--- title: "Gartner: 5 Questions for Anyone Selling Technology" description: Steve Prentice of Gartner recently shared some fascinating perspectives on the use of technology to drive business innovation... --- This is a search field with an autosuggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # Gartner: 5 Questions for Anyone Selling Technology ![Bob Apollo](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/78fa41976d534cacbb0e22e151bc6816) Post by [Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo) May 12, 2011 Steve Prentice of Gartner recently shared some fascinating perspectives* on the use of technology to drive business innovation. He projected a growth in digital devices and traffic that is truly staggering, but he also issued a warning, and suggested 5 questions that anyone involved in selling technology-based products or services ought to be asking... ![Steve Prentice](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Portals/41408/images/Steve%20Prentice.jpg?width=106&height=133&name=Steve%20Prentice.jpg)Just pushing technology is a failing strategy. We all need to develop a keen awareness of how technology might help to transform lives and businesses. In his conclusion, Steve quoted Genevieve Bell, Intel Research Fellow who observed that “technology succeeds when it meets a need people care about”. So here are Steve’s 5 questions - and my interpretation of what they mean for those of us with a focus on selling technology-based products or services in a B2B environment: ## 1: Who Are My Customers? It seems an obvious question, doesn’t it? But the definition of a “customer” really ought to embrace everyone who, directly or indirectly, plays a role in stimulating the consumption of the products or services we provide. This can certainly involve all the key stakeholders in the organisations that consume our offerings. But it can also include all of the other players in the ecosystem - partners, influencers and our own colleagues. It’s a concept I like to refer to as the BuyerSphere - a subject [I’ve written about elsewhere](https://www.inflexion-point.com/the-methods-we-use/exploring-the-buyersphere/). ## 2: What is Their Attitude to Technology? Technology companies often fall into the trap of promoting the features, advantages and benefits of their offerings at the expense of truly understanding the purpose to which their products or services are to be put. Promoting technology can work in certain early-adopter environments - but the bulk of the market are pragmatic. They care less about the technology than they do the challenges they are trying to address. Once we’re beyond the early adopter stage, it is usually more effective to assume that our prospects are ambivalent about *our* technology - and that they are much more concerned with *their *desired outcomes. ## 3: What Do They Need? Which leads neatly to Steve’s third question - what do they need, not “what do I do”? Mainstream customers - which are where the volume and profit tends to lie - are way more interested in achieving valuable outcomes than they are the detail of the means used to achieve them. To reach them, we have to translate technology into business benefits achieved, and show them how we can help them achieve these outcomes whilst helping to eliminate the risk of change. ## 4: What Do I Mean to Them? If your organisation is involved in lengthy, high-value sales environments, having a transactional relationship with your customers is highly risky. If they see you as just one of a series of similar offerings, you will inevitably get beaten down on price. Claiming to be “better” than your competitors doesn’t really work either as a long term strategy. It’s hard to prove, and subject to constant jockeying for position as new products or services are released. If you can’t establish a position as a trusted adviser, you’ll always be vulnerable. ## 5: How Can I Become Indispensable? Which leads neatly to Steve’s fifth and last question (he actually said "How can Technology help make me indispensable, and how do I make money?"). The answer lies in proving how you are distinctively and tangibly different from all the other options open to them before you claim to be better - and smarter about helping them take their business forward than any of your competitors. ## Stand Out From the Crowd How well does your organisation answer Steve’s 5 questions? You might like to [download a copy of our business model framework](https://www.inflexion-point.com/is-your-business-model-truly-scalable/) - It could offer you the chance to capture your organisation’s key focus and establish your most compelling differentiators. **Presentation at Oracle Customer Showcase - London, 5th May 2011 * ###### Tags: [B2B Marketing, ](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/b2b-marketing) [Thought Leaders, ](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/thought-leaders) [Complex Sales](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/complex-sales) ![Bob Apollo](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/78fa41976d534cacbb0e22e151bc6816) Post by [Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo) May 12, 2011 Bob Apollo is a Fellow of the Institute of Sales Professionals, a regular contributor to the International Journal of Sales Transformation and Top Sales World Magazine, and the driving force behind Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners, the leading proponents of outcome-centric selling. Following a successful corporate career spanning start-ups, scale-ups and market leaders, Bob now works as a strategic advisor, mentor, trainer and coach to ambitious B2B sales organisations - teaching them how to differentiate themselves through their provably superior approach to achieving their customer's desired outcomes. [Follow me on my website](https://www.inflexion-point.com) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/bobapollo) [Follow me on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/bobapollo) ### Comments ###### Related Articles ### [Sales people: can you resist the itch to pitch?](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/33434/Sales-people-can-you-resist-the-itch-to-pitch) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Jun 04, 2010** Jill Konrath's "SNAP Selling" identifies the "itch to pitch" as one of the most damaging habits sales people can possibly ... ### [The 4 dimensions of an ideal B2B customer...](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/50898/The-4-dimensions-of-an-ideal-B2B-customer) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Nov 16, 2010** What does your ideal customer or prospect look like? The question is an important one, because too many sales pipelines are ... ### [B2B Marketing: Why Maximising Leads Won’t Maximise Revenues](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/80961/B2B-Marketing-Why-Maximising-Leads-Won-t-Maximise-Revenues) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Jan 24, 2012** I come across many marketing organisations that seem to believe that the more leads they generate, the better they are ... 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