In recent interviews, the CEOs of Facebook and Uber both demonstrated a smart way to introduce hard-to-describe products to customers in a single simple sentence.
This technique for describing a product is “starting from the need.” It is extremely effective for positioning your product as the solution to a customer's current problem.
What are customers saying about your product?
Here is a typical word-of-mouth referral scenario:
A context that reminds customers of your product. For example, someone mentions a problem your product can solve.
Customers will introduce your product by asking, “So, have you heard about product X?”
Without thinking much, customers will immediately give a simple description of how your product works, usually in a single sentence.
If it is a good description, great. If not, your customers will continue explaining why they think the product relates to the issue under discussion.
Why do some product pitches sound so good while others fail? After studying how successful startup founders introduced their products before becoming famous, author Dave Bailey discovered something interesting.
Choose the most distinctive feature
In an interview before Facebook's IPO, Mark Zuckerberg described Facebook as “a place where you can type in someone's name and find loads of information about them.” Mark was describing one of Facebook's features: its ability to display real information about an individual. He did not mention a “social network” or helping the world connect. He simply presented the product's main, practical feature.
In 2011, Travis Kalanick introduced Uber as a phone app where “You press a button, and 5 minutes later a Mercedes arrives to pick you up and take you wherever you want.” Travis did not begin with terms like “platform” or “marketplace.” Instead, he focused on the single most outstanding feature to capture attention.
The 2 descriptions follow the structure ‘you do X and Y happens.’ X is the input and Y is the output. The 2 combine to create the perfect product introduction.
Facebook and Uber have thousands of features. Naturally, Mark and Travis choose the most prominent feature to introduce the product in a memorable and, more importantly, easily retold way.
How should this feature be promoted?
A product's features are often closely interconnected, making it difficult to choose a standout feature. The best approach is to think from the user's experience to identify the most distinctive feature that best meets customer needs. Then describe it using an input–output structure.
The best approach is to think from the user's experience to identify the most distinctive feature that best meets customer needs.
If you choose a feature with unclear inputs, you will confuse customers. If you introduce a feature already offered by another product, people will ask, “How is this different from product X?” For example, Facebook lets users share photos, but if Mark introduces that feature, customers will ask, “Why wouldn’t I just email them?”
However, if your product is too complex, you should not rely on word of mouth to promote it. If even the manufacturer finds it hard to describe, imagine how difficult customers will find explaining it for you. In this case, a sales force may be a better option.
Tricks or tactics?
You may mistakenly think describing a product in one sentence is merely a communication trick. In reality, creating that description is one of the most strategic decisions a founder should make early on.
If we want a product promoted by word of mouth, we must understand that it needs to pass from one person to another in a single sentence.
Defining this description early can also help you focus on developing the product’s inputs and outputs. This will tie closely to later marketing and communications efforts. You will also avoid building a product that is too difficult to describe in the future.
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