Using Software Lead Generation to Improve Old Skills

One of the biggest problems in marketing business software is contending with the folks who fear the technology. At times these fears are baseless, but other times these aren’t so much fears as they are legitimate concerns.

Among the most notable is that new technology often diminishes time-honored skills. Case in point: handwriting and the keyboard.

Tackling these concerns should be a staple in your software lead generation strategy. It’s not that people fear technology. It’s simply that they value certain skills and they don’t want technology causing these skills to fade.

Image by Chris Yoon

Another example comes from Christopher Hosford via ViewPoint. His experience parallels the changes brought about by digital cameras to the changes brought about by digital marketing. Cameras of old demanded a lot of skill on the part of the photographer that today’s digicams seem to de-emphasize. In the same breadth, today’s online marketing tactics are eschewing notions of carefully planned strategic thinking.

I for one don’t think you have to choose between good old-fashioned skills and the convenience of new technologies. This might sound conventional but I prefer a balanced view. And with that view, comes with the idea that you can market new technology as a supplement to old fashioned skills.

Take the case of big data and the real estate industry. It’s shaping the latter in favor of consumers but it also holds the possibility of reducing elements of guesswork and pure chance for agents, banks, and investors. You need to understand how much a particular skill is valued and use those attributes as something you can enhance with technology:

• Understand the history of the skill – You may think the power loom killed hand-weaving. The reality? Being reduced to a hobby doesn’t exactly constitute outright disappearance. The point? Sometimes the history of a particular skill explains both its origins which in turn can explain why it’s so valued.

• Find the core value of a skill – For the camera, it was timing, lighting, and precision. Oddly enough, this doesn’t necessarily disappear with the use of a digital cam. It just makes it easier to forget. Likewise, your technology shouldn’t be an excuse to demean the core value of an old-fashioned skill.

• Chip away labor like Michelangelo – Think of a skill like a sculpture that’s already ‘inside’ the proverbial block of marble. Technology represents the tools and methods you use to take out really unnecessary labor (like the cost and burdens of a non-digital camera). Fortunately for you, there’s still plenty of chipping away needed even in old business processes.

The value of old skills, old processes, and old professions isn’t always at odds with technology if you recognize for what it is. Take a second look at the practices your client defends and see how technology can help instead of simply replace.

Using Software Lead Generation to Improve Old Skills