To Keep Your Customers Keep It Simple free essay sample

Summary of Article Decision Simplicity; what’s the most important thing we can offer potential customers to move them from being interested to actually purchasing our product? The study described in this article suggests that it’s ‘decision simplicity’. The single biggest driver of stickiness, by far, was ‘decision simplicity’- the ease with which consumers can gather trustworthy information about a product and confidently and efficiently weigh their purchase options. What consumers want from marketers is, simply, simplicity. Researchers from the Corporate Executive Board analyzed results from multiple surveys totaled over 7,000 consumers, as well as interview with hundreds of marketing experts and executives, trying to figure out what makes a product ‘stick’. They looked at over 40 variables, trying to figure out what is most important in the choice of one brand over others. The key wasn’t frequency of interaction with the brand, nor was it price, nor was it the consumer’s initial perception of the brand. We will write a custom essay sample on To Keep Your Customers Keep It Simple or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the end, the purchasing decisions are most influenced by which company makes the decision to purchase simple. The article cites an example of two approaches to selling cameras to web searchers; one firm provides visitors access to extensive information about each of its products, while the other focuses on the user’s needs and steers the user to the most appropriate product. The latter approach would be far more successful in today’s marketplace, say the authors. The study showed that the ‘decision simplicity index’, a measure of ease of accessing the information needed to make decision, was highly predictive of sales success. Brands that scored in the top quarter in their study were 86% more likely than those in the bottom quarter to be purchased by the consumers considering them. They were 9% more likely to be repurchased and 115% more likely to be recommended to others. That is awfully dramatic. The answer to make customers purchasing decision simple has been described in three parts as follow: 1. Easy navigation – while every site can benefit from obvious paths to desired information, the best sites will attempt to determine consumer intent from information like search terms used by the visitor. If the consumer can be steered directly to information relevant to their stage of the decision process (e. g. initial product research or final product selection), they will be more likely to stay engaged with the site. . Trustworthy Information – Oddly, perhaps, the information consumers find most trustworthy isn’t impressive research or detailed product data. Rather, it’s commentary from other consumers in the form of reviews, descriptions of intended use, etc. If our site lacks this type of content, it may seem less trustworthy even if the brand itself is respected. 3. Ease of weighing options – Choices takes a toll on our brains. Offering consu mers more choices can actually reduce sales. Sometimes, many products are necessary to serve specific needs and market segments. The solution, according to the authors, is to provide an easy way to compare products and quickly find the one that is most appropriate. Authors also pointed that ‘Intuit’ has made a concerted effort in providing easy navigable, trustworthy information and helping customers weight their options in which eventually it makes their purchasing decisions far simpler though no company has fully integrated the three components of a decision simplicity strategy. Lesson Learnt / Conclusion On top of trying too hard to engage with consumers via social media, marketers are generally pushing out too much information, causing people to over-think purchase decisions and making them more likely to change their minds about a product, be less confident in their choices and less likely remain loyal to the brand. For years, we’ve heard about KISS: Keep it simple, Stupid. This study shows that advice is still highly relevant in appealing to the digitally aware consumer. It’s time to stop overwhelming consumers with marketing information and cut through the clutter. We should take an unconventional approach – forget engagement, increase simplicity.