The Default Setting is Distrust
"Next-generation, AI-powered, enterprise-grade platform for synergy."
If you work in tech, you've read that sentence a thousand times. And if you're like most technical buyers, you stopped reading immediately after.
When a product description is that dense with superlatives, it usually means one thing: we can't explain what it actually does.
There is a natural pressure in marketing to go big. Founders want to disrupt industries. Sales teams want a silver bullet. But when you are selling to engineers, developers, or IT pros, hype is not just ineffective – it's a liability.
Technical buyers default to distrust. They are trained to find edge cases, identify failure points, and verify claims. When you lead with "revolutionary," they immediately ask "how?" When you say "seamless," they ask "what about my legacy dependencies?"
Precision, context, and evidence beat superlatives every time. Honesty isn't a concession you make to legal; it's a competitive advantage.
Spotting the Hype Patterns
You can't fix what you don't see. Hype usually hides in three specific patterns:
- Vague Superlatives: Words like "best-in-class," "unparalleled," or "revolutionary." They take up space without adding information.
- Buzzword Stacking: "AI-driven blockchain synergy." It sounds expensive but means nothing.
- Cherry-Picked Metrics: "10x faster" (but only on a specific, unlisted hardware configuration running a 'Hello World' script).
The Translation Layer
Here is what your audience hears when you use hype:
| The Claim | What the Engineer Hears |
|---|---|
| "Seamless integration" | "We haven't documented the API yet." |
| "Zero-configuration" | "Good luck customizing this when it breaks." |
| "Single pane of glass" | "An iframe that loads 4 different dashboards slowly." |
| "Unlimited scale" | "We haven't tested this past 1,000 users." |
Why Hype Fails Technical Buyers
Engineers verify claims. It's their job.
If you promise "instant deployment" and it takes 4 hours to configure the IAM roles, you haven't just annoyed a user – you've lost credibility for the entire product.
Overpromising creates three distinct problems:
- Reputational Debt: Once an engineer marks you as "marketing fluff," it takes years to undo that damage. They will assume your documentation is equally unreliable.
- The Wrong Conversions: Hype attracts people looking for magic. When your product turns out to be software (which has constraints), they churn.
- Support Load: Users who buy the dream file tickets when reality sets in. "You said it was instant" becomes a P1 ticket for your support team.
Honesty filters out the wrong prospects early and builds trust with the right ones.
A Blueprint for Honest Communication
Writing honestly doesn't mean writing boring copy. It means trading adjectives for specifics.
1. Define the Problem, Then the Solution
Don't start with the solution ("Our AI tool"). Start with the pain ("Manually parsing 10,000 log lines is hell"). When you accurately describe the user's problem, they trust that you understand the solution.
2. Anchor Benefits with Context
Never just say "fast." Say "processes 1GB of data in 400ms on a standard t3.medium instance." Context turns a claim into a fact.
3. State Limitations Plainly
This is the hardest one for leadership to swallow, but the most effective for buyers.
- "This works best for teams managing < 500 endpoints."
- "Currently supports AWS and Azure; GCP is on the roadmap."
When you admit what your product doesn't do, users instantly believe you about what it does do.
4. Show Your Work
Link to the methodology. Show the benchmark code. Provide a sandbox. If your product is good, the proof is your best marketing asset.
Handling Internal Pressure
You will inevitably face pressure to "jazz it up" from stakeholders who are afraid the truth isn't exciting enough.
Reframe the request. When a founder asks for "more punch," give them "more proof."
- Instead of adding "revolutionary," add a customer quote about a 50% time reduction.
- Instead of "blazing fast," add a performance graph comparing you to the status quo.
Use honest competitors. Point to tools like Stripe, Vercel, or Tailscale. Their marketing is often dry, technical, and incredibly effective. They win because they respect the user's intelligence.
Position the "Not Yet." If a feature is missing, don't fake it. Sell the vision of where you are going, but clearly label it as Roadmap. Engineers understand development cycles; they don't understand being lied to.
Operationalizing Honesty
Honesty isn't a one-time edit; it's a process.
- The Specificity Check: Before publishing, highlight every adjective. Can you replace it with a number or a noun?
- The Engineering Review: Don't just ask engineers to check for typos. Ask them: "Does this sound true? Would you believe this?"
- Internal Guardrails: Create a style guide that explicitly bans certain buzzwords unless they are technically accurate in context.
If a claim can't be verified, rewrite it or remove it.
Honesty narrows your audience, and that is the point. You don't want everyone; you want the users who will actually succeed with your product. By respecting their time and intelligence, you earn the right to be part of their stack.