How to Find the 8 Words That Will Automatically Convince Even a Skeptical Tech Customer To Inquire About Purchasing

…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….

⚠️ NOTE: The following instructions only apply if your product solves a problem that your customers greatly want to solve and:

1. The problem has never been solved before
2. Or the way your product solves the problem has never been achieved before and is measurably better (faster, easier, or more convenient) than other available product or method.

⚠️ NOTE: There are 10 steps in total. This is the full framework.

…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….

If you’re offering a new technology that’s hard to explain, you can win over any skeptical customer in just 8 words. Or fewer.

Either in a live 1-1 conversation or from your website or other marketing.

In 8 words - or fewer - you can convince any skeptical customer that your product provides so much value that no logical person would ever say “no” to it.

You'll know you've done this right when:

1. The moment they hear your 8-word statement, your prospect is completely astonished and amazed. Like you've just done a magic trick.
2. They'll immediately ask HOW in the world your technology works. (And you should definitely answer them 😉)
3. They'll immediately ask about the process of making a purchase.

The end result is that you'll easily double your monthly sales with no additional marketing: About 2x as many people who learn about your product will turn into interested buyers and this effect can be seen in as soon as 2 weeks.

How?

By defining your entire product in one short phrase using the following format:

“[Benefit your customer greatly wants] without [Mechanism for getting the benefit]”   

i.e. 

“[BENEFIT] without [MECHANISM]” 

...using a maximum of 8 words of no more than 3 syllables each. 

This short, simple phrase tells your customers that your product helps them get something they really want (“Benefit”) practically "without having to do anything” to get it. (i.e. without the “Mechanism” that is always required to get it). *If your product is innovative in any way, this "mechanism" always exists.

This will not only explain exactly what your product does, but even skeptical customers will find it incredible.

The "8 words" requirement ensures that your statement can be understood within 5 seconds. This means that it's short enough that people won't tune it out. So they'll not only see that your product is incredible, but they'll see it immediately - in just 5 seconds.

FOR EXAMPLE:

One of my clients offers a complex $75K IT consulting service to CIOs at large companies. He used to give a detailed pitch of how he helps them track and manage IT assets and software licenses to save money and blah blah blah.... But nobody really understood why this was a problem that needed to be solved or the huge benefit they could gain from solving it. Sure "saving money" sounded good, but it wasn't really groundbreaking.

But when I dug deeper with my client, we discovered that the real benefit of his service isn't that he helps manage IT assets to save customers money. It was something more incredible. When my client started explaining his service with the simple 8-word statement:

“Reduce your software spending without cutting software usage” (8 words)

• He went from averaging just 1 sales opportunity in 4 months... to getting 4 of them in 4 weeks.
• And since one customer adds $75K to his bottom line, this means his pipeline of potential sales expanded from $75K over 4 months to $300K in 4 weeks.

And all this is because his 8-word statement sounds like a dream come true to his target customer, CIOs whose IT budgets are often out of control:

How in the world can you reduce software spending without actually using less software?

The normal way for a CIO to reduce software spending is to cut software usage...but my client figured out a way to bypass this mechanism and remove it completely. So, to his customers, it seems like they're cutting their software spending (i.e. getting extra money) almost by doing nothing.

** To his customers, this is incredible. **

And that's why the leads started coming in so quickly.

Now, of course, they're not doing "nothing" to get that money:

• My client helps companies reduce their software spending by finding out where they're "leaking" money (sometimes millions of dollars) on unused software licenses and IT assets and then stopping the leaks so they recover that money, all while continuing to use the same amount of software.

But, you know, when he said it that way, people didn't get it. 😉

• We had to translate his service so his customers would instantly "see the light" - by stating how it gives them a benefit they already want (spend less on software) without the "mechanism" that is always required to get it (using less software).

The Benefit Without Mechanism statement did the trick. Just 8 words. 📈

IF YOU WANT SIMILAR RESULTS, HERE'S HOW TO DO THIS --

Following are the exact 10 steps I guided my client through to uncover the 8-word statement that practically sells his service on the spot.

1: Identify how your product delivers a benefit your customers already want or wish they had.

This should not be something you have to “educate” them on, but rather something they already know about and want. This means they’ll immediately see your product as valuable and relevant to their experience.

But you must make sure you identify the right benefit for your product and target customer and that you state it correctly. 

This is the main thing I correct when I work with my private clients. For our purposes “manage finances” is very different from “track finances.”

EXAMPLE (Real life example from another one of my clients)

• Customer: IT Director 
• Benefit They Already Want: To manage their company’s IT usage and spend

2: Identify the normal "mechanism" for getting this benefit that your product removes.

This should be an inescapable or essential part of getting the benefit - that your product handles for your customer. It should be something that anyone would have to do in order to get this benefit. This tells your customer that your product doesn't just deliver a benefit they want, but it makes life easier for them while doing it.

To find it:

2.1: Identify all the steps your customer would normally (or hypothetically) have to take in order to get the benefit.

These must be steps that are always required to get the benefit i.e. it’s not possible to get the benefit without them. 

CLIENT EXAMPLE (continued)

Benefit: Mange IT usage and spend for the company

Steps:

1. Gather data on usage i.e. all software products and IT services currently in use and how much each one is used 
2. Gather data on spend i.e. how much the company is paying for each of these products and services
3. ** NOTE: #1 and #2 are very difficult to do when there are hundreds of products and services being used by a company
4. Review and monitor this data
5. Analyze this data regularly to manage usage in order to keep costs within budget

2.2: Identify the step(s) your product handles so your customer no longer has to.

These are the “mechanisms” your product removes. This is how it makes life magically easier for your customer.

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont.)

My client's product “removes” (i.e. handles) steps #1,2, and 5 above:

• It gathers data on usage and spend for all IT products and services currently being used by the company (Steps 1 and 2)
• It analyzes the data automatically (Step 5)

3: Looking at the mechanisms your product removes, select the one that requires the most work from your customer (time, physical effort, exertion).

Again, this must be something that is an inescapable or inherent part of getting the benefit. A step that cannot be removed. The fact that your product removes it is what will make your product seem incredible to even a skeptical or hard-to-impress customer.

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont.)

• Mechanism the product removes: Gathering usage and spend data for all IT products and services currently being used by the company.

4: Complete the statement: “[BENEFIT] without [MECHANISM]”

• “Benefit” = The benefit you wrote in Step #1
• “Mechanism” = The mechanism you wrote in Step #3

This is what tells your customer that your product not only gives them a benefit they already want, but it does so in a way that is impossibly easy... by removing the hardest part of the process for getting it, the underlying mechanism.

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont.)

• Benefit = Manage IT usage and spend
• Mechanism = Gather usage and spend data on all the products and services being used by your company
• [Benefit] without [Mechanism] = "Manage IT usage and spend without having to gather usage and spend data on the products and services being used by your company."

5: Confirm: Would this statement sound “incredible” to your target customer?

Assuming they believe this statement (don't worry we'll address this later), would this statement convince even a skeptical customer that your product provides incredible value?

YES or NO?

✅ 5.1: If YES, you have the right statement. Move on to Step #6.

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont.)

• Target Customer: IT Director
• Message: “Manage IT usage and spend without having to gather usage and spend data on the products and services being used by your company."
• Would this sound “incredible” to an IT Director? According to my client who knows his customers well, the answer is Yes!
• In fact, this "Benefit Without Mechanism" statement was so incredible that 4 out of the first 5 customers he simply tested this message on were immediately interested in his product.

🚫 5.2: If NO, redo Steps #1-4 until you know that your statement would sound incredible to your target customer. 

It should be something that would make them say “Really? How is that even possible?”

The goal is to dig deep and find a “Benefit” and “Mechanism” combination that defines your product and would make “Benefit Without Mechanism” sound like a contradiction to your customer.  

This means that the Mechanism is something that seems logically or physically inseparable from the benefit. Something that it doesn’t seem possible to remove. Therefore, when you tell customers you've actually removed it, it will sound like you've done the impossible.

Note: It should NOT be something like: “Monitor your home without having to figure out a complex security system.” 

• You’ll notice that this sounds great, but it doesn’t really sound impossible.
• That’s because using a complex security system isn’t an inescapable part of monitoring your home. (For example, you could hire a house-sitter.)

But it COULD be something like: “Answer your front door without being at home” because this sounds like a contradiction. Since actually being at home is an inescapable part of answering the front door. How in the world can you answer your front door without being home? (With Ring Video Doorbell - introduced 2013)

6: Make your statement 100% objective

Make sure your "Benefit Without Mechanism" statement is an OBJECTIVE, VERIFIABLE claim. It should be a plain statement of fact about your product that can easily be checked.

** Do not use any adjectives or "salesy" language designed to convince. ** 

This ensures that you’re not making any subjective claims or judgements, instead leaving it 100% up to the customer to see for themselves whether or not your product is valuable. You’re letting the plain facts about your product speak for themselves.

6.1: No adjectives or subjective language

Do NOT make any subjective claims, judgments, or conclusions. Your statement should not sound like you’re selling anything. This actually obscures how incredible your product is. (After all, if it’s really so incredible, why do you need to "sell" it? You don’t.)

EXAMPLE

The type of words not to use...

• ❌ “fast”, “easy”, “convenient”, “simple”, “smart”, “efficient”, “effortless”, “rapid”, “stress-free”, "unparalleled," etc - These are subjective descriptions.
• ❌ “hassle”, “stress” - These are subjective conclusions - not provable facts.

The point is to state the facts about your product and let your customer be the judge of what they mean and whether they have value. 

Don’t worry, we’ve already engineered the statement to be “incredible” to your customer. 😉

You don’t need to sell it.

6.2: No salesy claims or language designed to convince.

Avoid all language that is designed to “convince” someone of something. Your statement should not even remotely sound like a sales pitch. It should be a direct, almost bland statement of fact.

EXAMPLE

The type of words not to use...

• ❌ “speed”, “accuracy”, “reliability”, etc
• ❌ ”conveniently”, "efficiently", "effortlessly", etc 

6.3: Make it OBVIOUS to fact check and EASY to fact check

Make your claim 1) obvious to check and 2) easy to check. This means that the moment your customers hear it they'll know exactly how to see if you're lying (because it's obvious to fact check). And they'll be able to fact check it immediately (because it's easy to fact check).

Your statement is giving them instructions on how to find out whether it's true or false, basically saying "Here, see for yourself!"

This makes your statement immediately credible because it's hard to believe that anyone or any company would make such a bold yet specific statement that's so easy to prove false unless it's actually true.

Here's how this works:

• OBVIOUS TO FACT CHECK: Your statement should make it obvious what someone would "look for" in order to fact check it. It should tell someone exactly how to see if it’s “lying.” 
• EASY TO FACT CHECK: Your statement should also be easy to check. In fact, it should be so easy that someone could do it immediately, just by finding out how your product works. 

In other words, you’re making a bold claim that sounds impossible while at the same time telling your customer exactly how to disprove it if it happens not to be true

AND it’s something they could easily disprove right now just by learning more about your product. 

Again, the result is that it’s hard to believe that you would make such a precise, specific claim - that tells anyone exactly how to disprove it - unless it were actually true. This is what will make people inclined to believe you’re telling the truth. Even though what you're saying sounds so incredible. 

EXAMPLE (client example continued)

“Manage IT usage and spend without gathering usage or spend data on the products and services being used by your company."

Is this OBVIOUS to check? ✓ Yes! It tells you to look for these things:

• [ ] Does the product help you “manage IT usage and spend”? (yes/no)
• [ ] Does it help you do it “without having to gather data”? (yes/no)

Is this EASY to check? ✓Yes!

• [ ] To find out whether it helps you “manage IT usage and spend” just find out how it works.
• [ ] To find out whether it helps you do this “without having to gather the data” just find out how it works.

This statement is both obvious and easy to check. So it has high credibility in the moment.

7. Condense your statement down to at most 8 words, so it can easily be understood in 5 seconds. (a.k.a. immediately)

Your statement should be easy and natural to say. It should roll easily off the tongue.

• 8 words max
• 3 syllables or less per word

It should be easy to understand immediately.

• No jargon or fancy phrasing. Use simple, plain, “third grade” English

Every word should be simple, boring, and “unsexy.” But together they should sound incredible to your target buyer.

EXAMPLES

1) 2001: iPod

• Target customer: MUSIC LOVERS
• "Benefit": Carry 1000 songs
• "Without Mechanism": Without a large device = with a pocket-sized device

Core Product Message: “One thousand songs in your pocket” (6 words, 2.45 seconds)

2) 2013: Ring Doorbell

• Target customer: HOME SECURITY CUSTOMERS
• "Benefit": Answer the door
• "Without Mechanism": Without being at home = from anywhere

Core Product Message: “Answer the door from anywhere” (5 words, 2.10 seconds)

7.1: Use a maximum of 8 words

This means that your statement can be said - and understood - in 5 seconds. This makes it short enough that people won't tune it out...so that everyone who is exposed to your outreach hears or reads your message in full.

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont.)

“Manage IT usage and spend without gathering data on the products and services being used by your company.”

...becomes...

“Manage IT usage and spend without gathering data.” (8 words, 3.80 seconds)

7.2: Only 3 syllables per word (max)

This ensures that your statement only uses simple words that are easy and fast to understand.

To do this, swap out complex words and phrases for simpler ones. Use simple, third grade English. 

For instance:

• ❌ “information” (4 syllables) ⇒ ✓ “data” (2 syllables)
• ❌ “technology” ⇒ ✓ “system”
• ❌ "integration" ⇒ ✓ “connection”

In fact, always use the simplest word that will communicate the same idea.

• ❌ "multiple" (3 syllables) ⇒ ✓ “several” (2 syllables, even better!)

NOTE: This is not a matter of "dumbing down" your language - it's a matter of speed. The "3 syllables rule" makes your statement faster to understand and therefore more powerful. For example, no matter how smart your customers are, the word "speed" is almost always easier and faster to understand than the word "velocity."

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont.)

“Manage IT usage and spend without gathering data.”  

This is perfect. Each word is very simple, just 1 or 2 syllables long.

7.3: Conversational: Use plain, boring, "unsexy" words. No insider jargon or formal phrasing.

Again, the goal is speed of understanding. Therefore, use the simplest language you can.

For instance:

❌ “turns on automatically” (has a 5-syllable word) ⇒ “turns on by itself” 

❌ “data analysis” (has a 4-syllable word) ⇒ “analyze data”

❌ “currently in use” (too formal) ⇒ “that you’re using”

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont.)

“Manage IT usage and spend without gathering data.”  

This is perfect. Each word is very plain and simple.

7.4: CHECK IN: How do you feel about your statement?

When you have the right statement, you’ll know in your gut that this message will get your customers’ attention in a powerful way. (You may even feel excited.)

8. Formal Gut Check: How can you tell if you have the “right” 8-word phrase?

How do you know if you have a “Benefit Without Mechanism” statement that will convince even your most skeptical customer? It has to pass something that I call the Street Test. Do the following “test” of your statement to confirm it will truly grab even a skeptical customer:

THE STREET TEST

Imagine that, out of the blue, you run up to your target customer on the street and say...

“Hey [Customer] would you want __________ ?” 

[insert your “Benefit Without Mechanism” statement]

Would their answer immediately be some version of the following:

• “Yeah right!”
• "How is that even possible?"
• “How does it work?”

EXAMPLE: Mint.com

• Normal value proposition: “Hey Bank Account Holder, would you want a way to track your spending?”

VS

• “Benefit Without Mechanism”: “Hey Bank Account Holder, would you want a way to track your spending without reviewing any banks statements?”

Which is more likely to get a “Yeah right!” or "How is that possible" ?

✅ 8.1 If the answer would definitely be “Yeah right!”, then you have the right statement.

 The reason we want a “Yeah right!” (or "How?") is because this means you've won them over.

Yeah right actually means Yeah right, that’s too good to be true. In other words, you've told them what your product does and they immediately confirm that it provides so much value that it's hard to believe.

This is great news. 

It means that any skepticism they have has actually shifted from whether your product provides any value to whether it actually does what you claim (Yeah right!, How does it work?)

...which you can easily prove - as a matter of cold, hard fact - just by explaining how your product delivers the benefit, in a way that eliminates the mechanism that you've specifically called out.

The response "Yeah right!" or "How?" is them asking you to "prove it." Prove this amazing thing that your claim.

** In other words, you achieved the goal:

You convinced a skeptical customer in only 8 words. **

CLIENT EXAMPLE (cont)

Here's what happened when my client tested out his "Benefit Without Mechanism" 8-word statement with potential customers...

• My Client: I have a product that lets you manage IT usage without gathering data. Would this interest you?
• Customer: How do you do this?
• My Client: Our platform automatically pulls in and syncs all your usage and spend data for all your IT products and services, even from hundreds of sources.
• Customer: [immediately interested or asks for a demo]

This type of exchange is essentially the beginning of a sales conversation - yet you didn’t have to convince anyone of anything. You just answered their question and let the incredible truth of your product speak for itself.

Here are responses my client got from other potential customers...

• “How do you do that?”
• “How are you doing that?”
• “I’ve got stuff all over the place; how are you connecting all this?”
• “Tell me more”

Once you get the "Yeah right" or "How?" response, if the customer is on your website, burning curiosity will make them want to read more on exactly how your product works or see the demo. And they'll read every word.

If you're talking to them in a 1-1 conversation, then you get to explain exactly how your product works: the technology innovation that makes the benefit possible without the normal mechanism that is always required.

Once customers discover that your "Benefit Without Mechanism" statement is actually true, that's when they'll know that, not only does the thing you claim your product does deliver so much value that nobody would ever say no...but your product actually does it.

Assuming the people you're reaching in your marketing or outreach have the need and budget to solve the problem your product solves, then your product becomes a highly likely (if not automatic) purchase.

🚫 8.2 If the answer would not be “Yeah right!”, then you must go back and re-do Steps #1-7 until you know this is the answer you’d get.

This is the primary thing I correct when working with private clients to find their 8-word statement. They must be confident (9 out of 10) that the statement would get a “Yeah right!” (or a “How does it work?”) the moment their customer hears it.

When you have the right statement, it will be obvious to you. Beyond a doubt.

When I work with my private clients, I’ll know the statement is correct because they’re very excited about testing it out live with a potential customer. And that’s because they already know that the customer will find it incredible - so incredible that it’s almost hard to believe.

And that’s because: we designed it that way. 😉

9: Street Test

Once you are confident (at least a 9 out of 10) that you have the right “Benefit Without Mechanism” statement for your target customer, go test it in the real world with 1-2 potential customers or prospects.

Use this script: 

“I have a product that lets you ________ 

[insert your Benefit/Without statement]. Would this interest you?”

Note the response you get.

Once you confirm that customers respond with a "Yeah right!" or a "How...??", then you know you have the right 8-word statement.

10: How You’ll Know It’s Working: People will immediately begin the buying process

Here's how you'll know your 8-word statement is working. One or all of the following will happen:

1) Twice as many people will convert into sales leads. More of the people who hear about your product - about 2x as many - will convert into interested buyers. (Because more, if not most, of them immediately see the incredible value your product delivers)

2) People will begin the buying process faster - if not immediately. (Because they see the incredible value your product delivers)

3) You'll get more sales every month. Because of 1 and 2.

Assuming you have a solid sales process and that you’re speaking to a target customer with the need and budget for the kind of solution you provide: After hearing your Benefit Without Mechanism statement, people will almost immediately begin the buying process (request a demo, click “buy now” or however your sales process begins).

Why does it work so quickly? Why, for example, did it get a potential customer of one of my clients to decide to buy only days after signing up for a free 30-day trial?

Because the 8-word "Benefit Without Mechanism" statement creates a powerful context for understanding your product and the value it delivers. It makes your product almost sound like magic. Again, this is because it's removing a mechanism for getting the benefit that your customer never imagined could be removed.

10.1: People will immediately ask to know more

The moment they hear your 8-word Benefit Without Mechanism statement, people are likely to be: 

1. Skeptical that your product actually does that (“Yeah right! How does that work?”)
2. Curious. (“How in the world does that work?”)
3. Or amazed. (“Wow…”)

This will almost always be followed by questions about how your product works, the technology or mechanism involved, etc. What’s happening is that, since your product removes the normal, inescapable mechanism for getting the benefit, the person can't logically figure out how it could be delivering the benefit.

It sounds impossible. So it opens a curiosity gap, almost like a riddle, and they want to know what the "answer" is.

It’s like telling someone the verbal equivalent of a magic trick.

They’re going to want to know how it works.

EXAMPLE

Another one of my clients is a telecommunications company with a groundbreaking product that helps networks like Verizon and AT&T:

Prevent fraudulent calls without blocking any calls. (7 words)

*And I bet you want to know how they do it.

That's the curiosity gap. 😉

10.2: You'll double your monthly leads and sales (at minimum)

You'll get 2x as many leads and/or sales per month for the same amount of customer outreach (marketing, networking, PR, promotion, etc)

More people will be impressed/curious/amazed by your product, so more of them will convert into interested buyers...for the same amount of marketing. 

** Depending on how much marketing you normally do per month (or per week), you should notice an increase in leads in as little as 1-2 weeks.

If you have the right “Benefit Without Mechanism” statement, then if you use it to replace your old messaging, you can expect to double your leads (at minimum) without any additional marketing spend ($0).

If your tech product is bringing in at least $10K per month, that's another 6 figures in revenue added to your bottom line in 1 year.

Another 6 figures without increasing your marketing? With results visible in 2 weeks? For this, it’s definitely worth it to go through all the steps laid out above.

If you want help to do this quickly:

Send me a message about my 4-week program Explain To Win for entrepreneurs with incredible tech products that they're struggling to explain. This fast 1x1 program is designed to help you quickly find the 8-word "Benefit Without Mechanism" statement that will win even skeptical customers virtually on the spot.

In 4 quick 1-hour Zoom calls over 4 weeks, I'll work with you 1x1 to uncover the (deceptively simple) 8-word message that will not make customers finally understand your product, it will get more of them to buy and let you easily double the number of leads and sales you get every month with no additional marketing ($0).

This program is for you if: 1) You've got an incredible tech product that you're struggling to explain to your market 2) You have a trail of happy customers who rave about your product 3) Your product brings in a minimum of $10K per month.

At this revenue level, you have the most to gain from finding this 8-word statement for your product. Since it will double your leads and/or sales, your expected ROI is another 6 figures in revenue over 1 year. You'll start seeing an increase in leads (or sales) by Week 2.

If interested, just send me a LinkedIn message, I'll ask a few questions to confirm you're a fit and, if so, we can get started the same day.