, who make up over 90% of the SMB technology market.

Product Marketing is concerned with product distinction by describing and explaining the product.  Where Service Marketing is focused on service quality and the value of the service which is invisible, intangible, abstract, and difficult to understand for Non-Technical Buyers who are 90% of the SMB market.

Non-Technical Buyers, due to their lower revenue and CapEx limitations, don’t understand the strategic value of technology; they lack executive wherewithal, technical expertise, and an IT budget.  Add in that services are invisible, intangible, and abstract, it makes selling technology services to over 90% of the SMB a complex problem that more information won’t solve.

Non-Technical Buyers need to know what the value proposition of a service is before they care about you or how your services are designed.

Non-Technical Buyers don’t know how or where to apply technology to improve their business.  And don’t know what clarifying questions to ask or often understand the answers they are given.  Therefore they fail to recognize the value of technology and don’t respond to traditional technology marketing messaging

Not being able to close the knowledge gap between Providers and Non-Technical buyers, is the reason Providers fail to generate demand even with superior technology services.  Frustratingly, doubling down on more information and meeting requests only pushes the buyer away from his lack of understanding.

Every Technology Provider has a Monetized Value Proposition- MVP

To overcome the resistance of Non-Technical buyers to consider technology, Providers must use their “bait” by monetizing their value proposition to create interest for demand generation.

Monetizing your value proposition is easy.  Your MVP is the essence of your business and the reason you exist.  The MVP is a derived number expressed in dollars indicating positive revenue and cost reduction changes to a Prospect’s bottom line that meets the two requirements for curiosity; interest and warranted attention.

Because the MVP represents both interests (financial) and warranted attention (bonafide company value), the MVP is  “bait” in the mind of the buyer for more cash, customers, and credit. 

The MVP also provides virtual merchandising that showcases your samples, examples, and thought leader concepts that establishes you as a trusted expert.

Why direct sales wont grow your technology business

Direct selling technology to the SMB is nearly 98% rejection.

Direct selling places hope in brute force to create a response; often turning off more prospects than it creates by blasting information they didn’t ask for, or understand, and it’s interruptive! 

Direct prospecting is statically unsuccessful because there isn’t enough differentiation in technology services, or the prospect’s understanding of them, to create demand at scale using direct sales.

Because direct selling can’t solve the technology knowledge gap, direct sales is wrong and the most expensive way to grow a technology company at scale.

Why use Curiosity?

The elements of curiosity are simultaneous interest and warranted attention combined as interest value.  Curiosity is a powerful human motivation that can be stimulated by the value to act.

Curiosity is the predictable human motivation behind video games, game theory, artificial intelligence, and machine learning because they are based on predictable human behavior of curiosity: satisfying curiosity is a powerful basic human motivation that can’t be ignored and is predictable.  When done correctly, curiosity can do the prospecting, qualifying, contact, scheduling, and presales for you!

How do you catch something you can’t see?

Bait Marketing is a lead generation strategy that combines curiosity for your MVP to create demand interest that delivers hot leads that buy sooner and more often.

Bait Marketing cast bait near the prospect in curiously smart messages that technology buyers can’t refuse

Because people are naturally curious about value; Bait Marketing changes the paradigm from “pushing” information to Prospects who didn’t ask for your information, to Prospects “pulling” information from you based on value by giving them a lucrative reason to convert.

Benefits of Bait Marketing:

1. Is affordable and personalized
2. Curiosity can do the prospecting, qualifying, contact, scheduling, and presales for you!
3. Eliminates the need for expensive direct sales reps.
4. Exists independently of effort, is non-intrusive, persistent, customizable, and scalable.
5. Is not needs focused
6. Provides a showcase of samples, examples, and thought leadership before meeting
7. Differentiates you from competitors without an MVP.
8. Sets you as a trusted expert from the beginning.

Conclusion

To sell technology it’s more important to be interesting than accurate because interest motivates buying behavior.

The secret to selling technology is a curious interest in your MVP to create demand to grow your technology company naturally at scale.

What is Bait Marketing worth to you? Estimate

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