We’ve heard it before. The bold B2B product-meeting assertions: “Our product is 100 times more efficient than what competitors offer.” Or: “We’ve done a bunch of research and development, we know our customers want this.” Or the tried and tested: “Our product is going to change the world.”

As humans, we're quick to defend something that we’ve spent time creating, refining and selling. It’s in our nature. If you’re a business leader, your product is your baby. You’ve brought something to life. You’ve experienced both sleepless nights and joyful breakthroughs with it. Nobody knows it quite like you.

But how do you sell a product without seeming salesy? To people who aren’t as invested as you? We as humans give ourselves too much credit. We like to believe that we’re a lot more logical and savvy than what we actually are. But we’re self-serving creatures. We want to know, ‘what’s in it for me?’ How are our lives going to change significantly if something works 10 times faster? It's about selling the emotional outcome rather than the physical product itself.

If you want something to stick, you tell a story. If you take one message, wrap it up in a narrative and it’s 22 times more likely you remember it. So secure the attention your product deserves by letting your ego around it go. Start with your customer. Get obsessed with their needs. Make them the hero of your brand story. We’re often asked how S&T’s story-first approach still holds true with B2B branding. At the crux of it, you’re still selling to people. We need to take a page out of the book of B2C and simply put our customers first. Gone are the days of chest-beating brands and out-of-touch B2Bs. In are the brands who spend time with their customers’ problems, using products as a catalyst to serve them in ways they never knew they needed.

Get your brand story straight. Get it clear. Get it as one. If you do all this, people may stick around and get to know your brand. If you’re lucky, they’ll start to care about your product. And if you’re really lucky, your business may just stick around for a while.