Look for the Ingredients

In technology selling, we think our job is to sell a product.

It is not.

The real job is to understand the client’s pain deeply enough to shape something that actually solves it. In that sense, a good salesperson is not merely a seller, but more a creator.

And there is an easy way to tell the difference.

A product-led salesperson is fascinated by features. They see a competitor launch something new and think, That is cool. We should have that too.

A creator is fascinated by the problem.

They listen to a client and ask, “Where does it really hurt?” “What is causing it?” “What would actually have to change for the problem to go away?”

To them, the product is only raw material.

It is like eating at a great restaurant. Most of us taste a dish and say, “That was delicious.” A chef tastes the same dish and wonders, What is in this? Why does it work?

One enjoys the result. The other looks underneath it.

Great technology salespeople do the same.

They are not dazzled by what is on the plate.

They look for the ingredients.