How is your 'Problem Fluency'?

I've noticed something interesting about technical expertise

You can know an enormous amount about a product... and still struggle to have a commercially useful conversation about it

Which seems a bit odd

Particularly when the product is genuinely good, the engineering is impressive, the capability is proven and the salesperson knows their stuff

So why doesn't that always seem to land with customers?

I wonder if it's because we're sometimes focusing on things they're not particularly concerned about yet

We're thinking about performance... they're thinking about productivity

We're thinking about specifications... they're thinking about operational risk

We're thinking about capability... they're thinking about what happens if they get the decision wrong

Both perspectives matter

But they don't automatically connect

That's where 'Problem Fluency' comes into play

Knowing enough about the customer's world to have a useful conversation before getting into the technical detail

Not pretending to know their business better than they do

But having done enough thinking to bring something worthwhile

An observation, an intelligent assumption, a different perspective

Something they can agree with, challenge or explore

The VALUE Framework helps give that thinking some structure

🔸 Validate = right opportunities

What might be happening in their business that's worth exploring?

🔸 Align = right research

What should we understand about their pressures, priorities and commercial environment?

🔸 Leverage = right conversations

How can we introduce an observation that helps the customer think differently about their situation?

🔸 Underpin = right solutions

How does our technical expertise connect to the problem we've explored together?

🔸 Evolve = right outcomes

What would meaningful improvement actually look like from their perspective?

I reckon technical expertise becomes much more valuable when customers can see what it means for them

And sometimes the most useful thing a technical salesperson can bring to a conversation isn't another explanation

It's something that makes the customer stop for a moment and say

"Hmmm. I hadn't thought about it like that."

That's usually a conversation worth having

What are you doing to have them?

(I'm running a free live online session 'From Technical to Expert Trusted Advisor: 7 Practical Shifts' on 25 November

Join me https://lnkd.in/eegaZtt7 )