The customer feels informed - knowing all of the options available and understands that there are choices.

This is part of the series 9 Characteristics of Great Customer Experiences. This is #6 of the series.

 

What does it mean for a customer to feel informed - knowing all of the options available and feeling that there are choices?

 

After reflecting on this question, I wonder if it should be asked differently: Why should a prospect or customer believe you? 

 

Often, a company will communicate to a customer what it thinks he or she needs to make for a purchase. Describing product features or providing 3rd party analysis reports about a product is one way to help a customer make a purchase. Customer product reviews where they share their experiences with that product is another. And there is always support content, which provides transparency about the product and what it can or cannot do well. Knowing the issues and challenges existing customers have with a product is very important for a buyer to have before he makes a decision.  

 

However, what really matters for a customer to feel informed:

• The customer can define the problem he needs to solve by himself
• The customer knows and understands all of his options available - he knows there are many solutions to his problem, many ways to reach and connect with you, many ways to use your product
• The customer also knows that there are solutions available that are cheaper than what you are offering, could potentially be more effective and solve his problem better, and may be offered by another vendor
• The customer feels he can make an objective decision based on the data you have given him or referred him to
• A customer trusts what you are saying is true and accurate

What is difficult about this characteristic is that it is in a seller's best interest to lie or reswizzle the truth. Prospects and customers know this and watch for it. 

 

So how do you change this perspective? 

 

 

What does an informed customer "look like?"

I like to use REI as an example because they are all about the customer. They have a knack to know when to help you, when to leave you alone, and when to suggest the right solution for you. REI employees are usually active outdoors and enjoy nature - and they have a wealth of knowledge. They will sometimes steer you away from the most expensive product and guide you to the product that is best for you and your level of outdoor experience. They don't just sell you the best product - they sell you a product that is right for you.

 

That approach may not be the best for the business regarding revenue, but it is the best for the business regarding the business relationship.

 

If they sold "the best" product only, it would probably be more advanced than needed by a beginner or intermediate buyer and that person would never come back. Getting something that is more than what someone needs for a solution is just as bad as not having enough of a solution. And selling a product like that supports the view that a seller is not to be trusted and they work towards their own benefit. The "best" product is usually the most expensive; the seller is looking to make money in that case. Your needs and the solution that's best for you doesn't matter.

 

This is why REI is so revolutionary.

 

We sell to people. 

Sometimes, businesses forget that they do business with people. People search for solutions to their problems. People (salespeople) are sharing the solution with people. Business is about relationships between people.

 

And how do you build a great relationship or friendship? You don't hide information. You are forthcoming. You tell the person the truth - and share all the possibilities. You don't share just the possibilities that benefit you if you want an open, honest and transparent relationship.

 

And this is why people don't trust companies. They don't disclose challenges with a product or solution or they don't tell the full story. If companies focused on how to build a relationship with a person, they would sell very differently.

 

Confidence is sexy.

Read any dating site and they all say the same thing: confidence is sexy. When you present all sides of a story to your customers, you are being confident in the capabilities of your product, the type of solution it provides and the solution approach as appropriate. 

 

When you get desperate - pull apart your competitor, play dirty tricks to get customers, start calling everyone on your lists to make sales - you aren't acting confident. You are acting like the stereotypical "psycho girlfriend" who will do anything for a date. 

 

You have to be confident for your prospect and customer to feel confident about their decision to work with you. If you aren't feeling confident about you, why should they?

 

(Dating and sales are very similar. You can take a look at this module in my Beta course). 

 

 

 

How does this apply to the customer lifecycle? How is trust built?

 

Pre-purchase

• Clearly describe the problem your product solves. Make sure it is clear and all aspects of the problem are defined. This builds trust. 
• Let customers share their stories with your product. Encourage them to indicate why they made the choices they did. They can also talk about why they chose your product. Sure, you are highlighting the stories of customers who bought into your vision, however, their stories about your product promotes trust and presents more reasons why someone should buy your product. Prospects and customers are hearing about their experiences directly - that means a lot.

 

Purchase Decision

• Compare and contrast all possible solutions to a customer's problem, possibly thru a competitor analysis table. This builds trust as well. You are informing your prospects and customers about all possible solutions they could use. You aren't doing this for any gain - in fact, you are providing them with options that they may not have considered previously. 
• Encourage customers to compare your product to others. Even if they don't like it, share it. There is a silent confidence in sharing good and bad feedback.
• Open up your support area for a customer to learn more about your product. Encourage the prospect to learn about your product benefits - and defects. Let the customer learn this before purchasing. Sure, there may be some sensitive, competitive issues with your product that needs password protection - like architecture issues or something similar. Those could be password protected - or not, depending on your attitude towards competition. I think your competitors usually have a good idea of what you are up to. If anything, they want your roadmap more than a public product.) If you don't feel comfortable with this approach, you may want to consider why. Is it because your product has too many problems? Maybe you should fix those issues if they bother you to the point you want to hide them. Your customer will always find out your dirty little secrets in product development. You really can't hide.
• Share an origin story! Depending on where the customer is in the sales process, share how your product was built. People want to understand in depth how a solution works. And this information can help someone understand the solution better. It's not future facing and competitive. And origin stories are always a hit! People love to hear how a product or feature came to be.
• Provide a trial version. This is probably the best way for someone to determine if the product will help him - he gets to experience it directly. Letting someone use your product for free for 30 days or whatnot builds trust.
• Maintain a showroom - online or offline. Let people touch and play with your products. Apple was brilliant to create one for their products. And online trial versions are a version of this - they allow you to play before you buy. This is so important. I mean - do you buy a couch before sitting in it? How about a mattress before laying on it? I thought so.
• For select customers - share your future secret plan: the roadmap. If you have a complicated product, share your roadmap. People want to see where you are going and the direction you are taking your product. 

 

Product Use

This is focused on product feature options and using the product.

• Super straightforward and easy to use and find functionality. That alone keeps someone feeling informed. Users feel more confident and secure when they are able to easily see and understand the functionality available on the screen. Hiding features or making them difficult to access adds user anxiety about using your product. Keep it simple and straightforward. 
• Make sure that there is a direct way to access a feature and a secondary way. There isn't really a single, hard and fast way to use any product and access tools. There are always multiple ways to complete tasks depending on how the user thinks. There is the direct way, which is usually an obvious, straightforward way to achieve a goal. And there is usually a second way - that happened probably by accident during product design. But that's ok. It is actually kinda healthy to have that.
• Provide different ideas for how to implement and use a product. People love to hear how a product can be used for different purposes. Or setup in a different way to achieve another goal - or multiple goals. Doing this doesn't only show product usage options - it provides insights into the problem your product solves and its solution. There are always twists and related problems that can be solved with a product. Sometimes a user needs a little help visualizing that.
• Provide all information needed to get the product setup. Provide options for best results and placement and make it easy to read and understand. Images and video is best (people don't read anymore).
• User is able to see all potential user-suggested features to add. It includes people in product development and reminds them of why they chose your product to begin with: open and honest perspective.

 

Post-sales: share information about the product 

• Share all ways to contact the company. This sounds basic but I can't begin to tell you how difficult some companies are to contact. They may not have an 800-number but there should be a second way at least. When users send an email or complete an online form, they can often feel like their message is going into a rabbit hole. There has to be a few ways for someone to reach a real person - phone or online chat or another method.
• When it comes to support, offer a few ways to get the information - video, text, audio. Video is an easier method to use to describe how to complete complex processes.
• Update the customer with information about new releases and features. Remind them why they chose your product and why you have a unique solution. Don't let the customer find out about new features or updates thru industry publications or automatic updates. That's so impersonal! Reach out. Send a quick video. Or an email. Or a link to a mini-site to help them understand what else you offer. Make them feel special and individualized when working with you.
• Billing - be honest about all of the ways that you can be paid. I can't stress this enough. So many companies are not straightforward about this. And they should be. I discussed this in-depth in this other post about customers feeling secure and confident in a customer lifecycle. 
• Make warranty and guarantee information easy to access - understand the policies and options to buy new warranties. More in that same post: feeling secure and confident in a customer lifecycle. 
• Products break, need a replacement, or a refill. But make sure when this happens that a customer understands why he chose your product in the first place. You always have to confirm a customer's decision to buy again or replace items. That's why the relationship with a customer is less of a journey and more of a lifecycle. The journey ends at a destination point - a sale, a transaction completed. In the case of support and replacing a part, the customer in a way is choosing your company and product all over again. They could replace your product with a different company's product. Or decide they have a different problem and need a different solution. Don't get complacent or cocky. Customers can always switch.

Making sure that a customer feels informed, knowing all options available at any time and understanding all choices available, requires that you are confident as a company. Doing this also builds trust with your customer or prospect, further building a relationship with him. Remember, a customer chose your company and product to help them solve your problem. They can always choose someone else just as easily.