Don’t Sell a Product, Sell a Whole New Way of Thinking
We all know the story. A team creates a groundbreaking new
innovation only to see it mired in internal debates. When it is
eventually launched in the market, there is an initial flurry of sales
to early adopters, but then sales cycles become sluggish. Pilot
customers are enthusiastic, but broader adoption is slow even with
customer support and training.
All the pieces are in place to create “disruptive innovation” and “cross the chasm,” but the results are disappointing. What’s missing?
The problem is that data, information, and value propositions are not
enough to sell innovative products. We all know the saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” But when it comes to innovation, the truth is often “I’ll see it when I believe
it.” To sell your idea to executives, buyers, and users, you have to
change not only what they think, but how they think. Without the right
mental model, they won’t see the problem, understand the benefits, or
make the change.
Mental models are how the brain makes sense of the
vast amount of information to be processed every moment of every day.
They are the lens through which we see the world. The filter that
separates the signal from noise. The framework for attributing cause and
effect. The “sorting hat” to decide what makes into our conscious
awareness.
To understand the power of mental models, consider Dr. Ignaz
Semmelweis, an Austrian physician working in the 1840s. He observed that
the death rate for puerperal fever fell tenfold when doctors washed
their hands before treating patients. He shared his findings with his
colleagues to introduce handwashing as a standard practice. Despite the
data, his fellow doctors dismissed his findings. In fact, his colleagues
and even his own wife thought he was losing his mind. They had him
committed to a mental institution where he died shortly thereafter.
Why couldn’t Semmelweis persuade people of his innovation? In the
1840s, the mental model of disease was an imbalance of four “humours” in
the body such as phlegm, bile, and blood. Every disease was entirely
internal and unique. With this mental model, Semmelweis’ colleagues
couldn’t see how handwashing could affect a person’s health. It didn’t
matter what the data said.
A few decades later, Louis Pasteur proved that germs, not humours,
were the primary cause of disease. With this new mental model, doctors
could understand how handwashing would affect health. Personal hygiene
became a new standard of care. Unfortunately, this was too late for Dr.
Semmelweis. He had failed to shift his colleagues’ thinking, and thus
failed to shift their behavior.
Innovators change the lens through which we see the world.
Companies that successfully market and sell innovation are able to
shift how people think not only about their product, but about
themselves, the market, and the world. Steve Jobs was one of the great
mindshifters of our time. He championed the mantra “think different” and
shifted the way people think about technology to be more personal and human.
Shifts in mental models go deeper than traditional thought
leadership. Most thought leadership tries to establish a company as an
expert within the existing mental model. Shifts in thinking challenge
the prevailing model.
Over the last ten years, Salesforce.com has grown from an upstart to a
market leader in enterprise software. From the beginning,
Salesforce.com has focused on shifting the paradigm of computing as much
as shifting customers over to its product.
For years, the company’s marketing strategy has focused on the idea
of “No Software,” reflecting the shift from packaged, installed software
to cloud computing and software-as-a-service. Salesforce.com recognized
that only after buyers understood the mental model of cloud computing
could they understand the benefits of Salesforce.com as a product.
To put the power of mental models to work in your business, start with three steps:
A. Identify the shift
The first step is identifying the underlying shift in thinking. This
is different than your value proposition. It’s an assumption (usually
unconscious) about how the world works.
To find the shift, ask yourself a few questions. What was the
original insight that led to the innovation? Where do you feel people
“don’t get it” about your solution? What is the “aha” moment when
someone turns from disinterested to enthusiastic?
Try to frame it as a From and a To. This is not
about bad to good, just better for the current context. As an example,
consider companies selling software and services related to “big data.”
The shift is not about “simple to intelligent” or “smaller to bigger.”
In the area of data, the “aha” might relate to a shift in thinking about
decision-making (from intuition to analytics), in data models (from
spreadsheets to algorithms), or how the data is used (from target to empower)
B. Find the sticking point
Next, determine how mental models are getting in the way of your
success. The sticking points are usually in one of three areas. You can
tell which one by the associated symptom.
- PRESENT: The model of how things work today. Do people fail to see a problem that seems obvious to you? If so, they are operating with a different model of the current state. This is often because they don’t see how things are related. As an example, the movie An Inconvenient Truth was successful in shifting many people’s mental model of the relationship between greenhouse gases and global warming. If you are trying to get people to see a problem or opportunity, focus on disrupting their existing mental model.
- FUTURE: The model of how things could be in the future. Do people recognize the problem, but fail to see how your solution could solve their problem? This was the situation faced by Dr. Semmelweis in his Vienna hospital. People agreed that mortality was a problem, but they couldn’t see how handwashing could make a difference. If you are trying to get people to understand the benefits of your solution, focus on shifting their thinking in a way that reveals why your solution would be effective.
- TRANSITION: The model for how to bring a new future into being. Do people recognize the problem, and the value of your solution, but fail to make the change? Sometimes people recognize the need to jump from the trapeze bar they are on, and can see the merits of the new bar you are offering them, but feel they can’t make the jump. In this case, focus on a mental model related to the transition. Define a roadmap that explains to them how to get from where they are to where they want to go.
C. Build the program
Shifts in thinking don’t happen overnight, any more than going to a
weekend yoga workshop makes you flexible. Think of it like learning a
second language or building a new habit – in this case a mental habit.
People need to see how the new way of thinking plays out in different
contexts and situations.>>>
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