KISS and Tell
October 28th, 2011
Yes, it’s time for another orange peel.
I’ve been out and about again, in some familiar and some new environments. I’ve met a lot of wonderful people and learned about some incredible businesses and seen some terrific products. BUT, I’ve also seen some that are not ready for KISS and tell!
It’s very straightforward…Keep It Short and Sweet/Simple and tell the world about it. I say that somewhat tongue and check. The concept is indeed very straightforward, but for many, the implementation is lost. Perhaps it makes more sense for some to think of it in terms of return on investment (ROI). The bottom line is this, without user/consumer adoption of your product, there is NO ROI. Business users want to know what their return on investment is going to be and all consumers (B2B and B2C) want to know what value you are going to bring them. Value is different in the varying environments, for example, entertainment is not going to be of high value in the B2B world, but could be of utmost importance in B2C! So first and foremost is to know your target audience. And second is to keep the product or application very straightforward and easy to use.
Yes, in many cases, your product will solve a very complex problem. That is terrific! And, exactly what it should do. However, your product will only reach its full potential if that complexity is hidden from the user. After all, your product is intended to solve a problem for a user, so it is likely they are solving that problem in some other manner today. You have to prove that you will solve it better, faster, and potentially cheaper to get them to buy your product. Therefore, if your product makes their current nightmare even more ghoulish, rather than turning it into a dream, you’ve missed your mark and the biggest portion of your potential.
The same is true in your business proposition, your sales pitch, building your team, establishing your culture…you get the idea. When you KISS and tell, it’s straightforward, it makes sense, it’s easy to remember, and people buy in more quickly. It should not take you several hours to describe the value you can deliver for a prospect; you should be able to do that in a few minutes. Yes, it might take a lot longer to dig into the details of how that happens, however, you should be able to make a compelling case in short order.
So, KISS and Tell. Try it, you might like it!
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