Software marketers tend to be inveterate optimists. They prefer to paint visions of a bright and shining speculative future -- where everyone's happy, productivity is outstanding and ROIs are just fabulous.

Unfortunately, this kind of marketing never really gets us in the gut. It tends to get lost in all the rest of the syrupy, feel good marketing noise we hear every day -- market-blather that fails to speak to our deepest concerns and problems.

Some software marketers, by contrast, take the "scorched earth" approach. They tend to focus on "de-positioning" their competitors with rude talk and nasty advertisements. But that approach ignores the customer altogether -- and it's generally bad for the industry. (Imagine if the airlines started running ads featuring their competitors' most grisly and devastating crashes. Who would want to fly at all?)

Still other marketers overwhelm us with a blizzard of techno-talk. They fail to speak in a language that is real and accessible to the many, disparate players (technical, operational, executive) that must participate in a high-value, highly complex decision.

From a positioning, messaging and communication perspective, the software marketing challenge ahead lies in engaging our prospective (and existing) clients on the level of "clear and present" problems.

The heart surgeon doesn't try to tell an unexamined patient how great everything will be after a heart operation. First, he or she asks a lot of unsettling questions regarding the patient's symptoms and then, conducts a thorough examination. Only after that process is complete (and the state of the condition is confirmed), does the surgeon start discussing the operation itself. Only then is a prognosis truly discussed.

So it goes with successful software marketing. At the outset of a business relationship, it may feel awkward to raise unsettling, no-nonsense questions that get at the "symptoms" of a possible problem. It sounds so "negative," after all. And it is. But this is the open secret of engaging and credible marketing. By addressing the negative symptoms that a customer is experiencing at the moment, one builds the credibility to advance the conversation and determine if the symptoms have undesirable consequences. It is the credible identification of these consequences that will drive the decision to change.

In its initial marketing and messaging, SalesForce.com asked its prospects if they were tired of dealing with software (at least, in its conventional manifestation). Were they fearful of long, drawn out implementation efforts? Were they concerned about paying out big money upfront for an uncertain outcome?

Turns out, these "negative" symptoms of the prospect's present condition often could be addressed with a service-based solution (where the software itself was hidden from view). Marc Benioff sure got that right.

Counterintuitive though it may seem, software marketers initially must address their prospective clients in the negative present (not the positive and speculative future) if they intend to establish an honest and compelling dialogue. But software marketers don't need to (and shouldn't) manipulate with "fear, uncertainty and doubt," as some marketing gurus suggest. The pain and problems that your solution can address either exist or they don't. And you won't know unless (and until) you ask.

Britton Manasco is a consultant with Prime Resource Group, which specializes in sales and marketing performance. He can be reached at 512-301-4881 or via email at BManasco@PrimeResource.com.