It's not the technology that scares them

Don't you just hate it when you've finish a presentation and everyone in the room sits there staring at you like you have three heads? If you're introducing a new product, especially one that's based on a disruptive technology, you're getting a pretty standard response. (If you aren't in that situation, then you might want to think about overhauling your PowerPoint slides. You've got a much different problem.) The point is that your presentation, far from being boring, probably just made everyone in the room realize that their lives are about to change. Don't mistake silence for a lack of understanding or technophobia. It's just fear.

It's rarely about money

In business, people have a lot of reasons for resisting change. And you'll almost never hear the real story. So the standard business response to doing something new is that it's too expensive to change now. That pretty much covers up everything that's really going on behind the scenes. Of course, the money argument rarely holds water in the case of a truly disruptive technology. The fact is that change is inevitable. And while the technology may become less expensive over time, the loss in potential productivity caused by the delay in adopting something new may far outweigh the cost of the product or service you are selling. It's incumbent on you to make that business case, but you also need to find out what the real fear is -- and address that as well. For only then will you be able to make the sale.

Pay attention to how people make decisions

When you are advocating change, by the very nature of your product, be extremely sure that you understand how your prospects make decisions. You only need to read Miller and Williams' book, "The 5 Paths to Persuasion," to understand just how important this is. They characterize decision makers as charismatics, thinkers, skeptics, followers, and controllers. Someone who easily takes to new ideas (a charismatic) is clearly going to react differently to change than someone who makes decisions based on how others have made choices (a follower). The important thing is to learn the signs that will give you the clues you need to introduce your product and get to the right decision.

Don't rush it

There seems to be at least one fundamental truth when it comes to selling disruptive technologies. It takes time. There are many things that you can do to accelerate the process, but changing the world doesn't happen overnight. If your product is innovative and cool, it's relatively easy to evoke "WOW" during a demo. Getting to "YES" will take you a bit longer.