What makes sugar sweet? I mean, what is the chemistry involved in the sweet taste?

Our tongue detects the sugar molecule by its shape. Sugar molecule fits into grooves in our tongue tip, and when this groove is filled a nerve sends a message to the brain that says -sweet!. It is as simple as that.

Sweetness is not in the sugar, then; but in our minds.

Perceptions, are derived senses actually. They are managed by more evolved areas of our brain. For instance the perception of flavor -a derived sense, is a combination of taste + smell.

And what makes our product sweet, then? Does it reside in product features (molecule shape), or more in how it fits with our client’s taste pores?

Almost all experienced sales people learned how to link product features and benefits. Features (molecule) give you credibility, while Benefits (taste) give you marketability. But it is Positioning (perception) that makes you close the sale. Product perception involves complex associations, based on client’s personal experience on similar products.

The good news is that perception and positioning are (still) far too complex phenomena to be automated by any software means. Experienced sales persons, with good questioning and listening skill can still make the difference.

R&D investments stagnating and engineering software sales slow down.
From a software customer perspective, three factors are shrinking investments in engineering software:

1. Open source software. Customers start to consider open source software as an option.
2. Mergers or acquisitions.  Newly-consolidating client companies maximize interoperability and reduce software redundancy, i.e. they get rid of the ones they don’t need anymore.
3. Wide Area Network vs. Local Area Network. Global companies want to deploy software on global scale. They need to reallocate software licenses into main servers, to gain economies of scale and optimize expenses for software.

From a software vendor perspective, three factors are driving sales down:

1. Open source software. Software editors consider open source (only) as a threat.
2. Mergers or acquisitions. Newly-consolidating software companies maximize interoperability and reduce software redundancy… It takes time, money and makes their clients endlessly ‘waiting for the next release’.
3. Wide Area Network vs. Local Area Network. For obvious reasons, global software vendors (still) like to sell software on local basis, avoiding clients to gain economies of scale and optimize expenses for software.

Symmetric perspectives on software sales drop-off.

Here is my 2009 top 5:

Passion 35%

Creativity 25%

Initiative 20%

Intellect 15%

Obedience 0%

Baseline 0% is the time spent following the rules.

Then comes the days spent trying to be smart. Next up is the Time spent waiting to be told.

The #2 is the time spent saying stupid things.

At the top lies passion and the effort of turning intent into accomplishment.

A common marketing mistake, is using the wrong language with clients.

An example of wrong language is the flight information provided by the captain over the intercom: “Our aircraft is flying at 625 knots Indicated Air Speed“ Knots? I can barely convert miles to kilometres. Air-speed? I would rather know the aircraft speed.

I would recommend not to use techie jargon with your clients. Fit with your client’s measurement system, or s/he will continue to nap.

Have you ever filled a super-long survey that “shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes?”

As marketers, we design questionnaire for qualification calls. Some questions are required by the sales team, some others by the company veterans. Questionnaires often turn out being a long and bothering list of questions; a key fiasco factor for any marketing survey.

Surveys should start with a brief product description, before asking maximum five questions. Gather only the information you need, and gather it as efficiently as possible.

1. Tell about the software benefit in (few) plain words
2. Follow up with a brief questionnaire
3. Be nice and entertaining
4. Reward the responder somehow. A paper of his interest would be fine.

Ethic of reciprocity: don’t do to others what you don’t want to be done to you.

Software and Sushi are two of my favourite things.

I like the customizability of sushi meals. There’s always a sushi meal that fits with my appetite. I also like the inexpensiveness of sushi. Or actually the inexpensive price per item. Three Euros for a Temaki, two for an Uramaki, etc. Low price per item means low pain in the buying process. Moreover I like the zenlike design of sushi sets.

Like with the sushi, some software editors offer component-based software, where clients choose from a “menu” the modules they need.

Sushi restaurants & software companies success factors:

1.     High quality components

2.     “A la carte” pricing

3.     Product design

I was wondering whether software advertisings tell about customer benefits or not. Ads like: “Our software is flexible, it integrates with other software tools,..” seem more just senseless buzzwords.
Our customers are mostly engineers. They pay attention to the words we use more than we might think.

If saying “Our software is flexible” means that it adapts to changing requirements – like hardware requirements, then you could better say: “our software supports the A, B, C platforms and X, Y, Z operating systems”.

Brain science recently discovered that purchase decisions are processed in less-evolved areas of our brain.

Therefore, product buying process, is processed by the same brain-area interested in basic matters like reproduction. Emotions make our customers buy even complex products like software.

Rational thought leads customers to be interested but it is emotion that sells. People, engineers included, aren’t much interested in attributes and features; they want to know if the product, software included, fits with their personality.

Women have been used to sell products to men for decades.

IF         – Male brain is wired to respond to attractive females.

AND     – Engineering software are mainly used by young males

THEN   – Engineering companies should attract prospects with sexual marketing tactics

I wonder whether this would have real impact on sales. A study made by a Neuro-economics expert, (”Heat of the Moment: The Effect of Sexual Arousal on Sexual Decision Making”), shows that men who are sexually aroused are more focused on short-term gratification than on long-term logic.

Being a software buying process the outcome of a long term logic, I recommend No-Bikini in your marketing campaign. Professors at MIT say it won’t work.

Componentware means software designed to work as components for larger applications.

Like in the PC, that is built from keyboard, monitor, mouse, etc.

In componentware, because the interfaces between modules are standardized, it is possible to mix software from different providers. Componentware is changing the dynamics of the business of software.

Some software companies see it as an opportunity; SAP for example, plans to split its monolithic solution into components that will facilitate the integration of third party components. Other software companies see componentware as a threat, as it could make the entrance barrier lower and the life easier for newcomers. ]]> http://www.giorgiobuccilli.com/2008/09/software-dis-integration/feed/ 0