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0 pointsstephengillie9y ago0 comments

The somewhat underused 3M quote (paraphrased):

> When someone is shopping for a drill bit, they don't want you to sell them a drill bit. They want you to sell them a hole in their wall.

If you're wondering, most people will put a nail or hook in the hole in their wall, and hang a picture or something. 3M would go on to sell them tape or other wall adhesives instead of a hole in their wall.

Rephrased to correlate to this thread:

> When someone is shopping for document signing software, they don't want you to sell them software. They want you to sell them a set of agreements already negotiated with their business partners.

Don't confuse the tool with the goal.

0 comments

vonklaus9y ago

I agree with this and I think it compliments Ford, or at least my interpretation.

I've put a fair share of holes in walls and also fastened plenty of material together. No one would buy a drill for one hole in a wall but there is a massive amount of leverage in being able to put thousands in quickly, ect.

> don't confuse the tool with the goal.

I think this is the lens/acid test. For your correlation above, it sounds like it was harder to sell them automated agreements than it was for them to manually produce them. Or at least, the perceived opportunity cost was higher and the cost to educate them otherwise was higher than the authors profit marg.

edit: just looked at your profile; very nice array of quotes you have.

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