Pre.S. While I’m on maternity leave, I’ll send a brand new newsletter every second week. This week I’m resharing a Why We Buy newsletter from our archives. Enjoy! 
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Imagine this ...

You’re back in high school. You’re staring down at a math question and have no idea of how to solve it. When you ask your teacher to explain it to you, they rush, skip steps, and don’t show all their work - instead, they just tell you the answer. 

By the end of their explanation, you’re even more confused AND you can feel your face start to glow red with frustration. 

Why can’t the teacher just explain it in a way that I can understand!?

In today’s edition of Why We Buy, we'll explore The Curse Of Knowledge: why once something makes sense to us, we forget what it was like before.

Let's get into it.

🧠 The Psychology of Knowledge

Once we figure out a problem, our brain creates a knowledge shortcut that we can take in the future. But if you’ve never solved that problem, then there’s no shortcut to take.

If the person teaching you can’t remember the path they used to take before they discovered the shortcut, then you’re both in trouble. 

This is why technical experts are not always the best teachers -- they might know too much and underestimate how intricate their network of understanding really is.

🧐 Inside Your Buyer's Mind

Every buying journey -- from buying a $2 toothbrush to $2M enterprise software -- is an extremely complex and unpredictable path. 

And to make it even more complex, each prospective buyer you’ll meet will have a different set of life experiences, education, biases, and expectations (to name a few). 

In other words: A concept that makes perfect sense to you may never have crossed the mind of your buyer.

This presents both a problem (my prospect doesn’t get it) AND an opportunity (I can educate my prospect). 

🤑 How To Apply This

Alright, so how can we apply this right now to sell more?

Explain Like I’m 10: When in doubt, make your marketing and content simple enough that a 10-year-old can understand. Simple phrases, non-technical definitions, and avoiding abbreviations is a good place to start. You can always make more detailed content later down the line.

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition: If your product requires education, repeat the key points. Only after hearing or seeing it a few times will your buyer pick up that it’s something they should pay attention to. I repeat: repeat key takeaways 😉

In Other Words: Re-iterate your most important points from a different angle. We all have different knowledge paths. Sometimes all it takes is to see a problem from a different angle for all the answers to fall into place.

💥 The Short of It

Just like a frustrated math student, your buyer doesn’t need to know everything.

They just need to know enough to solve their problem so they can move on with their life. 

Until next time, happy selling!

Yours truly, 

Katelyn

Katelyn Bourgoin CEO & Lead Trainer Customer Camp CustomerCamp.co

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