What if… your customers chose to help your customers choose?
what if customers choose other products over yours...
Put yourself in a prospective customer’s shoes. You are about to make a purchase – but from whom?
How will you choose your product and your vendor?
What are the factors that you will take into account?
Of those factors, which one will influence you more than any other? Why?
Sometimes, the results are unexpected. Last weekend we decided to book a winter break. We knew where we wanted to go, but we had to find somewhere to stay. It’s easy enough now though, isn’t it? You just go to Trip Advisor or google your destination, and away you go.
We found it difficult to make a decision, however, because we were spoilt for choice. We trawled though page upon page of resorts, all of which appeared to meet our criteria. We ended up with a shortlist of about a dozen. Next, we scoured the comments and feedback from previous guests. Some negative reviews toppled two of the contenders on our shortlist. We still had ten though, and we still couldn’t choose between them.
Then we hit pay dirt, in the form of images uploaded by previous guests. True, many of these were simple holiday snaps: a woman lounging beside the pool, or a partner looking out of the window as the sun set. Even so, other images contained a wealth of information relevant to us. Some images of resorts were at odds with the brochure images. In some cases, guests had photographed bedrooms and bathrooms featuring decor that was somewhat more “tired” than in the “official” pictures. Clearly, some of the grand-sounding refurbishment programmes had yet to be completed.
The clinchers: photographs of happy holidaymakers sat around at bars and at dinner tables. A picture says a thousand words. In an instant we could see the type of clientele that each resort attracted – and in each case we considered whether these were people that we would enjoy spending time with.
We made our decision based on the guests’ photos. Not their comments. Not the online brochures. Not the quoted prices.
So here is the question again, and I would appreciate your feedback because I would like to examine this subject in greater detail.
Put yourself in the shoes of one of your own prospective customers, about to make a purchasing decision.
Loading ...Image credit: hmerinomx.
