“Will you please clean the dishwasher filter today?”, I was asked.

“Not part of my plan for the day,” my immediate inner voice responded. “Sure”, I said.

If you handed me a guitar and said, “Play a little something,” I would know exactly what to do. If you put me in a smallish sailboat and said, “Please take me for a sail”, I would know exactly what to do. Until 3:00 pm yesterday, if you pointed me toward a dishwasher and said, “Please clean the filter,” I would not.

Appliance owners’ manuals and manufacturer web sites, it seems, are written assuming a level of knowledge, experience, and interpretive visual skills that I don’t have. So, when asked to clean the filter, did I go there? No. Did I call an appliance repair service? No. I opened YouTube on my phone, typed in “clean dishwasher filter” plus the brand and model number, and… voila… a guy with a Swedish accent, a screwdriver, and pliers demonstrated the required steps. Oh, yay!

One really nice element about receiving guidance from people on video is that, no matter how many times you think, “show me that again, please”, they are happy to oblige with the same grace they showed the first time they demo’d. They don’t become impatient. They don’t drift off to think about their next coffee or the meeting for which they are now late. They move you through the process at exactly the pace you request. While they’re not good at answering questions in real time, frequent repetition helps.

For example, releasing the top sprayer from the clips at the top of the dishwasher and at the back… simple enough, you might think… I needed several repetitions of that section of the video to see EXACTLY where my video guide was placing the screwdriver and pliers and EXACTLY what motion caused the clamps to release because I couldn’t complete what looked like pretty simple task.

It turns out that, thanks to my video guide’s patient guidance and my successful experience, I could easily do it again with this dishwasher and, likely, others. [And, I’ve saved the link so that I can review it when it’s time to do this again.]

So, notes to self when introducing a new concept, process, or thing to a client, partner, spouse or friend whether it’s guitar licks, sailboat rigs, or commercial products: Slow down! Demo slowly, patiently repeat steps as needed, and, if possible, record the process on a video so they can watch and practice at their own pace. We assume at our peril that they should be able to grasp it with few quick instructions and a cheerful “you’ve got this, right?”

Nick Miller and Clarity train banks and bankers to attract and develop deeper relationships with small businesses. Many more Sales Thoughts like this and a host of other articles and resources at https://clarityadvantage.com/knowledge-center/ .