The technology trap: when capabilities don't translate to value
Companies like Schneider Electric possess incredible technological capabilities in clean energy and smart grid solutions. Their engineers can discuss switching technology, battery systems, and architectural frameworks for hours. Yet when selling to small and medium-sized businesses, these impressive capabilities often become obstacles rather than advantages.
The challenge is that microgrid solutions for small and medium-sized businesses are often pretty expensive in terms of capital expenditures. Customers see the technology but struggle to connect it to their actual business problems: managing energy costs, reducing carbon footprint, and avoiding downtime.
The breakthrough comes when companies stop leading with technology and start with customer value. Schneider Electric's "Microgrid as a Service" offering exemplifies this shift. Instead of selling equipment, they provide access to advanced energy solutions with minimal capital expenditure. The technology remains the same, but the value proposition transforms completely.
The R&D versus business R&D balance
Most industrial technology companies excel at traditional R&D – developing technologically feasible solutions at scale. But they often lack what we call "business R&D": the systematic testing of customer desirability and business viability before significant investment.
World-class teams don't do this in a sequential way, and in particular, they don't start with technology R&D alone, because that's the expensive part. The whole point of coming up with great value propositions is that you test and iterate fast in the cheapest possible way.
This iterative approach between technology capabilities and customer validation prevents companies from building expensive solutions that nobody wants to buy.
The stakeholder maze: why enterprise sales isn't about selling to "the enterprise"
B2B sales teams often make a fundamental error: they assume they're selling to "the enterprise" when they're actually navigating multiple distinct customer segments within each organization.
Take Michelin's approach to fleet management. They don't just sell tires to "trucking companies" – they create specific value propositions for CEOs (decision makers), fleet managers (recommenders), and truck drivers (end users). Each stakeholder has different jobs, pains, and gains.
The five stakeholder types that matter
You have the end users, who are using the tires. You have the influencers who might actually influence the decision-making, and this works for every B2B segment, and you have the recommenders who might not even be necessarily formally in the buying committee, but they have a strong influence as experts.
The complete stakeholder map includes:
- Decision makers: Ultimate purchase authority
- Economic buyers: Control or approve budgets
- Recommenders: Expert influencers who can make or break deals
- Influencers: Informal opinion leaders
- End users: Daily product users
- Saboteurs: Those who might oppose the purchase
For Michelin's fleet solution, the CEO cares about overall cost reduction and profitability. The fleet manager focuses on compliance and operational efficiency. The truck driver prioritizes safety and fuel consumption. Each requires different messaging and value propositions.
The critical stakeholder decision
When you want to succeed, business R&D Who, ultimately, do you need to talk to first to see if the solution will fly? It doesn't mean that we shouldn't look… talk to the end user, but often it's not the first one we talk to, because they have absolutely no decision-making power.
Many B2B startups fail because they perfect solutions for end users who have zero influence over purchasing decisions. The key is identifying which stakeholder has the most critical influence and testing with them first.
The insight engine: value scenes and customer profile interviews
The most effective B2B companies don't just survey customers – they systematically gather insights using visual tools that make customer value explicit.
Value scenes: making customer value visible
Rather than getting them to focus on the entire, kind of, value map and value proposition canvas, we just wanted them to visualize how they create value, and the value scenes are a much simpler tool. And I think that actually forces them to be very explicit, how are we going to create value around our technology?
Value scenes force technology teams to articulate customer value in concrete, visual terms. Instead of discussing features, teams must show how their solution transforms a customer's current frustrating experience into their desired future state.
The customer insight system
The most successful B2B companies implement a systematic approach to gathering customer insights:
- Draft your value proposition based on current understanding
- Test it with customers using structured interviews
- Analyze insights to identify patterns and priorities
- Refine messaging based on validated customer language
Even just formulating and kind of testing how clear is your message, how easily does it, you know, kind of… how does it resonate with the different stakeholders, customer segments? Extremely important.
This isn't just for innovation projects. Established companies with existing products often discover their messaging doesn't resonate because they've never systematically tested it with real customers.
The messaging transformation: from features to customer outcomes
Consider how Slack transformed workplace communication by focusing on customer outcomes rather than technical capabilities. Their messaging emphasizes "Find answers faster" and "Instantly summarize conversations" – customer benefits backed by specific metrics like "97 min average time that users can save weekly."
This approach contrasts sharply with technology companies that lead with speeds, feeds, and technical specifications. Customers don't buy technology; they buy better outcomes for their business.
The common sense paradox
Steve Blank has an interesting way to say it, but it's been inappropriate, so I'm not going to use that. But it's, you know, something that everybody talks about and nobody does. So, I'll leave it with that, but this is… you know, back to basics, it's… and Marshall Goldsmith and Al Malali, two friends of ours, they say common sense, but not common practice.
Customer centricity is common sense but not common practice. Companies intellectually understand they should focus on customer value, but operationally they remain technology-centric.
The bureaucracy barrier: what's really slowing down customer insights
When we surveyed webinar participants about obstacles to gaining customer insights, bureaucracy emerged as the primary barrier. Legal teams, sales protection, and organizational silos create more friction than resource constraints.
This suggests the problem isn't capability but process. Companies need systematic approaches to customer insight gathering that work within existing organizational constraints.
The path forward: implementing your B2B sales playbook
The most effective B2B sales organizations implement three core practices:
1. Translate capabilities into customer valueStop leading with technology specifications. Start with customer jobs, pains, and gains. Use visual tools like value scenes to make customer value explicit and testable.
2. Map your stakeholder ecosystem
Identify all stakeholders who influence purchasing decisions. Create specific value propositions for each group. Test with the most critical stakeholders first.
3. Systematize customer insight gatheringImplement structured processes for testing value propositions. Use customer language in your messaging. Iterate based on real customer feedback.
The business case for customer-centric B2B sales
This is beyond innovation. So, we're seeing a lot of this now with product teams, marketing teams in industrial technology companies, how powerful it is. So this is beyond innovation, and it can unlock millions of dollars.
Customer-centric value proposition development isn't just for new products. Established companies applying these principles to existing offerings see dramatic improvements in sales effectiveness and customer resonance.
The companies that master this approach don't just win more deals – they charge premium prices because customers clearly understand the value they're receiving. They reduce sales cycles because their messaging resonates immediately with the right stakeholders. Most importantly, they build sustainable competitive advantages because their value propositions are grounded in deep customer understanding rather than temporary technology leads.
The question isn't whether your technology is sophisticated enough – it probably is. The question is whether you can translate that sophistication into clear, compelling value for the specific people who make purchasing decisions. That translation process, done systematically and iteratively, separates B2B sales leaders from the rest of the field.
