Establishing a solution context

Anyone who has worked in sales understands that customers inherently do not value features and functions. In many cases, the customers may not know why they should value a particular feature or functionality. Instead, what makes those features and functions valuable is the capabilities they provide. In other words, features and functions are collectively part of a solution to some set of needs your customers have.

This book fundamentally is about leveraging Agile and Lean practices to build large and complex products, so I won't bore you with too many details on sales and marketing. But, before we move on, you must understand that customers inherently value things for only a handful of fundamental reasons:

• The capabilities provided make them more efficient.
• The capabilities provided support their economic objectives.
• The capabilities provided make them feel good.
• The capabilities provided make them look good in front of...