Most of my life I have been trying to convince other people to see value in something I have created so they will want to give me money in return for that value. Seems like a pretty straightforward path. It is the most difficult thing I have had to try to learn to do, and I find it a struggle still after all these years.
At the end of it all, I come back to my first experience as a customer when I was buying my first Jeep at a used car dealer. What I did not realize at the time was that this car dealer was giving me a master class in helping me see the value of my purchase. You see, this wily old used car salesperson knew the real truth. Most people don’t struggle because value isn’t there. They struggle because they don’t see it, feel it, or trust it yet.
He did not focus on the features of this used Jeep at all. He instead focused on me seeing, feeling, and trusting this purchase. By the time he was done with me, this Jeep had become a representation of my future self. Bold, rugged, audacious, with the capability now to take on the world.
If you boil it down, helping someone realize value usually follows this same path. You start with their world. What are they trying to achieve? What’s frustrating them right now? Then you make the gap visible. Where are they today versus where they want to be? After that, you connect your solution to that gap, not through features but through outcomes.
The next step is to let them experience it. A pilot, an example, a story, a simulation. Something real they can touch or imagine clearly. Finally, you make the next step feel safe and manageable. You remove the risk from their decision.
“You’re not convincing someone. You’re helping them see something they couldn’t see, feel something they haven’t felt, and believe something they weren’t ready to believe.”
That used car salesperson understood something I am still learning. When I try to convince, I push. When I help someone see, I guide. The difference is everything. The Jeep was the same vehicle either way. What changed was how I saw myself in it.
Today, when I struggle to show value in what I have built, I think back to that moment. I stop talking about what I made. I start asking what they need. I make the gap between where they are and where they want to be clear enough to see. Then I show them how what I have created closes that gap, not in theory but in practice.
The next step is simple. Ask one question that helps them see their own world more clearly. Then listen.
