The target user of your product needs to see how your product fixes their problem before they’re going to buy it, plain and simple. Straight away, the easier you make it for them to kick the tires and look under the hood, the shorter the ensuing sale-cycle will be.

For example, take Ford and their new F-Series line of trucks. They’ve developed a campaign that showcases the truck’s capabilities and the capabilities’ alignment with the target audience’s typical issues. The associative content is delivered primarily via video @ fordvehicles.com/2011Superduty/. Here, the prospect can gather the obligatory head-to-head comparisons to the competition, but that’s just the beginning.

Ford has (apparently) invested a ton into making their trucks the most capable in their class. I know little to nothing about trucks, however after being walked through numerous real-world demonstrations, I’m convinced. Rather than appealing to the 5-year old in me by having the trucks jumping rings of fire (see Dodge) and racing around the desert, Ford educated me. Their message is about the alignment of their trucks’ capabilities and their practicality. Interwoven with the capability speak are reference-able case studies. Regardless if you’re selling software, trucks, or pharmaceuticals this is a winning approach.

This approach gives the audience the ability to relate their experiences and needs to a particular set of capabilities. In other words, it contextualizes the product’s capabilities. In the case of Ford, it’s these capabilities that sell F-Series trucks, but it’s Ford’s personalized and conversational presentation of them that make the difference.

Thinking about you and your products and services:

What capabilities sell or should sell you products?

How do you communicate the relevance of your product’s capabilities to the real-world challenges your end-users face?

How easy is it for your end-users to see your products solving these real-world issues without having to communicate with a sales person?

How can you leverage your website to make easy the dissemination of your message and relevance of your products?

Think about these questions when crafting your next pitch on why an end-user should buy your products or why a reseller should sell them. Jumping rings of fire is cool, but when was the last time you did so?