tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19195113360693437322024-03-14T22:15:45.220+11:00People PatternsPeople Patterns uses Behavioural Economics as a new source of advantage for innovative businesses. Email me bri@peoplepatterns.com.au to unlock the secrets of consumer behaviour for your business or follow the latest on Twitter @peoplepatterns.Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-25147334104211584632013-01-04T11:20:00.002+11:002013-02-26T16:42:26.993+11:00Join me at my new websiteHi and thanks for visiting my blog site. After serving me well for a couple of years, this site has now been retired.<br />
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From January 2013 you can find me and my articles at a new website, <b><a href="http://www.briwilliams.com.au/">www.briwilliams.com.au</a>.</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.peoplepatterns.com.au/">www.peoplepatterns.com.au</a> will also take you there.<br />
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The new site provides more information about my services and how behavioural science can<b> maximise the conversion of your activities</b>. As well as offering sign up to my free newsletter you will also find special offers and free resources. I look forward to you dropping by.<br />
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If you have any questions in the meantime please drop me a line at <a href="mailto:bri@peoplepatterns.com.au">bri@peoplepatterns.com.au</a>.<br />
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Regards, Bri<br />
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<b><br /></b>Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-65171804516239547682012-12-10T05:47:00.000+11:002012-12-10T05:47:00.138+11:00Reducing no-shows: How to write effective appointment reminder messagesA service I really appreciate is when the business with whom I have an appointment sends me a text message to confirm. For professional service businesses that charge by appointment like hairdressers, physiotherapists, dentists and beauticians, it makes great business sense to do this. Not only do you reduce the risk of 'no shows', you demonstrate your commitment to providing customer service. <br />
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So how can you make sure that the message you send your customers is as effective as possible?<br />
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Let me illustrate with real examples from two of my service providers; my osteopath and my hairdresser. <br />
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On the left, the message from my osteopath is perfectly sensible. It explains the reason for the message, date and time. No surprises here. And they helpfully provide a phone number if I need to change the appointment.<br />
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But now look to the right to see how my hairdresser showcases a behaviourally effective text message using three elements;<br />
<b>1. My name </b>- Using names is a great way of personalising the message and the obligation that is contained within it. It's the equivalent of eyeballing me to get me engaged and now my personal integrity is on the line if I don't turn up.<br />
<b>2. My action required</b> - Asking me to reply 'yes' to the appointment forces me to take action, reinforcing the agreement to turn up at that time. The osteopath's message on the other hand was passive; there is no confirmation that I have received the message let alone that I have recommitted to the appointment.<br />
<b>3. Fail safe contact </b>- It seems like s small thing, but including the area code with the phone number means that if I am interstate and need to contact them the connection will work, removing a potential hurdle. This week I received appointment reminders from a business intended for someone else. Whilst they provided a phone number, I had no idea which State they were from so I couldn't (be bothered to) let them know of their mistake.<br />
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Reminder messages are no doubt a great technique to use; short, sharp communications that keep both parties committed to the appointment. As the examples showcase, in the space of only twenty words you can make decisions that will materially benefit the effectiveness of your message, your business and your customer, so get texting. <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">PS Why not join like minded colleagues by signing up to the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-67718831940154004702012-12-03T16:29:00.000+11:002012-12-03T16:29:08.210+11:00The bowls club got their signage right...A sign I spotted on the weekend which is a great example of behaviourally effective language.<br />
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"Free coaching and equipment" immediately reduces potential anxiety amongst people who might be curious about lawn bowling but uncertain about how to get started. <br />
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<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-81253098219042952862012-11-26T05:32:00.000+11:002012-11-26T05:32:00.387+11:00What mangoes at the market teach us about buying behaviour <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As an infrequent visitor to the fruit and veggie market I can find it quite overwhelming. Stall after stall of similar stock, vendors shouting their deals and a strange mix of market aficionados weaving through crowds with their trolleys and bags, and novices, bumping into things as we try to ingest all the information and walk at the same time. It reminds me of most online retailers - overwhelming those new to the website and designing for those who are already competent. So what can we learn from the behavioural techniques used by grocers to get people to buy?</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1. Use a lead item that is desirable</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Influencing buyers to select their stall over another is a major hurdle that grocers need to deal with. </span>All stock looks the same, so price becomes a key criterion (sound familiar to online retailers?). Smart grocers therefore lure shoppers with a lead item, promoting a desirable product at a price that is easy for the buyer to understand. At the moment, mangoes seem to be the carrot (so to speak).<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Grocer A: 3 mangoes for $5</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Grocer B: 2 mangoes for $5 </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">No question that Grocer A is likely to generate more business because the relative value is easy to understand and whilst s/he may take a hit on profits from mangoes, this grocer has won the chance to sell more items to the buyer. In colloquial terms, losing the battle to win the war.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What if you are Grocer B? Should you change your offer? What's interesting is that Grocer A's offer is powerful because it is contrasted with Grocer B; if that wasn't available it would be harder for the buyer to assess its merits. Grocer B has a number of options;</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Match the offer</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Choose another lead item (eg nectarines)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Use a different pricing structure (eg promote $2.50 per mango or 'get two mangoes and a third one free' so that it is more difficult for buyers to do a direct comparison)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Bundle the offer (eg two mangoes and a punnet of strawberries for $5)</span></li>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">2. Simplify the value assessment</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Note that both grocers have used a whole dollar amount ($5) rather than complex number (eg $4.99) in this case. Why? In an environment in which there are hundreds of prices displayed, and most per kilogram ($6.99/kg, $3.99, $4.99...) the whole number alleviates the buyer's burden of calculating value, effectively saying "you don't have to strain your brain, it's great value". In behavioural terms, the whole number relaxes the buyer and increases confidence that they can successfully manage the transaction. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I've also seen this technique used at Coles, where a discounted item is promoted using a whole rather than complex number. For example, yogurt that is normally $6.24 may be marked down to $4 rather than $3.99. </span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">3. Gain commitment</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The mangoes not only attract the buyer but commit them to transacting with the vendor. In other words, once the mangoes are in the basket, it becomes hard for the buyer to recant and take their business elsewhere. A couple of things are happening here.</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They have sunk the cost of their time and effort in queuing up and going through the process of sale. Having committed to doing this with one vendor, the desirability of doing it with another (particularly when the upside is difficult to discern) diminishes.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We like to think we are good at making good decisions. The buyer has given themselves a tick of approval for buying the mangoes, and therefore is likely to seek to build on that by continuing to shop in the same stall. </span></li>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">New vs existing customers</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As I mentioned, I am a relative newbie to the market and so my attention is soaked up just trying to navigate the environment. I look for simple price cues because my cognitive load is already high.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Experienced market goers on the other hand are familiar with the environment and so have greater capacity to discriminate between vendors, concentrating on micro rather than macro detail. As such, these buyers are more likely move between stalls, visiting Grocer A for mangoes and Grocer B for potatoes for example. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It's pretty clear then that each vendor needs to devise different strategies for new and existing buyers. Where lead items may attract new custom, factors like customer service, stock range and quality become central to retention. The same goes for all types of businesses; online and off. </span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Lessons from the market</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Next time you visit a market, think of it as an analogy for your business. How are you enticing new buyers? Are you making your offer easy to understand? What's your competitive positioning? How do you gain commitment on a small scale so that it turns into something bigger? Take a moment to reflect on the behavioural state your buyer is in - are they new or existing? - and how you guide them through the experience of purchase. Are they overwhelmed and looking at the macro level or familiar and more discriminating on micro detail? Most of all, put yourself in the shoes of your buyer and from there you'll be able to shape an effective behavioural strategy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">PS Why not join like minded colleagues by signing up to the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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Image credit: http://www.rgbstock.com/images/mangoes<br />
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<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-45879164050883225962012-11-19T06:09:00.000+11:002012-11-19T06:09:00.389+11:00Excel in behaviour, not just numbers: Why Behavioural economics is important for finance professionals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been lucky enough to tour around the country with the CPA Congress in the past few weeks to talk about the application of Behavioural Economics to finance. Being a past beano, I know only too well that 1. businesses live and die by the numbers and 2. it's really not about the numbers - it's about the behaviour surrounding the numbers. I might think 6/10 great, you might think 6/10 is bad; the number is objective but the interpretation is subjective. That's why it's so important for finance professionals to understand behaviour if they want to significantly impact their business and their customers.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are three quick behavioural techniques for finance professionals.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1. Know when to fold 'em</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">As a finance professional you encounter this behaviour all too often. </span>It may be a client who just won't sell bad shares, a client who simply can't be convinced to move to better performing options, or a stakeholder who refuses to close down a project that has no hope of generating a return. The numbers don't lie, but rational analysis is not what's holding your customer back.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We hate to acknowledge failure. Selling shares that have tanked smacks us in the face with our bad decision so we prefer to avoid recognising the loss and instead sell good performers so we can feel like we've aced it!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a finance professional, your task is to soften the blow by distancing ego from outcome. For instance, if the time has come to sell a bad investment, try talking about broad market forces rather than individual judgment. Gotta know when to fold 'em.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. Why one dollar isn't the same as another dollar</b></span><br />
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<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Hungry Jacks ran a $2 Groupon deal for a $6.95 meal package they received over 120,000 downloads in three hours. When ATMs started to carry a warning about a $2 fee for 'foreign' bank transactions, activity plummeted from 50% to 40%. If $2 can change behaviour, imagine what larger amounts can do! </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">If you've ever wondered why some people like prefer to get their health rebate returned as a lump sum whereas others take it as a discount off their premium, or why we stress about utility bills going up but happily buy more clothes than we need, it's called 'mental accounting' and it impacts how we spend and save money. For finance professionals, you need to tease out how your customer is thinking about money so that you can influence their behaviour.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Information blinkers</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you've ever found that your client or stakeholder seems only to hear information that supports their position and ignores anything that is contradictory, then you have been introduced to information biases. Known by names such as Confirmation Bias, Hindsight Bias and Clustering Illusion, we unconsciously use these filters to distort, accept or reject information so that it gels with our view of the world and alleviates anxiety about whether things make sense.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a finance professional, know that your customer will be blinkered by their filter system. It's not that they don't understand necessarily, it's that you need to find a way of meshing your perspective with theirs. Thankfully, behavioural economics provides clues on how to do this.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are plenty more of tips for finance professionals from behavioural science, and what I love is that human behaviour doesn't have to be a mystery anymore. Think of behavioural economics as an audit process with 'behavioural standards' in place of accounting standards and you have a ready made toolkit for influencing your customers. At last you can excel in influence as well as numbers!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interested in finding out more? I am running a series of fast track webinars for finance professionals on topics like those mentioned. <a href="http://www.bri-williams.blogspot.com.au/p/learn-apply-and-embed-behavioural_8517.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> for details.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join like minded colleagues by signing up to the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-72063206272910308852012-11-12T05:43:00.000+11:002012-11-12T05:43:00.706+11:00Opportunity knocks: getting your buyer to answer <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the past week I've had two door knockers - those poor souls who have to go door to door to peddle their wares - attempt to win my business. One succeeded and one failed, and here's why.<br />
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<b>What was the product offer?</b><br />
Door knocker one, let's call her Sally*, represented Energy Makeovers who on behalf of the Victorian government, are installing free Embertec 'smart switches' to reduce energy consumption. Door knocker two, let's call him Bruce*, was from Fairfax, offering a free trial to <i>The Age</i> newspaper print edition together with a bonus copy of <i>The Good Food Guide</i>.<br />
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Some background on me. I don't leave my appliances on when they are not being used, so I don't really feel like I am wasting much power and I do read<i> The Age</i> online and buy it occasionally on the weekend. If you were segmenting me by my usage patterns, things would look shaky for Sally but encouraging for Bruce.<br />
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Then why did Sally succeed in getting me to agree to a smart switch where Bruce failed to get a paper in my hand? The behavioural approach they took.<br />
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<b>Day and Time: Beware depletion effects</b><br />
Sally called on my house around midday on Saturday, whereas Bruce came by at 6.30pm Wednesday night. This made a difference to me because by Wednesday night I had already made a lot of decisions in the course of my day. As <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Jonathan Levav of Stanford and Shai Danziger of Ben-Gurion University</span> examined in their study of over one thousand parole judges, when we get mentally depleted we tend to opt for status quo. In this case, my status quo was not to have a newspaper delivered so it was easier to say no than think about saying yes.<br />
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Sally on the other hand caught me at lunchtime on Saturday - fewer complex decisions had been taken leaving more mental room to face the task of hearing the offer.<br />
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<b>Vividness: Help me see the outcome</b><br />
When Sally came to my door she had the switch in a box, ready to go. This made a difference because I could see the unit - it was real. Whilst I had never bothered to respond to direct mail or marketing flyers about the switch, here was one on my doorstep with someone ready and capable of installing it. We are enormously influenced by what happens in the immediate term and by the vividness of the what is being proposed, so having the units on hand and on display had impact.<br />
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Bruce came to my door with what looked like a script and holding a copy of <i>The Good Food Guide</i>. Nice try - having the book there was a good idea. But, the guide was not the core proposition, the printed newspaper was. Why on earth did Bruce not have copies of the newspaper to give out? Show me what I'm signing up for, don't distract me with 'steak knife' bonuses.<br />
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<b>The catch of Free</b><br />
Both Sally and Bruce had a 'free' product for me; a free power switch and a free trial. There is no doubt that 'free' is the most persuasive price point you have at your disposal - it can definitely change behaviour because it wipes out the economic risk on the part of the buyer. But with 'free' comes the invariable question, 'what's the catch?' which is the buyer's attempt to assess the social and psychological risk involved in the transaction. <br />
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Whilst Bruce may have been offering the newspaper for free, I was busy calculating the psychological trauma of getting out of a contract once the trial period concluded as well as the social implications of having a newspaper delivered. Bruce's offer came with a commitment that I didn't want to make.<br />
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By contrast, Sally's free switch was also free of obligation. If I didn't like it, I could remove it. The psychological and social costs of the transaction seemed low so I didn't feel that there was a hidden catch.<br />
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<b>Treat reasons given for decision with caution</b> <br />
Having worked as one I couldn't help but think of the product managers back at HQ assessing the performance of their door knocking strategy.<br />
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Embertec would have been pleased because my house had one of their units installed. They didn't ask me why I agreed to the unit so I can only hope that they know the transaction was won in large part by having the product in the hands of their representative. <br />
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Fairfax would have been disappointed to have missed an opportunity to convert a digital reader. To his credit, before I closed the door Bruce asked me why I didn't want to take up the offer. I told him that I read the paper online - which is true - but I did not tell him the real reason was I couldn't be bothered with the process; that I was midway through preparing dinner, the last thing I was thinking about was a newspaper and I was mentally fatigued. When Bruce reports back to Fairfax, the results of this self reported behaviour will invariably influence the decisions they take in future even though it was not accurate. Fairfax will never know that they could have won my business if the door knocking process had been different, and for product managers that is immensely frustrating.<br />
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<b>Lessons for your business</b><br />
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<ul>
<li>Make your product or its outcome vivid so that it is real to your buyer</li>
<li>Segmentation can be meaningless if you don't carefully design the behavioural interaction</li>
<li>Remember that free has a psychological and social cost that you also have to manage</li>
<li>Reasons cited for a decision must be treated with caution</li>
<li>Place greater emphasis on observation of behaviour to identify what elements of your offer work</li>
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* Names are fictitious<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></i></span></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">PS Did you know I can audit your website or marketing materials for behavioural effectiveness? Just email </span><a href="mailto:bri@peoplepatterns.com.au"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">bri@peoplepatterns.com.au</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"> to find out how.</span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></i></span></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;">PPS Why not join like minded colleagues by signing up to the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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Image credit: http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mfeb7f2/Doors+4<br />
<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-45118388441039834712012-11-09T14:18:00.000+11:002012-11-27T08:55:20.193+11:00Doodles demystifying buyer behaviourThe behaviour of clients, customers or stakeholders can often be perplexing - a challenge when you have to work out how to influence them!<br />
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Don't worry, the answer is closer than you think. In fact, your buyers are a bit like a smartphone...<br />
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This slide pack includes three doodles to demystify buyer behaviour. <a href="mailto:bri@peoplepatterns.com.au" target="_blank">Email me </a>to find out more about converting buyer behaviour into better business results. Enjoy!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/15357895" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="427"> </iframe> <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Peoplepatterns/buyers-are-like-by-bri-williams-15357895" target="_blank" title="Buyers are Like... by Bri Williams">Buyers are Like... by Bri Williams</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Peoplepatterns" target="_blank">Bri Williams</a></strong></span> </div>
Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-15693017554816545662012-11-07T15:06:00.002+11:002012-11-07T15:06:54.885+11:00Announcing new behavioural techniques webinar series for finance professionals<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As someone who has worked in finance, I know only too well that the numbers don't always speak for themselves. </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, now more than ever finance professionals have to influence their customers and stakeholders to take action and that means knowing how to influence behaviour. </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's why I've created 5 self-contained webinars for finance professionals. Learn to how to navigate the maze of human behaviour using techniques from behavioural science that will make a difference to how decisions get made, and make a difference to your career success.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">LEARN, APPLY AND EMBED BEHAVIOURAL TECHNIQUES IN 5 X 30 MINUTE WEBINARS</span></span></h2>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Structured over 5 self-contained sessions, the <b>Buyer Behaviour coaching for finance professionals</b> is perfect for people who specialise in influencing financial decisions, want to gain advantage for your business and who need the flexibility of a program that works around your business demands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the end of each webinar you will be ready to apply new behavioural techniques in your business.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each webinar is self-contained which means you can choose to attend one, multiple or all sessions. What a great way to get CPD hours!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><b>Topics in brief</b></span></span></div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Walking away:</b> Why we hold on too long to bad investments <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 30 Nov 2012 </span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><b>Mental accounting</b>: why money means different things in different contexts </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 7 Dec 2012</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Information biases:</b> why we have a blinkered view of information <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 14 Dec 2012</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Number psychology: </b>why presentation matters <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 11 Jan 2013</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Calculating gains:</b> Why gains that are short-term and separate are more persuasive than those longer-term and combined <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 18 Jan 2013</span> </span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More information about each session is included below.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How the sessions work</span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Scheduling</span></b><span lang="EN-US">: webinars are 30 minutes and will run on the stated date. Recordings of each session will be available to registered participants.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b><span lang="EN-US">Content: </span></b>Each session will include;</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flexible pricing</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Pay as you go: </span></b><span lang="EN-US">The webinars are available on a pay-as-you-go basis at $125 (incl gst) per session. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">***November special: Book before 29th November and pay only $50 (incl GST) per session. Quote promo code "<b>November</b>" in the registration form***</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Request your seat<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Walking away:</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 30 Nov 2012 <a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87814C38" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Book now</a></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><b>Mental accounting</b>: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 7 Dec 2012 <a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87814A3A" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Book now</a></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Information biases:</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 14 Dec 2012 <a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA8781483B" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Book now</a></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Number psychology: </b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 11 Jan 2013 <a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87824E31" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Book now</a></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Calculating gains:</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 18 Jan 2013</span> <a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87824D30" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Book now</a></span></span></li>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Session 1. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walking away: Why we hold on too long to bad investments </span></b><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Friday 30 Nov 2012 </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">11am - 11.30am </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are all prone to hold on to something too long. Suits that don't fit anymore, shoes that hurt to walk in, and of course investments that we should have ditched long ago.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a finance professional you encounter this behaviour all too often. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It may be a client who just won't sell bad shares, a client who simply can't be convinced to move to better performing options, or a stakeholder who refuses to close down a project that has no hope of generating a return. The numbers don't lie, but rational analysis is not what's holding your customer back.</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this webinar, we'll use behavioural economics to unmask the secrets of why people hold on too long to bad investments and what you can do to break through. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87814C38" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here to register for Session 1</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Session 2. Mental accounting</b>:</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> why money means different things in different contexts</span> </b></span><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">11am - 11.30am Fri 7 Dec 2012</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Hungry Jacks ran a $2 Groupon deal for a $6.95 meal package they received over 120,000 downloads in three hours. When ATMs started to carry a warning about a $2 fee for 'foreign' bank transactions, activity plummeted from 50% to 40%. If $2 can change behaviour, imagine what larger amounts can do! </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />If you've ever wondered why some people like rebates whilst others prefer discounts, why money for utility bills is treated differently to money for entertainment, then this webinar is perfect for you. Learn why 'mental accounting' matters and what it means for you when you are influencing your customers or stakeholders to take action.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87814A3A" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here to register for Session 2</a></span><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Session 3. Information biases:</b> <b>why we have a blinkered view of information </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 14 Dec 2012 </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">11am - 11.30am </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever found that your client or stakeholder seems only to hear information that supports their position and ignores anything that is contradictory? We are all prone to Information Biases; filters that distort, accept or reject information according to our view.</span></div>
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As a finance professional, the challenge is how to understand and deal with these biases so that your client or stakeholder makes the most appropriate decision. Join me for this important webinar and learn how to address biases.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA8781483B" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here to register for Session 3</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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Session 4. Number psychology: why presentation matters </b></span><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 11 Jan 2013 </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">11am - 11.30am </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A number is a number, right? Well, no. After all, we prefer 97% fat free yogurt rather than yogurt with 3% fat! How you present a number can have dramatic ramifications for how your audience receives it, so rather than leaving it to chance, why not learn the techniques to use when sharing information?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join me for this webinar on number psychology where you will learn about framing and anchoring numbers to maximise your communication.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87824E31" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here to register for Session 4</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Session 5. Calculating gains: Why gains that are short-term and separate are more persuasive than those longer-term and combined </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fri 18 Jan 2013</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11am - 11.30am </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seems strange doesn't it? When people receive two smaller gains rather than one gain of the same amount, they are more satisfied. Time horizons and frequency of reward can have significant impacts on your customer or stakeholder's behaviour. If you are in the business of convincing people to buy financial products like shares, annuities or superannuation, or advising your workplace on how best to incentivise staff then these concepts become hugely significant. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join me for this webinar to understand the behaviour of gains.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E950DA87824D30" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here to register for Session 5</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have any questions or would like more information, simply email </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3e8ce1; text-decoration: none;"><a href="mailto:bri@peoplepatterns.com.au" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">info@peoplepatterns.com.au</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image credit: http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mhixRCW/Maze</span></div>
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Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-70221702659504252722012-11-05T05:11:00.000+11:002012-11-05T05:11:00.454+11:00The Behavioural Economics of Melbourne Cup Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You have spent hours hunting for the right frock, shoes, bag and hat. You've been primped, plucked and spray tanned, waxed and blow dried. You have dieted, exercised and cleansed. You've been up since the early hours, battled traffic snarls and endless queues. And now here you are. Standing in the car park which has been claimed by heels rather than wheels, crammed in amongst sweaty strangers, sipping sour bubbles and nibbling soggy sandwiches. Ahhh, Melbourne Cup Day...proof irrefutable that we are not entirely rational beings.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In celebration of the famous Melbourne Cup, let's take a sneaky peek at the behavioural economics at play.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overconfidence bias: </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can be too confident in our abilities which leads to risk taking.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I've studied the form and of course I know more than the Bookies." </span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Illusion of control:</b> We think we can control events that we can't.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"My horse always/never wins."</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actor-observer bias: </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We attribute our own positive behaviour to our character, and the behaviour of others to the situation.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"When I get drunk it's the mix of wine and bubbles that did it; when you get drunk it's because you drank too much!" or "When I win it's because I am super talented in selecting winners; when you win it's luck."</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Endowment effect: </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't get too excited guys, endowment is about us overvaluing what we own.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Sure I randomly drew that horse out of the hat, but it's mine and you can't have it."</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Restraint bias: </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We underestimate our ability to avoid temptation.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"It's ok, I'll only have a couple of drinks." </span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Remembering self:</b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our memories of an experience rather than the experience itself is what persuades us.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remember the fun of previous Cup days rather than the reality of sore feet, sun burn and expense.</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mental accounting: </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Money is allocated to different 'mental' bank accounts.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I paid for my outfit out of a different 'mental account' than my power bill. Any money I win will be 'free' money to be used on fun stuff.</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Focusing illusion:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever we focus on has more importance at that moment than any other time.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"What, there's a race <u>after</u> the Cup??"</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clustering illusion:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We see patterns where none exist.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The jockey is wearing my lucky colours."</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hindsight bias:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We knew it all along.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I knew it was going to win! I just didn't get around to placing a bet."</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunk cost fallacy:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once resources have been invested, we find it hard to walk away.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I better just finish this last drink. Can't let it go to waste" or "Of course I'll wear that fascinator again!"</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sounds like fun doesn't it? And one for the road, </span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hedonic framing:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Separate, smaller gains over a stretch of time are more pleasurable than one large win of equal value, but smaller separate losses hurt more than a once off. In other words, the more times we are interrupted by good or bad news, the better/worse it is.</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This is the best day of my life!" or...</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No. Don't worry. Your horse always wins. Have a good one.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;">PS Why not join like minded colleagues by signing up to the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></i></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><br /></i></span></b></span></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i>Image from http://www.rgbstock.com/images/horses/2</i></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-70952028882996730982012-10-29T06:06:00.000+11:002012-10-29T06:06:00.342+11:00LinkedIn lesson in engagement: keep the number fresh<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LinkedIn do a lot of things well when it comes to influencing the behaviour of their market, and today I thought it worthwhile to point out one of the tricks they are using: keeping stale information fresh!</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Change the number by changing how it's calculated</span></b></h4>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every few days the number of people who have viewed my profile changes...but not necessarily because the actual number of viewers has. What do I mean? LinkedIn cleverly update the count of viewers by changing the time period over which the viewers have been counted. Where today I may have been viewed by '6 people over the last 3 days', tomorrow I might see that I have been viewed by '10 people over the last 7 days'.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Is this important? You betcha! It keeps my interest because the number looks different and so I feel compelled to click through to see what's changed. This interest keeps me engaged with LinkedIn both emotionally and transactionally, in other words, I don't just clock the number, I click through (where they then try to upgrade me to premium).</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">What's the behavioural technique?</span></b></h3>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is the same tool that can be used to make mortgage payments or car finance seem less scary. For instance, you may have seen car ads like this Lexus example that diminishes the purchase price by promoting a weekly repayment instead. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">What trick are they using? It's called Denominator Neglect, where we focus on the numerator (ie the thing that we are getting like 'viewers') rather than how it's calculated (ie over how many days). Like a muffin, it's what's on top that counts!</span><br />
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<br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Lessons for your business</b></span></h3>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Three lessons from what we've covered.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1. Your buyer is most likely to be persuaded by the numerator rather than the denominator, so consider how you can best utilise this in pricing,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2. Don't underestimate the benefit of putting a new spin on some otherwise unchanged statistic because it may reengage your audience and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">3. Make sure that you are improving the life of your buyer with any of these tactics because influence is about win/win whereas manipulation is win/lose and a fast track to failure. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></i></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-47644363546666657452012-10-22T05:54:00.000+11:002012-10-22T05:54:00.222+11:00Why team training falls over and how behavioural economics can help<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I sat in a seminar last week on team development and it's prompted me to think about how behavioural economics can be used to improve team performance.<br />
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The presenter started by sharing the characteristics of high performance teams, citing the 2012 AFL premiers the Sydney Swans as an example. What elements of team dynamics were called out? Process, shared vision and values, playing for each other, clarity about the contribution each individual was expected to make and so on. People in the room had no trouble listing these elements, and yet we seem collectively to struggle on a day to day, hour by hour, decision by decision basis to make it happen.<br />
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Perhaps I'm jaded, but there seems to be an intractable disconnect between high performance teams and the rest of the world. For every Sydney Swans there is a Port Adelaide. Where the Swans are the exception, the rest of us are the rule. And in spite of team dynamics being one of the most studied and trained aspects of organisational performance, an area we spend a fortune on, we scratch our heads and mutter "if only". <br />
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So what's breaking down?<br />
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<b>Insights are fleeting, behaviour is entrenched</b><br />
There's no doubt that team profiling tools and team building sessions can improve performance. It's the sustainability of that performance that is at issue.<br />
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In a previous life when I facilitated induction days and team building events, and in other lives where I've participated, I've seen light globes go off. People gain insights into their colleagues and the walls get broken down between right-brainers and left, between introverts and non, between instigators and concluders. The team members see why they approach issues from a particular perspective and with that, develop an understanding of how their colleagues may see things differently. Finally! We have a shared understanding and common language that means 'conflict' is not necessarily personal, it's simply a function of us not being empathetic. Hurrah, at last we can be a high performance team!<br />
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But then something happens.<br />
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It's called habit. We revert to old patterns of behaviour and as the weeks go by, we forget that Jo is a right-brain, introverted, polkadotted, instigator and we just think Jo is an idiot.<br />
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<b>How can behavioural economics help?</b><br />
The core reason that team training fails to deliver sustainable performance is down to behavioural change. And for effective behavioural change, you need to understand human decision making and for that, there is behavioural economics.<br />
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Here is a taster of where behavioural economics can explain the breakdown of behavioural change.<br />
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We are more motivated to avoid loss than seek gain. The gain in this situation is that if everyone performs, we become a high performance unit. But that's not enough on a day to day basis to keep people behaving differently. Why? Because of what I have to lose. Change means I have to give up what I'm used to (loss aversion), it requires more thinking and self-control than I can afford when I'm just trying to get my work done (depletion effect), and whilst the downside of having to spend time empathising with my colleague's style of thinking is blatantly obvious - I mean, who has the time?! - the payoff - "if this stuff even works" seems both ambiguous and way off on the horizon (short-term bias). And anyway, why should I if no one else is (social norming)?<br />
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<b>To embed high performance you must design for it</b><br />
To embed high performance, this is what you must do. Design for the behavioural change. <br />
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First, use behavioural economics to understand the reasons inhibiting change, and on the flip side, will facilitate change. In the example above "why should I when no one else is" can instead become "I will because I see others doing it", "If this stuff even works" can instead become "I know what I need to do in small interaction to make a difference overall".<br />
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And second, ensure that you have strategies to support both the motivation to change as well as ability to change.<br />
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In other words, when the team come back to the workplace all pumped up, when motivation is at its peak, that is the time to get them to commit to new processes and policies, do the hard stuff like moving their office to be closer to their colleagues, schedule meetings they don't like having and so on. Then, when motivation levels drop, the hard changes have already been taken care of so all that you require is the easier tasks. Morning teas, 'thank you' post-it notes...whatever you and your team have designated as 'easy' things should be rolled out so that even if no one really feels like it, you do it anyway and before you know it, you are on the path to high performance.<br />
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So by all means, learn from the best and aspire to create a high performance team; after all, the Sydney Swans did it. But don't leave team performance at an intellectual level, assuming team members will change their behaviour on a rational basis because you'll be wasting your money. For a team to perform differently than they have been, your task is one of behavioural change and for that, you need behavioural economics.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span></span><br />
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Image credit: http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/meZ98Fc/Broken+Chain<br />
<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-25728312765282762582012-10-18T18:08:00.002+11:002012-10-18T18:08:24.897+11:0022 Minutes to a Better Business: The slide packMy slide presentation from recent seminar on how behavioural economics can be used to tackle everyday business issues. If you are interested in hearing more, let me know bri@peoplepatterns.com.au.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/14779077" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" width="427"> </iframe> <br />
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<strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/BriWilliams1/22-minutes-to-a-better-business" target="_blank" title="22 Minutes to a Better Business">22 Minutes to a Better Business</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/BriWilliams1" target="_blank">Bri Williams</a></strong> </div>
Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-14078261188948029362012-10-15T05:01:00.000+11:002012-10-15T05:01:00.357+11:00Innovative packaging bridges analogue and digital divide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VFdXktGuh3M9UR3C8UKSjLtJsrZB0M_pA9oxKACY7dFqOJhXMMITPu8xn51ozZb48FZSk6T0A1toBXQy1eDKHc8M8-3ST0MYBzhIsERekbi8zFBEPiIzfhFpOYgqkJx_3xmmOGb4Spr0/s1600/VitaminsPhone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VFdXktGuh3M9UR3C8UKSjLtJsrZB0M_pA9oxKACY7dFqOJhXMMITPu8xn51ozZb48FZSk6T0A1toBXQy1eDKHc8M8-3ST0MYBzhIsERekbi8zFBEPiIzfhFpOYgqkJx_3xmmOGb4Spr0/s200/VitaminsPhone.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How to simplify the experience of using unfamiliar technology? This was the question resolved by Vitamins Design Consultants on behalf of Samsung who were interested in selling more smart phones to older consumers.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer lay in the packaging.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The roadblock to purchase</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you are unfamiliar with a piece of technology - could be a phone, oven, car, DVD player - it can inhibit your willingness to purchase. After all, we all hate feeling like we are stupid, and not feeling capable to use something that other people obviously can is extremely off putting.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Removing the mental barrier</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With this in mind, Vitamins determined that more could be done to support consumers in the initial stages of setting up and familiarising themselves with their new phone, and that this promise of support would inspire more people to purchase. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Out of the Box</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a brilliant lateral move, Vitamins turned the packaging of the phone - the box it came in - into a storybook of what to do when. As the user flicked through each page they were instructed to complete a stage of the set-up. For instance, the SIM card was embedded in the page with the instruction "This is your SIM card, the heart and soul of your phone, please lift it out". </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From there, the user was asked to physically slot the phone into the book, like placing a picture in a frame. Each page took the user through the phone's interface - what to press to make a call, how to email and so on. A perfect blend of analogue and digital!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Behavioural techniques</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love what Samsung and Vitamins did with their Out of the Box packaging because they used key behavioural insights and techniques;</span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overcoming loss aversion - we hate to feel stupid because it reduces our sense of identity. They created something that supported even the most nervous of new users. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vividness - clear, concise steps meant that there was no confusion as to what to do in which order.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Completion - once started, there was no giving up but also no need to. Simple instructions lead the user through each stage so they ended up with a fully functioning phone and the confidence to use it. Contrast this with technology that you get home, try to set up, get lost in the manual and therefore leave it sitting as a white elephant. My multi-function printer springs to mind as an example.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lessons for your business</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few blog posts ago I talked about "consumption design'; that part of the product experience that relates to how the product is consumed. Vitamins have demonstrated that the product (the phone) doesn't necessarily need to be changed, but the context in which it is 'consumed' can be. We often limit our thinking about packaging to its functional benefits ie keeping the product free of damage and/or sexy of the shelf, but we should be t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hinking about how packaging can be behaviourally improved to enhance consumption. Here's to thinking out of the box!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more on Vitamins, visit http://vitaminsdesign.com/projects/out-of-the-box-for-samsung/</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-18987553587635352622012-10-09T05:30:00.000+11:002012-10-09T05:30:04.006+11:00Learning from a botched loyalty program request<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny2a6M9cP_M9SpYQe8yQo2OHQ6eGztGub6dTx9B2jvFc-qRKK8a-s_iqR6wUsetoY2inPHKrs3cKtetshLRrET8Bt1U0fCq_UEl6bLY1HrWNsV21iD2lxPRheeY_dNt9BRf9YW8lMnymG/s1600/loyaltycard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny2a6M9cP_M9SpYQe8yQo2OHQ6eGztGub6dTx9B2jvFc-qRKK8a-s_iqR6wUsetoY2inPHKrs3cKtetshLRrET8Bt1U0fCq_UEl6bLY1HrWNsV21iD2lxPRheeY_dNt9BRf9YW8lMnymG/s200/loyaltycard.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I was at a well known tea retailer the other week, at the register ready to pay. "Would you like to join our loyalty program?" asked the sales assistant.<br />
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Here's how it went down...<br />
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<li>Assistant: "Would you like to join you loyalty program?"</li>
<li>Me: (exasperated sigh to infer my purse was already groaning under the weight of loyalty program cards). "What's involved?"</li>
<li>Assistant: "You just need to provide some information."</li>
<li>Me: "How much information?"</li>
<li>Assistant: "All of it."</li>
<li>Me: "What's all of it?"</li>
<li>Assistant: "Name, address, phone, email..." (she went on but I'd closed off long ago)</li>
<li>Me: "And what do I get?"</li>
<li>Assistant: "10% off once you reach $500."</li>
<li>Me: "No thanks"</li>
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Pretty simply this assistant and/or the store's policy had botched the opportunity to engage me in their program because effort exceeded reward. The effort/reward equation is one I've flagged before as a useful distillation of what you are requiring of your buyer compared with what they receive.<br />
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Both effort and reward should be assessed on financial, psychological and social terms as well as time and physical commitment. <br />
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In this scenario I was being asked to complete a seemingly endless registration form (time & cognitive effort) for a distant and insignificant payoff (10% after $500). Note the significance on the payoff is scaled in terms of effort. Had I been automatically granted 10% discount on the day for nothing more than an email I would have been rapt.<br />
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Here's how it could have gone down (because as my purse attests, I have been known to join such programs);<br />
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<li>Assistant: "Would you like to join you loyalty program?"</li>
<li>Me: (exasperated sigh to infer my purse was already groaning under the weight of loyalty program cards). "What's involved?"</li>
<li>Assistant: "I just register your name and email and as a thank you I can take 10% off today's purchases"</li>
<li>Me: "OK sure. My email is..." (immediate benefit, negligible effort)</li>
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From there, the company could and should send me a welcome email from which point they can establish a relationship and ask me for more personal information.</div>
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It's easy to go wrong when seeking to engage your buyer, so remember to keep effort/reward in balance and you'll see your conversion improve.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou'll receive a short wrap-up of behavioural tips for business. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here for the 20 second sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span></div>
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Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-52314552530504315892012-10-03T12:55:00.001+10:002012-10-03T12:55:08.670+10:00Bayside Business Network seminar: 22 Minutes to a Better Business<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Monday 8th Oct 2012 6pm -7.45pm</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3366ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How Behavioural Economics can help you tackle everyday issues</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mystified by the behaviour of your customers? Suppliers? Staff? Don't worry, there is a way to better understand human behaviour and most importantly, influence it to improve your business.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Behavioural Economics explains why we behave the way we do, providing you with a guidebook on how to tackle everyday business issues. And the best bit is that it's fun! You get to understand why you love 4c off a litre petrol dockets and why you haven't refinanced your mortgage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In a 60 minute presentation packed with practical examples, join me to learn new ways of tackling common business issues such as:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">pricing and discounts</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">product ranging</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">getting your customers to act</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And just to trick you, the seminar is called "22 Minutes to a Better Business" because that's the name of my book of the same name; the seminar itself is 1 hour chock-a-block full of great ideas. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, you can check out my blog on the business application of Behavioural Economics via <a href="http://www.peoplepatterns.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3366ff;">www.peoplepatterns.com.au</span></a><span style="color: #3366ff;">,</span> where you'll also find my articles for Smatrcompany and MarketingMag.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I guarantee you'll learn lots and enjoy this special seminar. I look forward to seeing you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>People Patterns Pty Ltd</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Bri-Williams-logo.gif" height="37" src="http://www.baysidebusiness.com.au/files/1113/3714/9068/Bri-Williams-logo.gif" style="cursor: move;" width="170" /></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday, 8 October 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">6pm to 7.45pm</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Milanos Brighton Beach</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4 The Esplanade, Brighton Beach</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="white-space: pre;">Only </span>$35 for non-members </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">FREE to BBN members </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bookings Essential</span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Secure your seat now</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Visit:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.trybooking.com/BQPI" target="_blank">http://www.trybooking.com/BQPI</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Or Email: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:info@peoplepatterns.com.au"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">info@peoplepatterns.com.au</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Or Call Bri on 0408 392 173</span></span></div>
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Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-72768455162165701862012-10-01T05:51:00.000+10:002012-10-01T05:51:00.152+10:00How a Freemium site got me to upgradeI've been in the market for webinar software and came across Anymeeting.com via a search engine. A few elements of their business model appealed as examples of behavioural techniques in play.<br />
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<b>Freemium model</b><br />
Adopting an increasingly popular model for online providers, Anymeeting offers both free and premium options for its online meetings and seminars. The catch with the free option is that you and your participants will see advertising. Given I will be charging for my webinars and therefore don't want advertising interfering with the experience of participants I have decided to ditch the free service in favour of a subscription. A couple of advantages of this tiered system; buyers get to trial the service before committing to payment (building confidence and familiarity) and Anymeeting diversify their revenue model by having paid subscribers and advertisers.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThyphenhyphenN_iU2l5dGeK-L3o_xaj2q3OOJyivQSHsmK06MHt46tBEqXBewLK4YrfOQUS-J6mc4WTMZR5Y47DyCdzsrC9l1PVdz3vuq2tvIEWdmhzirrYdfmTD0unOCzdARkCr-gqYe6dhvwgj7c/s1600/AnymeetingAds.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThyphenhyphenN_iU2l5dGeK-L3o_xaj2q3OOJyivQSHsmK06MHt46tBEqXBewLK4YrfOQUS-J6mc4WTMZR5Y47DyCdzsrC9l1PVdz3vuq2tvIEWdmhzirrYdfmTD0unOCzdARkCr-gqYe6dhvwgj7c/s320/AnymeetingAds.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free version with ads<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Upgrade path alleviates pain point</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpflX_9asw3pGU_cHIv7PbdEr53mbFovTS7AlgQDgdFMyVsMMcwdBoTkzVa_3_PWf7EwCqCu90_jyvVPRrF8ljhnbNQxOt2X9BsU6lCNE6K6AV3-ZL74ut1yR2KiOW6PP94jv628WRCNt/s1600/AnymeetingRemoveads.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpflX_9asw3pGU_cHIv7PbdEr53mbFovTS7AlgQDgdFMyVsMMcwdBoTkzVa_3_PWf7EwCqCu90_jyvVPRrF8ljhnbNQxOt2X9BsU6lCNE6K6AV3-ZL74ut1yR2KiOW6PP94jv628WRCNt/s200/AnymeetingRemoveads.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outcome oriented CTA</td></tr>
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We are used to seeing language like 'upgrade to experience benefits...' on sites, but what I liked about Anymeeting was how they expressed it in their call to action (CTA). Rather than 'upgrade now' or 'subscribe', Anymeeting have gone with "Remove ads", a simple, outcome oriented CTA. Aside from removing any doubt as to what would happen by clicking through, this CTA also tapped into the behavioural principle of loss aversion where we are more motivated to avoid pain (poor reaction by paying audience to seeing ads) than seek gain.<br />
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Helpfully, they also provided a comparison of what your users see in both free and paid versions of the site.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYmi-vt0MmvaJH_4aAeBg9hzk5x4Og0oHq2DZpG9GX7Czp4gjp0KuPzF8PDWL_A9n4iip-C2HIf41QFbBSdVi7OVJTYvgRvi6htgcnwGZ9swVMecINIfM4I0RzX85vELZJN9G6eW-JIQo/s1600/AnymeetingComparison.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYmi-vt0MmvaJH_4aAeBg9hzk5x4Og0oHq2DZpG9GX7Czp4gjp0KuPzF8PDWL_A9n4iip-C2HIf41QFbBSdVi7OVJTYvgRvi6htgcnwGZ9swVMecINIfM4I0RzX85vELZJN9G6eW-JIQo/s320/AnymeetingComparison.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ads vs None visual</td></tr>
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<b>Anchoring and influencing choice</b><br />
Anymeeting do their best to upgrade buyers from the time they first visit. Notice how the three program levels are displayed, with the Pro for Meetings package deliberately shaded green to stand out. If they wanted to minimise free option sign-ups they could have taken things further by choosing a more muted CTA for this program (eg dark grey) to shift buyer attention to the paid alternatives.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-PxeULh9yAlrtbi5NTMe_ZsWYq-3wQlGFQvW5NfuDoLwCvXR5-2ZPnk5U4kgG1kCDt1108Lw_GogisuIFAR_nDYJoyM8geLfb9_ix81t4ySz7vLW4lpukYtSR407isa6ZEih1IQ8Ff85/s1600/Anymeetingdefault.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-PxeULh9yAlrtbi5NTMe_ZsWYq-3wQlGFQvW5NfuDoLwCvXR5-2ZPnk5U4kgG1kCDt1108Lw_GogisuIFAR_nDYJoyM8geLfb9_ix81t4ySz7vLW4lpukYtSR407isa6ZEih1IQ8Ff85/s200/Anymeetingdefault.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Program comparison</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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You'll also note the use of price relativity between the Webinars program ($69.99) and the Meetings option ($17.99) which would encourage take up of the latter.<br />
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<b>Payment terms </b><br />
The thing I didn't like? The payment process for upgrading to a subscription defaulted to a monthly recurrent charge and was not sufficiently clear on how I could stop the payment. Supporting the buyer at the point of payment with this type of information is important to overcome risk aversion. Sure some buyers (like me) will proceed, but dropouts become more likely and undermine the effort its taken to get them to the point of sale. Providing money back guarantees is good, but letting the buyer know how they can escape is powerful too.<br />
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<b>Lessons for your business</b><br />
Lessons for your business? Consider a Freemium model to get people started, rethink how your call to action can be expressed as an outcome, take the lead in how you structure the options you sell and finally, cover off last-minute payment nerves with guarantees and explanations. <br />
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(As with all my blogs I have written this piece based on my experience as a customer and have not been commissioned by Anymeeting.)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-35990553725877661432012-09-26T11:09:00.000+10:002012-10-03T13:02:06.100+10:00Putting B__S__ into business: My new webinars<br />
I'm pleased to announce my two new webinars on the use of B__S__ (Behavioural Science) in business. Join me from from the comfort of your office whilst chewing on a sandwich to learn about what influences buyer behaviour. I guarantee you will learn things you will use for the rest of your life.<br />
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<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Getting Your Buyers to Buy </span></b></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How Behavioural Science can get customers to take action</span></i></b></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday 11 October 12.30 - 1.30pm</span></i></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Designed for small business owners and managers, you'll learn</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><br />
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2.5em; padding-right: 2.5em; padding-top: 0px;">
<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The three behavioural reasons people don't take action</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.496094); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Common mistakes businesses are making</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.496094); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Behavioural techniques to influence action</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.496094); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How businesses are applying these techniques to gain advantage</span></li>
</ul>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://www.bri-williams.blogspot.com.au/p/small-business-webinar-11-october.html" target="_blank">Click for more detail</a></span></span></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How Behavioural Science can improve marketing conversion</span></i></b></div>
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<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.496094); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The four layers of buyer behaviour</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.496094); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Common mistakes marketers are making</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.496094); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Behavioural techniques to influence action</span></li>
<li style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.496094); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How businesses are applying these techniques to gain advantage</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><a href="http://www.bri-williams.blogspot.com.au/p/marketing-roi-webinar-19-october.html" target="_blank">Click for more detail</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to hear about my future seminars, webinars and other adventures, w</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hy not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span></div>
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Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-15453229623018283932012-09-24T06:00:00.000+10:002012-09-24T06:00:02.032+10:00A beer lesson in "Consumption design" for behavioural influence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqLDyuJc5B7noXnun7iCx-I0aeYHXMTuqp9P5C1Rni4W549j_5xK2fjRHvkzX25T1banZOA_m9fgxc1Mildh5WYdyuHhiQAfozzdXRMRfOsDSTq5LgeLDaGXNwLXYGptPX8AbADcullSB/s1600/beer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqLDyuJc5B7noXnun7iCx-I0aeYHXMTuqp9P5C1Rni4W549j_5xK2fjRHvkzX25T1banZOA_m9fgxc1Mildh5WYdyuHhiQAfozzdXRMRfOsDSTq5LgeLDaGXNwLXYGptPX8AbADcullSB/s200/beer.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some great examples have popped up recently of how the behaviour of buyers can be influenced by the physical experience that goes with consumption - let's call it 'consumption design'. </span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Too speedy on the beer-y? It might be the glass</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey, there's an excuse for guzzling that beer...the glass is curved! <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043007" target="_blank">Researchers</a> at the University of Bristol (and by the way, kudos for pitching that to the research board!) found that people tend to drink more quickly out of curved glasses because it is harder to gauge how much has been consumed.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No Big Gulp for the Big Apple </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a controversial <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/13/health/new-york-soda-ban/index.html" target="_blank">move,</a> New York city's Board of Health has banned super-sized (16oz/470ml) soft-drink containers. Detractors see it as an encroaching on personal liberty (and stifling vendors) whereas advocates claim it will help fight obesity. The behavioural science clearly demonstrates that when provided a larger serving, we consume more so the decision is grounded in fact; it's the matter of whether government should have the right to determine the size of the serve that remains contentious. </span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stop getting chip-faced</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've mentioned this <a href="http://bri-williams.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/getting-buyers-to-buy-more-often.html" target="_blank">one before</a>, but ever found yourself chomping through more chips than you intended? <a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-edible-food-halt-overeating.html" target="_blank">R</a><a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-edible-food-halt-overeating.html" target="_blank">esearchers</a> looking <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">into self-control dyed chips red before inserting them at set intervals in the Pringles-like tubular packet. Without impacting the taste of the chip they found that when people were cued by a visual 'stop' signal, they ate less. Maybe we need every third Tim Tam to be red?</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">The lesson from these examples? "Consumption design" is a reminder that every element of your product experience will impact consumption. It takes things a bit further than product design and means that your role doesn't end at the production line - think about how and where your product will be experienced and design according to the behaviour you want to facilitate. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">Image: http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mgysJNS</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span>Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-39520271980318039842012-09-17T05:53:00.000+10:002012-09-17T05:53:00.172+10:00Assimilate or disintegrate: How your buyers respond to new information<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3t2dIPrH-ahbSNMSOdnEpXlCDqLdInz7XM9ikrmXP1HMt7C4QNbo7hDyAIFbuWdps2nDhHo6E_j7MH85Nbj4Eu2w9NrEvhOlEm5U6B-s8QBnZbaGzDM51OFELysZdoJExD24QWKOPyxSQ/s1600/jigsaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3t2dIPrH-ahbSNMSOdnEpXlCDqLdInz7XM9ikrmXP1HMt7C4QNbo7hDyAIFbuWdps2nDhHo6E_j7MH85Nbj4Eu2w9NrEvhOlEm5U6B-s8QBnZbaGzDM51OFELysZdoJExD24QWKOPyxSQ/s200/jigsaw.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/plain-package-row-tobacco-company-resorts-to-sick-joke-20120912-25r6k.html" target="_blank">Federal Minister for Health Tanya </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/plain-package-row-tobacco-company-resorts-to-sick-joke-20120912-25r6k.html" target="_blank">Plibersek</a></span> condemned Imperial Tobacco's move to introduce a form of stylised plain packaging ahead of the mandatory and uniform olive green, unbranded version. It is no surprise that the tobacco companies are trying everything to secure their product in market, and so putting the ethics of tobacco products to one side, let's consider a key behavioural lesson from this industry as it reacts to change. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assimilate or disintegrate</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When faced with new information, we seek to assimilate it with our existing view of the world, much like fitting a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. We are motivated to maintain our internal narrative - how we explain the world to ourselves - and will actively seek to resolve what is known as cognitive dissonance; the unpleasant sense that something just doesn't fit right. What do we do to alleviate this feeling? Distort, refute or ignore the new information. Anyone who has been in a meeting when a stakeholder has flat out rejected new facts/research will know what dissonance looks like..it's officially known as "Information Avoidance". In fact, just follow how the political parties respond to the release of studies to see reactions to dissonance writ large.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In adjusting its packaging ahead of the government changes, Imperial Tobacco were seeking to bridge the old and new worlds for its consumers with the hope of softening the reaction. They were assimilating the changes - on their terms - so that their consumers would be less likely to reject the new information.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For your business, consider how any new information - new product or service, pricing, conditions - will likely be received by your market. How are you helping to bridge the gap between old and new so that the change will be assimilated rather than disintegrated?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span></div>
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Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-84500480462377788472012-09-10T05:35:00.000+10:002012-09-10T05:35:00.785+10:00Behavioural lessons from one of the best websites<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My heart began to race. It was the last one and I knew there were four other interested buyers. No time to muck around, I better go in for the kill. Where's my credit card?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome friends to the world of booking accommodation online, a goldmine of examples of behavioural economics applied to the customer experience.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's look at just three of the techniques used by one of the best exponents, Booking.com.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9Vt2RPNA44gbUHxYWQs3ayhR8RCodj5V8pUx9QEg5Rr7Wy4NdIcacDqZtpEYCJTLHRxrmbl0m6YcJhezbCqClsfUuaj4rWyhSCgBFajprWydQakpE6B_2sk0_L0lOe6YDnSoWrUL6Er-/s1600/BookingcomImage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9Vt2RPNA44gbUHxYWQs3ayhR8RCodj5V8pUx9QEg5Rr7Wy4NdIcacDqZtpEYCJTLHRxrmbl0m6YcJhezbCqClsfUuaj4rWyhSCgBFajprWydQakpE6B_2sk0_L0lOe6YDnSoWrUL6Er-/s400/BookingcomImage.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sample listing from Booking.com</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Create a sense of urgency</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No surprise, but part of getting customer commitment is a sense of urgency. Urgency comes from our fear of missing out, so this is how Booking.com use it; </span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notice that the number of rooms left is displayed next to the City View room deal. Trust me, when it gets down to 1 you jump pretty quickly. Chances are you will even stop looking for reviews in your rush to secure the room - the overall rating will do.</span></li>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Create a sense of normalcy</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As much as we deny we are persuaded by what others do, we are. Being a normal part of the 'herd' is core to our functioning, so here's how Booking.com use it;</span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are 6 other people looking at this hotel - good, because it means I have great taste. But worrying that there are six people looking and only three of the city rooms available! Urgency strikes again.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last booking - others have trusted this hotel enough to book</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guest reviews - whilst the impartiality of reviews may be questioned, they do carry psychological weight because they are ostensibly written by people like us</span></li>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Create a sense of value</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We need to make estimations of value whenever we are looking to buy. If the business doesn't control how its price is contextualised we will rely on whatever's in our head - dangerous for any business. You must therefore anchor the prices relative to others. For example, carry more expensive options to encourage sale of the cheaper option, and always list your original price along with its marked down amount. Booking.com;</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notes that the price for the City View room has been marked down, and obviously so. No good just showing your 'sale price' if you don't also show the original because your customer may not understand how great a deal this is.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've booked a lot of accommodation over the years and whilst there are many sites - Lastminute.com.au, Expedia.com, Wotif.com amongst them, I keep being drawn back to Booking.com for its interface and communication of information. Let me know if you agree that it is one of the best, and whether you have used similar behavioural techniques in your business.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span></div>
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<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-47816893487173515302012-09-03T06:00:00.000+10:002012-09-03T06:00:03.283+10:00Just make a decision will you!!! Overcoming decision quicksand to get the sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZIjlM_A0TayXjuD1OC5yGuln9WpLaYzcejGUllzHgJZzth_FhmPhMVa17Ol7yA-wVkzVKnvwPojnGiWq3gnuA0lfuMAYj8rWUqn3mNXSqyZ1LdMfTJVGf0DWvGUK9jps4EJb0ZfqVQfY/s1600/Danger_quicksand.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZIjlM_A0TayXjuD1OC5yGuln9WpLaYzcejGUllzHgJZzth_FhmPhMVa17Ol7yA-wVkzVKnvwPojnGiWq3gnuA0lfuMAYj8rWUqn3mNXSqyZ1LdMfTJVGf0DWvGUK9jps4EJb0ZfqVQfY/s200/Danger_quicksand.gif" width="148" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You've been dealing with this customer for what seems like an eternity. On paper, the decision is an easy one, some might say trivial, and yet they can't seem to make up their mind. You are going around in circles, with them demanding more and more information and as a consequence, them getting more and more confused. Oh no! You are in "decision quicksand"!</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you make something unexpectedly difficult, you get quicksand</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In their study <b><i>"<a href="http://www.jcr-admin.org/files/pressreleases/031312230813_Sela_Release.pdf" target="_blank">Decision Quicksand: How Trivial Choices Suck Us in" (2012)</a></i></b> Aner Sela and Jonah Berger examined why trivial choices suck us in. In short, the study looked at the association between difficulty and importance and found that if a choice was unexpectedly difficult, then it's perceived importance increased. What had been trivial has now been elevated into a decision worthy of time and effort. And what better way of churning up time and effort than seeking out more options, sadly taking us further away from being able to make a choice.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using quicksand in your business</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can use quicksand in two ways in your business.</span><br />
<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></i>
<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strategy 1. Intentionally make it hard</span></b></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to increase the perceived importance of a choice, make it more difficult. Provide more options, use complicated language, complex processes and protracted explanations. In Daniel Kahneman's language, you will be engaging "System 2" thinking which tends to interrupt an otherwise low engagement decision. Why would you want to? To force consideration of your product when you are not the preferred incumbent. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A word of warning though, an unimportant decision that is difficult might increase the time involved but it will likely decrease satisfaction. Makes sense doesn't it? We end up resenting being stuck on something that we think we should have easily dealt with. For those who monitor customer satisfaction, it may be worth looking at how your customers perceive difficulty relative to importance because where effort is greater than reward, satisfaction will suffer.</span><br />
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strategy 2. Simplify</span></i></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More commonly, you will want to make the decision process for your customer as easy as possible. Fewer options, simple language, easy to follow processes and straight forward explanations. Here "System 1" thinking will be most likely ruling the roost meaning your customer will be on 'auto pilot' and go with the flow. Your job of course is to set up the flow!</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting out of quicksand</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what do you do with the customer is stuck in decision quicksand? Go back to the basics of what they first talked about and why they contacted you. Fight their urge to get more information by concentrating on framing their decision using simple pros and cons. Something along the lines of...</span><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let's go back to when you first walked in. As I see it you have two choices in what we've talked about, A or A-. Now A has xyz whereas A- has 123. From what you've described to me, A- is really what you are looking for. Does that seem right? OK. That is a great decision, let's sort out (next steps)".</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knowing that decision quicksand can affect us all should help you come to terms with customers who seem to be frustrating you on purpose. Take the view that they are not being deliberately difficult and instead look at how you set up the decision for them. After all, you're the choice architect here!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Image from http://www.gsbhealthandsafetysigns.co.uk/danger-quicksand-sign.html)</span></div>
<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-27156662985722112052012-08-27T05:51:00.000+10:002012-08-27T05:51:00.263+10:00Special aisle for blokes? Rethinking the shopping behaviours of your market<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysmAmIEClnd-FVptUNI-SxdAt71ZQuQgLVthyphenhyphenAdRnYMOuh5zAHzLVQcafoasoKDVOAW7AE1paY7_1JuIq053wyJQBnhEe15dqQUqgO7n-Br0668Kqz38BsDniBKNqid9SnsMuts2ulyGi/s1600/The+man+aisle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysmAmIEClnd-FVptUNI-SxdAt71ZQuQgLVthyphenhyphenAdRnYMOuh5zAHzLVQcafoasoKDVOAW7AE1paY7_1JuIq053wyJQBnhEe15dqQUqgO7n-Br0668Kqz38BsDniBKNqid9SnsMuts2ulyGi/s200/The+man+aisle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A great little story grabbed my attention the other day. A supermarket in New York had set up "Man Isle", an aisle dedicated to the shopping needs and behaviours of men. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-man-isle-2012-7?op=1" target="_blank">Business Insider</a>, Westside Market created the section containing chips, beer, razors, condoms and beef jerky based on two things; more men were shopping and there were common goods that the guys were shopping for.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can we take from this? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Reduce pain points for an under serviced market segment</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Structuring their supermarket around the buyer's experience was a great way of reducing pain points and encouraging habituation. The signifiant pain point? Overwhelming choice. The Man Isle reduces choices to a minimum and positions complementary items (eg beer and chips) together. The lesson is always to look at your business from your customer's perspective and ensure you make doing business with you as easy as possible.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Target a Profitable segment</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Westside had researched the trend toward male shopping and determined the segment was worth targeting. This is important - it's only worth customising the experience if you expect to gain a return on your investment through market share, volumes or margin. Part of the consideration should of course be any impacts on the rest of your market. For instance, if Westside had been very aggressive in its targeting of male shoppers it may have inadvertently disenfranchised female shoppers, so striking a balance in how it catered for different shoppers was vital.</span><br />
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<b>3. Give it a try</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The team at Westside created the aisle on the basis of insight, observation and throwing a list of ideas together. They knew what they liked shopping for, so that was the basis of how they stocked the aisle and they are willing to test and learn on the basis of market response. We can sometimes forget that our own expectations of customer service are a great source of knowledge for how our customers like to be treated - after all, we are all consumers, and that the main thing holding us back from growth is fear of failure.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Westside have differentiated themselves by rethinking how their business can better serve customers. I hope you can too.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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(Image from http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-man-isle-2012-7?op=1)<br />
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<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-64542755218689809492012-08-20T06:59:00.000+10:002012-08-20T06:59:00.591+10:00Don't underestimate the impact of fees on consumer behaviour<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1emNEVRS-GcQ3eJUcV8iDo2pE9GitKlO4-m-KbW-EPBsD3QF4PcPVg06-3d9dvf56SZoEIKX7TeHQTNZHzriCro2umcv9Zgnxb8PTOuy0SfKwhD19OMqTFIzSU-4YEH4y8FvUuX6-6yB/s1600/ATM-281x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1emNEVRS-GcQ3eJUcV8iDo2pE9GitKlO4-m-KbW-EPBsD3QF4PcPVg06-3d9dvf56SZoEIKX7TeHQTNZHzriCro2umcv9Zgnxb8PTOuy0SfKwhD19OMqTFIzSU-4YEH4y8FvUuX6-6yB/s200/ATM-281x300.jpg" width="187" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine you are at an ATM withdrawing cash. Before you do, a message comes up reminding you that there will be a $2 fee for accessing your money through an ATM that is not part of your bank's network. Do you proceed or do you cancel the transaction?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you were an economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), you would have predicted that most would proceed with the transaction. After all, it's only $2. We lose that behind the couch.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, much to the chagrin of RBA financial wizards, they didn't count on the impact of consumer 'irrationality'. Instead of consumers banking like they had in the past, when the fee for a foreign ATM withdrawal was buried in terms and conditions and you only found out when you looked at your account statement, consumers have turned away from using these ATMs. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can you learn from the behavioural economics of ATM fees?</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Red rag to a bull</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People are more likely to adapt to a new price if they are not constantly reminded of it - it's like a red rag to a bull. In this case, there was no choice for the ATM owners - the communication of the fee was mandatory, but in your business you may have more flexibility. If you can, parcel the fee in with the price point and/or change once and not every time the customer pays.</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm buying the good not the service</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In previous posts I've talked about delivery fees. For instance, order through Amazon and you pay less for the book but get hit with shipping. Order through Book Depository and you pay more for the book but shipping is 'free' (ie included). </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People hate service fees so much because they decouple the value of the good from the service in getting it to them. Why? Because you retain the product not the service. Your opportunity is to gain advantage by offering to wipe the cost of service (ie offer "free delivery" or "free installation") because 'free' is extremely persuasive and 'free' on a hated cost of service even more so.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Choose your number </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was the fact that the fee is $2 the issue? I think it did have something to do with it. A lower fee structure, say 50 cents or 90 cents and more customers would have proceeded with their transactions because dollars and cents are psychologically different. If I told you that you are entitled to a $2 discount after you've purchased $30 worth of groceries does that hold more or less appeal than me offering you 4 cents off a litre of petrol (which works out about $2 a tank if you are lucky)? Judging by our slavish devotion to petrol vouchers, 4 cents is extremely persuasive. As a business you therefore need to consider the number context of the fee or discount you are using.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big lesson out of the RBA experience is that people's irrationality should not be underestimated. Where something looks inconsequential on paper, it can have dramatic behavioural impacts. Your job is to make sure irrationality works in your favour, and behavioural economics is your guide to knowing how. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To find out more about what happened with $2 ATM fees, read Peter Martin's article "<a href="http://www.theage.com.au/business/banks-2-fee-has-big-effect-20120809-23x13.html" target="_blank">Banks' $2 fee has big effect</a>"in The Age. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Image from http://www.bikyamasr.com/69294/india-launches-first-talking-atm-for-blind/)</span><br />
<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-42991122976431344582012-08-13T05:28:00.000+10:002012-08-13T05:28:00.215+10:00Customer refusals: The difference between "I don't" and "I can't"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUkwzHxTtgo_ADz2jnH3EBFXOixNGWFauFFirgmKO9qoi_QcVSowlc6V4oTasYrRPzinImofmjc6QNAFmiSQZC0mbFUApdQOgbvTneXpPIgofHK40eSt0-LMTO4D4qu2YQjUXaiLGFiHV/s1600/refusal(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUkwzHxTtgo_ADz2jnH3EBFXOixNGWFauFFirgmKO9qoi_QcVSowlc6V4oTasYrRPzinImofmjc6QNAFmiSQZC0mbFUApdQOgbvTneXpPIgofHK40eSt0-LMTO4D4qu2YQjUXaiLGFiHV/s200/refusal(1).jpg" width="183" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When talking a customer through their objections, how much attention have you been paying to the way they say no? A recent study looked into the differences a "don't' vs "can't" can make to behaviour, so let's tune our ears into the implications for business.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>
<b>I Don't vs I Can't signal different motivations</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine you are trying to eat more healthily. You are offered a piece of cake. Do you say "I don't want it" or "I can't eat that"? According to Patrick and Hagtvedt's <b><i>"<a href="http://www.jcr-admin.org/files/pressreleases/031312230537_Patrick_Release.pdf" target="_blank">I Don't" versus "I Can't": When Empowered Refusal Motivates Goal-Directed Behaviour" (2012)</a></i></b> you will be much more effective in dodging temptation if you use "I don't"and this is because it provides you a stronger sense of underlying empowerment. In essence, you are more resolved to say no as an extension of who you are. If you say "I can't"you are really externalising your refusal, inferring that you would except that you can't for some external factor.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, Patrick and Hagtvedt also discovered that there are times when "I can't" can be more effective then "I don't". The difference is in whether the motivation behind the goal directed behaviour is internal (it's who I am) or external (it's for a specific reason eg wedding). Therefore, if I was eating more healthily to lose weight for a wedding, saying "I can't eat cake till after the wedding" will be more effective in the short term than "I don't eat cake (because this is who I am"). The stronger impact of "can't" in this scenario was due to it shifting from simply being an impediment to something the person "must not do", signalling accountability for any breach.</span><br />
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<b>Overcoming your Customer's refusal</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So where does that leave you when handling your customers?</span><br />
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn I Don't into I Might</span></i></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A customer who uses "I don't" is likely to be internalising the decision. No doubt it is scary to have them state "I don't need this widget...", and you may feel it is all over. Your best bet to talk them around is to address how their sense of self is going to be affected by your product/service. Appeal to them as a smart decision maker, as someone who is looking for the best outcome. To get on the right wave length, imagine your customer saying "I am someone who decided to buy this widget"; what would it do for them in terms of status, authority, esteem, and/or profile?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is extremely important in this scenario to give them easy ways out of their "I don't" commitment so use language like "similar clients have opted to test using our widget so they could be sure they were getting the best value from their current supplier." Shifting them from "I don't" to "I might" is at least a change in the right direction.</span><br />
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<b><i>Turn I Can't into I Will</i></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For customers using "I can't", you may need to delve a bit deeper to understand if they are giving you the "I can't (but I really can if you talk me into it)" or "I can't because (external reason)". Probe them on what is preventing them from proceeding - is it just an impediment that you can overcome (I can't because I haven't budgeted for it) or are they at serious risk of breach (eg I can't because I am currently contracted to another supplier). Your goal is to get them saying "I will" because this infers you are both working to a future state where they have overcome whatever is holding them back right now. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In relation to what is probably the most common objection in business, "I can't because I just don't have the budget", you will know yourself that money can usually be found if the desire is there. It's therefore your job to flame the desire whilst mitigating budget issues (through payment options, timing, pricing and so on). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So are your ears better tuned into your customers now? Remember to pay attention to the words they are using to communicate their refusal so that you have the best chance of changing their minds. You can do it. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
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(Image from http://www.imsmigration.com.au/content/Visa_refusal)<br />
<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1919511336069343732.post-73142994509185813462012-08-06T05:43:00.000+10:002012-08-06T05:43:00.130+10:00Three tips for influencing your buyer<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Decisions, decisions. If you are in the business of influencing buyers to buy then you have lots of decisions to make about how best to communicate your message to secure the behavioural outcome you want. Here are three tips to get started.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Eliminate barriers to buying</span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTA5NyR4dcgke58MvjN3SjBRexMNfZY5Ey9WXqJ4tEYvYO1yLd5BXyHz1J7r23_qnZo-9omY4vPReMtBUa38RLONMrvqRab6-NF7ZZZSVXoXW-Zk26o6Um-KWjr8PFpcTMQ0OVE6n3GKB/s1600/IMG_0057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTA5NyR4dcgke58MvjN3SjBRexMNfZY5Ey9WXqJ4tEYvYO1yLd5BXyHz1J7r23_qnZo-9omY4vPReMtBUa38RLONMrvqRab6-NF7ZZZSVXoXW-Zk26o6Um-KWjr8PFpcTMQ0OVE6n3GKB/s200/IMG_0057.jpg" width="150" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Red Box eliminates a barrier</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Often we get stuck by convention, and it's only when a new market entrant pops up that we see opportunities for doing things differently. For instance, a few short years ago it was convention to buy clothes from a bricks and mortar retailer, and now that has been changed with the emergence of online. The barrier of "what if it doesn't fit?" has been mitigated by free return policies.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And convention has been that you have to wait for your dry cleaner to open their doors to drop off your clothes right? Not in a suburb of Sydney where The Red Box allows its customers to get on with life according to their schedule, not the shop's.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Tip:</i></b> Look for any barrier to the buyer doing business with you. Opening hours, location and trading policies (eg payment options) are a great place to start.</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Reduce choice regret </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part of your buyer making a choice is assessing whether they will regret their final selection. Buyer's will try to avoid putting themselves through any pain of regret which means they may defer their purchase unless you help them over the hurdle. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssN0ZLziwJ3atuyW6vCas5teMW24U464yTn3laBxBovfKa7gBWFqG-W3TFHHACZawWZ3SLHl8RIXi8pofYUodlIeZkBVZwZUFp_ACmPsbh9wEsQvPpa6I9jDphnUfGw9_jYcGzsHeQMFk/s1600/IMG_0071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssN0ZLziwJ3atuyW6vCas5teMW24U464yTn3laBxBovfKa7gBWFqG-W3TFHHACZawWZ3SLHl8RIXi8pofYUodlIeZkBVZwZUFp_ACmPsbh9wEsQvPpa6I9jDphnUfGw9_jYcGzsHeQMFk/s200/IMG_0071.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Coles' My5 forces choice</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the subject of choices, I think one of the failings of the Coles' FlyBuys program's "My5" is that it forces people to make a choice about which items they will buy most often and commit to that as the basis of their discount. The risk is that whenever they buy things other than those nominated they regret their decision - creating an unhappy psychological tension that will dilute the 'loyalty' proposition.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Tip:</i></b> money back guarantees and/or price match guarantees can reduce choice-regret.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Normalise the behaviour</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all want to be normal. I know, I know, you are above average but for most of us we are greatly persuaded by what others are doing and we seek social acceptance. Why else would be buy ridiculously expensive cars and use Facebook? If you can tap into the desire to be normal through your marketing communications you will increase your chances of success.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrG4HAk6AkxSWl0Azx8WRKeOJJRxrfn0dpWOhv3Svc7augdpF9wlF97ZOgfNXTl9xcgTb-K_SAFLLh76DFAAR4ukuTmQocM_dRmpcyH9o6jFBegfh0u8mQXHyd-LRqTe8dBVRWQuMb7mt/s1600/IMG_0155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrG4HAk6AkxSWl0Azx8WRKeOJJRxrfn0dpWOhv3Svc7augdpF9wlF97ZOgfNXTl9xcgTb-K_SAFLLh76DFAAR4ukuTmQocM_dRmpcyH9o6jFBegfh0u8mQXHyd-LRqTe8dBVRWQuMb7mt/s200/IMG_0155.jpg" width="162" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rexona ad uses normalising</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my favourite advertising examples is Rexona deodorant's "Do you sweat more than normal?". This works because no one really knows what a 'normal' amount of sweat should feel like, we just know how we sweat. The ad plants the seed of doubt that we are not normal and provides a solution to that tension. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Tip: </i></b>Use "most popular" and "best selling" to help guide your buyer's choice but be selective and authentic - buyer's will be able to smell if you are lying.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Communicating with your buyers in an effective manner is a deceptively complicated task. Set yourself up for success by being clear on what behaviour you want from the buyer, eliminate any barriers to buying, reduce any risk of regret and use the desire of the buyer to be socially accepted to influence their decision.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS Why not join the People Patterns mailing list? Every month you'll receive a short wrap-up of top news from the behavioural sciences and other nuggets of goodness from me. <a href="http://peoplepatterns.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=f2ab7f567a48d024162f6dad2&id=ab69eda3c4" style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none;">Click here to sign-up.</a></span></span></i></span></b></span><br />
<br />Bri Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498873041590675333noreply@blogger.com0