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In the first instance, if you ask a friend to help you them they will not be interacting with your product in the way that a real customer would.
They won't have the need that your customers are trying to meet and, more importantly, they are risking nothing: if they make a bad choice there will be no pain for them in the future.
[I suppose you could tell them that if they choose the wrong product you're going to whack them round the head with a stick, but they are unlikely to do this favour for you in those circumstances -- at least my friends wouldn't.]
In the second instance, if you ask a customer about their experience, they will be unable to tell you how easy or difficult they found the process of choosing.
What they will tell you is how easy or difficult they think they found it with hindsight on the basis of what they ultimately did.
Therefore it's likely that if you ask a consumer who ended up purchasing from you, they will say that the process was straightforward. What they really mean is that the process must have been straightforward because they managed to buy.
If you ask a consumer who didn't buy from you, they will post rationalise far more psychologically self-protective reasons than them being too stupid to figure out what to do or what to choose!
Instead, they will construct a reason like, "You didn't have what I was looking for" or "I wasn't ready to buy, I want to think about it a bit more" and so on.
The problem with purchase process complexity is that it creates a feeling in the customer's unconscious mind something is uncomfortable and that pushes them away from making a purchase.
Our caveman brain associates uncertainty with fear and risk. I t knows the smart thing to do in situations like that is just to get out of there.
So how are you to know how easy or difficult you're making it for your customers. There are two options:
- Experiment with different
approaches, for example the number of
products you offer, the way in which you
present them, the structure and
layout you use, etc. and see when you sell
more and when you sell less.
Evaluate what you've offered and how you've offered it in the light of this information. If you can develop the skill of abandoning your preconcieved ideas of what's right before you appraise it you will learn much more.
It can be helpful at this stage to ask someone who isn't involved in the day-to-day operation why they think one thing has been more successful than another. Yes, you're guessing to some extent.
I guarantee that you have more chance of being right this way than if you ask a consumer to evaluate the sales process.
- Watch customers as they
buy your product and observe their
behaviour. If you know what to look for you
can detect signs of uncertainty,
anxiety (cognitive dissonance) and
hesitation.
This is a slightly more difficult skill to acquire but one that can help shortcut the process and save time and money in the long run.
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Understanding Customer Behaviour
Philip Graves has been studying consumers for almost twenty years. He regularly spends time in clients' stores observing and interpreting consumer behaviour to improve store design, category management, customer service and marketing communication.
If you have a specific project you wish to discuss or if you have any questions on consumer behaviour please do email: philip@philipgraves.net
© 2008 Philip Graves Consumer Behaviour Resource. All rights reserved.