Three tips for influencing your buyer

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.


1. Eliminate barriers to buying

The Red Box eliminates a barrier

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.


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.

Tip: 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.

2. Reduce choice regret 
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. 

Coles' My5 forces choice

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.


Tip: money back guarantees and/or price match guarantees can reduce choice-regret.


3. Normalise the behaviour
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.

Rexona ad uses normalising

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. 


Tip: 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.


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.

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New thinking for old business models; Drivers on Scoot and Coles Collect

Two fliers dropped into my letter box captured my attention recently because they were advertising new ways of thinking about existing business models.

The first was a flier for Drivers on Scoot.  As their leaflet probes..."Had a little too much to drink and need to get home safely with your car?"  Ah ha! A solution to the vexed issue that compounds big-night out regret - having to get your car the next day.  The system involves four steps. 1. you make a booking 2. a driver meets you at the agreed time 3. the driver folds the motorised scooter they used to get to you into a bag and slips it in your car boot, and 4. they drive you and your car safely home. The driver then trundles off on their scooter to the next appointment..

Why did I think this business was interesting?  It challenges the conventional thinking around how to get you and your car home (most typically a taxi home and then a logistical negotiation the following day to collect the vehicle).  Promoted as cheaper than a two-way taxi trip,  Drivers on Scoot have attempted to resolve a common issue for people based on these insights: control and convenience.  Control because leaving your car means you cannot control what happens to it, and convenience because you do not have to waste time the following day reclaiming your vehicle.

The second flier I received was for Coles Click & Collect.  This is a new service model that Coles have introduced in Windsor, Victoria whereby you order your groceries online, but instead of having them delivered they are hand packed and you collect them at a service station depot with fancy secured fridges.  It's the "new express way to shop" according to the brochure.

Why did I think this was interesting? Coles are tackling a problem that I myself have experienced with online shopping - I simply do not want to commit to being at home for the 3 hour delivery window on a particular day.  But I would happily shop online if I had control over when I could collect the goods.  Have you noticed that control and convenience have reared their heads again?  Control because I have control over when I collect the groceries and convenience because it fits in with my plans. 

So have I tried either system? Well, no.  I have been too well behaved to need the services of Drivers on Scoot (plus I think they need to target the spontaneous after-work drinks crowd rather than planned-nights out crowd). And for Coles, I do not travel through Windsor and so would need to wait for the service to be offered locally.

But what's interesting is that both Drivers on Scoot and Coles Click & Collect are based around control and convenience.  They have crafted business models based on fitting in with the lifestyle of the customer.  Here's the opportunity for your business: look for the problems that your customers are grappling with to get stuff done. A problem related to having a few drinks? Getting your car home.  A problem with online shopping? Being home when the delivery is scheduled.  Looking beyond your usual assumptions may give rise to a new thinking about your business, so give it a shot.  I look forward to seeing your flier in my mailbox soon.

PS For an excellent practical step-by-step on this type of disruptive thinking, check out Disrupt! Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business by Luke Williams.  http://www.amazon.com/Disrupt-Think-Unthinkable-Transformation-Business/dp/0137025149

Image from http://www.performance-car-guide.co.uk/images/Car-Night-Time.jpg