Why must should your solution be 10x better, and how do you prove it?

‍

I was recently re-reading Peter Thiel’s classic book Zero to One.  There are many good nuggets in there, but one that caught my eye was the commentary on building a 10x better solution. Here are a few thoughts on what that means and why that is so important.

‍

People are resistant to change

In human psychology, most people don’t like change. They have gotten accustomed to things a certain way. Even if there is a better way, it still takes time and effort to learn a new process, go through some bumps, and come out on the other side with massive improvements. Know you are fighting an uphill battle to get people to change. Not many people will switch even if your solution is 2x better. It needs to be 10x better so there is no doubt that the switching costs are worth it.

‍

Proving your solution is 10x better

Many entrepreneurs or salespeople will claim their product is better than the competition. But how do you prove that? Some try theoretical dialogue, others show case studies, others build ROI calculators. At the end of the day your potential customer will discount whatever you say. Make sure you can bring some hard facts that prove not only are you 10x better, but you can quantify and show why (i.e. the faster processing time, additional productivity, simplicity, etc.)

‍

Impact of making the switch

Now that you have proven you can be 10x better, how do you implement and ensure the customer can see and achieve that value? You can start with demos, trials, onboarding, case studies, customer business reviews, etc. Make sure to help the customer see the value you promised and they are getting. Once you do that, you not only help retention, but you also can use the positive experience to generate loyalty and referrals to new customers to keep growing the business.

‍

Remember, just having a 2x better product doesn’t mean customers see that, and they will be unlikely to go through the hassle of switching solutions. Instead, have a clearly proven and demonstrable 10x better product that makes the choice a no-brainer. This doesn’t mean you need hundreds of features, but rather be 10x better on a few critical dimensions.

‍