If someone is the smartest guy in the room, someone else must be the dumbest guy in the room. And when I say dumbest, I mean the person with the least amount of knowledge about your product. He may actually be the smartest guy, but he has the least amount of knowledge and, more likely than not, experience.
Most B2B marketers, like building material companies, make the mistake of speaking to the smartest guy in the room or, at least, the people who have above average knowledge of their product.
Marketers and sales people seem to want to err on the side of showing how smart they are when what they should really be doing is making an effort to educate the least knowledgeable person in the room. One way to accomplish this is by bringing along new and less knowledgeable people to meetings and sales calls.
Another way of doing this is by assuming there is a person in your audience whose first day of work is today.
You can do this without being condescending and without boring the experienced people.
You can start by putting yourself in the shoes of the new guy. What would you want to know about your product category if you knew nothing?
Would knowing that someone is a category leader enhance your knowledge of a product? No. But knowing why customers buy a certain product would. So would knowing what customers need to consider when choosing your product. It’d even be wise to let the new guy know situations in which your product is not the right choice.
It’s all about educating the new guy while reaching the more experienced (smart) guys. The new guy will appreciate your help and will reward you with loyalty. The smart guy will appreciate you for educating the dumb guy.
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