Technology is complex, yet we all rely on it to chat, to meet, to compute, to data mine, to drive, fly, cook, listen – you name it.  We right-brainers are not wired to fully understand how it works nor do we want to.  It’s just that technology is so omnipresent that we assume it’s not complicated.  When we ask it to work, it usually does.

Those pocket-protector left-brained technologists who actually understand its inner-workings appreciate how complex, small and capable these digital marvels are.  They also know how to harness it.  When applied accurately, technology does amazing things.

An old friend, Hamish Davidson, runs a growing technology firm that provides expertise, services and support to small- to mid-sized businesses called ProviDyn (providyn.com – check it out).  He mentioned something years ago that stuck.  The exact wording may be off, but the gist was that “technology does not go away as user-interfaces improve.  The amount of technology is fixed.  It’s just that the complexity is pushed to the back where experts toil away to make it work as advertised.”  As front-ends get simpler, back-ends get more unwieldy (which then attracts add-ons and consultants).

This brings me to SAP and other enabling technology providers.  To me (an avowed right-brainer), SAP seems to put its technology toward the front, thereby making it complex and cumbersome to the non-fluent SAP user and those forced onto its platform often struggle.  IBM and Oracle are no picnics either.

Apple, on the other hand, makes the user experience quite simple and intuitive for right- and left-brainers alike.  Sadly, simplified solutions from the big three have yet to arrive as they have too much invested in status quo.  In time, I believe an ERP platform will be created that enables true cross-platform integration and data extraction AND minimizes the headaches on both ends.  The market is begging for it.  The benefits and power of SAP with the usability and simplicity of Apple.  SApple?

I digress.  The point is that regardless of the category, effective B2B communications is much like user-friendly technology.  Customers and prospects don’t want to be inundated with methodology and attributes.  They want results.  They want to see and believe much more than they want to know.

So don’t put all the technical wizardry of your solution to the front.  Rather, keep the complexity toward the back.  Don’t baffle them with your attributes, dazzle them with simplicity and support it with well-rooted expertise.  That approach will create a level of intrigue that inspires the target to want to learn more.

When they want to know more they will ask, which makes for hot leads with short conversion times.