So What About So What?

Here's an interesting addition to (and warning about) the "So What?" question I wrote about in "Three Simple Questions" earlier this month. Peter Cohan, author of Great Demo! writes about the So What Fallacy. In his post he explains the dangers of using a "so what" (SW) type methodology during a demo.

His example:

Feature Statement: “We provide support for the software in 22 languages…”

So What Statement: “We provide support for the software in 22 languages, so that your team can access the software anywhere in the world using their native languages…”

The Risk: The customer says, “Everyone in our company speaks English and we want to make sure that all information is captured consistently in the system, so that everyone can access all information equally – without having to learn 21 other languages…”

The Additional Risk: The customer adds, “…and we don’t want to pay for the additional 21 languages, since we won’t be using them – so either take out the support for those languages for our implementation or reduce your price accordingly…”

 

And he is right - it can be a dangerous thing to do. "So What" is the difference? Sorry! The version of SW I wrote about is a question that you ask yourself before the demo or presentation. You need to be able to answer that question, as well as "Who Cares?", otherwise you shouldn't show or speak about the feature/capability/item etc. You should know, based upon your Discovery or Research, that mentioning the 22 languages will get you into trouble. Simplistically, you only talk about the 22 langaue support if you can add "which is something that you told us you needed."

 

Where I do disagree a little with Peter is his comment about "and we want a discount as we don't need the 21 languages." Based on what I have seen, this isn't a tactic that customers use anymore - as there is almost always something in the product/service/solution that they won't use or don't need. It's a fact of life. (I cite the example of Excel or Word - you don't get a discount from Bill Gates because you don't use all the features).

 

That's a minor point, because where we are both violently in agreement is that if you don't know why you are discussing any item/screen/feature/benefit with the customer then you are potentially walking into the unknown - and that is not a good place for an SE to be when selling!