It’s time for technology vendors to move beyond solving problems.

Lots of technology vendors teach their sales people to understand the customers’ problems and then provide a solution to those problems. Some vendors provide insight into problems the customers didn’t know they had. And then provide a solution.

Let’s look at what would happen if the medical profession followed the same approach. Imagine you have a raised temperature and some general pain. You go to your doctor and explain your problems – your symptoms. The doctor listens and then says, “Okay, I understand. Here’s a prescription for a drug that will lower your temperature and reduce the pain.”

It would shock you! It’s not the way you’d expect a doctor to behave. Fortunately, that’s not the way doctors behave. An unwell patient will explain their problems to the doctor. The doctor doesn’t then prescribe treatment. The doctor uses the information about the patient to develop a diagnosis. They may need to do further tests before they finalise the diagnosis.