Are you a little too close to your product?

You and your product have been together for quite a while now. You met soon after you were hired. Then you spent two really intense weeks together in training. You learned its good points, its bad points, its deepest darkest secrets. Now the two of you are inseparable. Your destiny and finances are intertwined. It’s waiting for you when you get to the office. Wherever you go, it tags along. You introduce it to all your friends.

Dude, people are starting to talk.

Everyone knows you and your product are BFFs. But give it a rest. Especially when you’re with a buyer.

Your buyer and your product aren’t friends. Maybe they will be someday, but right now your buyer wants all of your attention. He or she needs to be your number one. You wouldn’t want your buyer to start feeling jealous, would you? Spend too much time with your product and not enough time tending to the needs and wishes of your buyer, and that’s what will happen. In fact, your buyer might just run off straight into the arms of another vendor.

So next time you call on your buyer, don’t let your product get in the way. Ask it to go around the corner and get a cup of coffee. When the time is right, you can make some introductions and hope that your buyer and product hit it off.

If you’re worried that your product might drive a wedge between you and your vendor, ask yourself these three questions:

• What’s the real business problem that my products solve? That problem should match the one your buyer has.
• Do the prospect and I agree on what a successful outcome will look like?
• What has to happen to achieve that outcome?