The complexities of life can be overwhelming therefore consumers want to see more things made simple. Yet, companies still with the incorrect focus on adding cost to a product don’t seem to get it.
Ford Motor Company now offers an electronic to tell you when your oil needs changed, and in the television ads they have a young woman proudly proclaiming, “Now all I have to do is press a button and the car tells me when I need to change my oil.” Until it malfunctions as electronics can and will do. What’s wrong with looking at the little sticker in the corner of the windshield? How much do we pay for the one inch square reminder decal as opposed to the extra cost of the oil change indicator?
If Ford really wanted to sell cars they’d offer the Simple Sedan. Hand crank windows, manual transmission, side mirrors you reach out and turn by hand, no air bags, no extra electronics, just a simple car with a simple engine that will simply get you from Point A to Point B. In this economy, with people counting pennies, and fearful of loan payments how many of these cars do you think they could sell at a nice profit?
Take a look at the products you offer. How can you simplify the list of offerings? How can you simplify the product itself? I’m not talking about making poor quality by creating cheap junk; I’m talking about simple.
In the “blink” buying process, if the customer can’t figure out what you are offering in a blink, they will move on to something they can understand. Does this mean we are becoming a “dumber” group of consumers? Not necessarily, I prefer to see it as a reflection of Buyer Believability, where the default setting is distrust. The buyer’s thought process says if I can’t figure it out quickly, they must be trying to pull something on me, so I’ll pass.
Simple isn’t just for lean economic times; it’s for the new buyer who is looking for something they can easily determine if it’s the best fit or not without having to wade through propaganda.
If you’d like to learn more about Buyer Believability: How to Sell to a Skeptical Society contact me at RJWhite@PinnacleSolutions.org or call me at 803-831-7600.
Posts
