You're promoting innovative product features to traditional clients. How do you get them to see the value?

Value comes from having a need. You have to assess whether existing customers have a requirement for what you want to deliver. You also need to understand if your brand is relevant in the space. You can then assess whether there is more benefit from commercializing existing users or if it makes more sense to diversify your user base.

First, what is a traditional client? This isn’t a thing, it’s a label. A client that’s resistant to new technology either doesn’t need that to successfully run a profitable enterprise, they understand the tradeoffs of buying the tech and don’t want to make that trade, or they’re going to go out of business. At any rate, that’s probably not your best client. 1) Make a strong business case and present it. No one walks away from something that makes good sense. 2) Think backwards. What would make your client not buy? How would your innovative feature fail to meet their needs? To do this, you need to understand DITLO. “Day in the life of.” 3) Don’t call your clients traditional.

You are ?????????????? someone by labelling them as traditional. No body says no to somehting that makes them successful. They would say no, only if they are much informed than you and have more data than you. They would say ???? if you mis-understood and are overprescribing a solution for their problems. They would say ??????, if you have understood their problem, and is prescribing a solution that makes both business and Product sense.

To promote innovative product features to traditional clients, focus on demonstrating clear, practical benefits that address their specific needs and challenges. Use relatable examples and case studies to illustrate how the features can improve their current processes or outcomes. Emphasize the value proposition by highlighting how these innovations can offer long-term efficiency, cost savings, or enhanced performance, making the advantages tangible and relevant to their traditional perspective.

You need to focus on demonstrating how these features solve their existing pain points or enhance their current operations. Use case studies or testimonials from similar clients to build trust. Offer hands-on demonstrations or trials to let them experience the benefits first hand. Simplify complex concepts with clear, relatable language, avoiding jargon. Emphasize how the innovation integrates seamlessly with their existing processes, ensuring minimal disruption. Highlight long-term benefits like cost savings or improved efficiency. This approach will help them see the value and ease the transition to new technologies.

Talk human not tech. For example over a decade ago, I launched the first bank led in app mobile contactless payments in the UK leveraging our own proprietary tokenization vault and unique cryptography IP. What on earth does that even mean you ask? Simply tap your phone to pay and get the same great benefits and security as your card but with the added convenience and a digital receipt.

Highlight how your product’s features directly solve their problems or improve their operations. Emphasize tangible benefits like increased efficiency, cost savings, or enhanced performance.

Product features get adopted when they solve a problem. If they streamline your clients processes, save them money or simply make their life easier, these are typically the criteria that a feature’s adoption will depend on. So worry less about labelling the feature as innovative or the client as traditional and more on how the user will benefit.

Ensure there is a gap to bridge. You should be able to clearly articulate how the product or enhancement is superior to what exists today. Even then, changing consumer behaviour is not easy. Reiteration of benefits, tutorials, demos, promotions etc. can all help entice users in. If this is not working then re-evaluate based on customer feedback or look at targeting alternative segments with the product.