There’s a great, raw post on learning from failure at Raganwald that talks about “inventing a great solution to a problem no one cares about…” This is something which is all too familiar to a lot of us. It is definitely possible for something to be really cool and for nobody to give a damn. Mid-way through the post, there’s a section on selling that really resonated with me.

But something I learned from selling Macintoshes back in the day is this: only make one sale. Convincing someone they have a problem is one sale. Convincing them you have the solution is another. And convincing them that today is the day to act is a third. If you have to do all three at the same time, you are doomed.

This is why experienced companies distinguish sales from marketing. The first two steps are marketing, the third is selling. When you are a new company, you don’t have the resources to market and sell. You have to work with an established pain point (eliminating the first hurdle), then use PR and limited marketing funds to get the word out that you have solved the problem (the second hurdle). You only have time and energy for the third sale, separating customers from their money.

Changing behavior is really hard and whether you’re selling software or convincing someone to use your website, having to make multiple sales just compounds your problem. If you’re not alleviating pain, it’s going to be a tough slog.