The Best Way to Talk About Complex Technology Features? Don’t.

Are you a product marketer or content marketer at an engineering-focused technology firm?

Have you been asked to tell your prospects about the marvelously complex features of your firm’s dazzling engineering products?

Well…why would you want to do that?

The complex product with a lengthy feature list

Many years ago I worked at a firm in which the products were driven by engineers, and therefore resulted in engineering marvels.

I recall one product in particular (not a Segway, but a biometric product housed in a tower) that was an impressive fusion of algorithmic and mechanical excellence. The complex design that went into developing the tower product resulted in a device that performed its function superbly.

The complex engineering also caused the product to have such a high price that no one would ever buy it…but I digress.

But there was another issue with the product. I was writing proposals at the time, and we certainly could have written up a product description that emphasized the product’s lengthy set of features.

But the people receiving our proposals wouldn’t have cared one bit.

Prospects don’t care about lengthy feature lists

You see, prospects don’t care about lengthy feature lists.

And they don’t care about your product.

Frankly, they don’t even care about your company.

• Even if your company has stellar engineers that develop wonderful products.

• Even if your company has won prestigious awards for technical excellence, or as a great place to work, or whatever.

• Even if your company just completed a successful funding round.

It’s painful to admit it, but prospects only care about…themselves.

And the prospects focus on their problems, not your technical superiority.

For example, if your prospects work for certain government agencies, they really care about terrorists who try to board airplanes.

If your product stops terrorists from boarding airplanes, then and only then will they care about your company or your product.

If your product can’t stop terrorists from boarding airplanes, or if there is another product that is better at stopping terrorists from boarding airplanes, then your prospects won’t care about your product.

So how do you get prospects to care?

You don’t get prospects to care by talking about your extensive feature lists.

Let me give you a tip. If you find an employee at the prospect’s company who wants to spend a lot of time talking about your extensive feature lists, that employee probably DOESN’T have the authority to approve the purchase.

The people who DO have the authority to approve the purchase don’t have time to talk about extensive feature lists.

The approvers want to know, in 30 seconds or less, how your solution BENEFITS them.

Do you need help explaining your benefits?

Talking about benefits rather than features is just one tactic to successfully appeal to your prospects.

If you need help ensuring that your written materials (blog posts, white papers, web pages) resonate with your prospects, you can ask Bredemarket to help you.