Complexity is like glue in decision-making. It gets you stuck in a place where you cannot decide, get frustrated, and leave.
When the young couple looked at the choices of new TVs at a big box store, I could see they were overwhelmed. They stood still, shaking their heads, clearly confused. They kept walking back and forth, reading labels, checking out the pricing, and trying to decipher language they didn’t understand.
I overheard him asking his partner, “what is 4K, Bezel, Contrast Ratio, Frame Rate, and HDCP?”
The couple walked away, and I couldn’t help but go over to them and ask why they didn’t buy one of the hundreds of choices.
Couldn’t you find what you wanted?
I told them I was curious about how people made decisions when buying stuff and didn’t work at the store.
Todd told me the following,
“I guess we both froze and didn’t know where to start. So many sizes, styles, prices, and technology. It was easier to leave than decide. Since no one was free to help us, we tried to figure it out, but with so many choices, we just decided to leave and deal with this another day.It was as if no one spoke my language”
Make the Path Simpler
When we understand a customer’s decision-making journey, companies should make their experience easier with simple choices. Eliminate the friction and speak to me – not a geek who cares about the technical features.
Instead of the list of features, why not have signs that say:
- Best for watching football
- Great for viewing movies
- Simple to use for non-techie folks
- Superfast setup
- Perfect for Streaming
- Ultra-high-quality picture – top of the line
- Economy set, perfect for a spare room
Maybe we organize the TV’s based on good, better and best. Or do you group products by size or technology, or price?
When we show one TV with a sign that says, most people bought this set in the last 30 days, it helps make the decision easier. More features, more products, and more choices often aren’t the answer.
Are your products and service in your customer language? You can have a list of all the geeky features, but the customer is wondering – which tv is best to use for playing video games? That’s different then the tech-speak with giga this and giga that.
Take away options, reduce choices and simplify the process. Decision-making shouldn’t be so hard. Understand how people make decisions. When you subtract, categorize, and simplify, decisions can become more natural.
Are your customers overwhelmed with too many choices? How are you going to reduce the friction so they’ll make a purchase?
Photo by Fernando Jorge on Unsplash
