Customers Are Less Rational Than You Think

Long gone are the days where most people buy things based on rational thought. “I need a horse to get me from point A to point B and therefore I’ll save up to buy a horse,” has been replaced with a more emotional approach. Consumers are more focused on products that boost their status, make their life easy, more amusing, things that make them feel safe. The mode of purchasing is along the same lines. When consumers are online browsing, for example, they are inspired to buy things usually on a whim because of a feeling that generated a want or need. For example, a teenager doing homework might stumble across an ad that claims to make her “cool,” and the need to fit in and feel accepted inspires her to ask her parents to buy her said item. A man might read an article on hacking and feel unsafe and therefore buys extra safety software for his computer. A wife might buy a new pie pan for her kitchen so she can make her families favorite pie, to make them feel loved and in-turn make her feel appreciated. You can try appealing to customers rational side but you won’t get far.

The world of consumers is a world of emotions and that is exactly why having a strong trust relationship with your customers is paramount to your success. To inspire someone to want your product they have to feel confident that they are going to gain something positive. Setting up a scenario where they follow through and actually purchase it after they want it is something else. If someone wants the product but then as they are browsing your site something makes them feel unsafe, uncomfortable, anxious, frustrated, confused, or anything negative at all, they are leaving and never coming back. Try to step out of your merchant mentality and put yourself in your buyers’ shoes. Business now is not just about being a good businessman it’s about being a good person. Customers can feel when you’re not genuine.

To inspire a sale instead of just justifying it try these for starters:

• Confidence that merchant can deliver what/when he/she promised.
• Integrity
• Strong character
• Committed to principles.
• Merchant seems focused on establishing long-term relationships.
• A feeling that the merchant has the buyers best interest in mind.
• The Merchant cannot seem prone or needy in terms of instant gratification.
• Merchant’s vulnerability
• values aside from economic values
• a sense of conversational intimacy

Along with a clear website design, third-party-verification, testimonials, excellent customer service, and an easy check-out. Why? Because you’re dealing with feelings. A poor design can be depressing or unconvincing or completely unprofessional or uncool. Lack of third-party-verification puts your business itself in question, lack of testimonials creates further mistrust, complicated check-out builds frustration and confusion, bad customer service can cause someone to lose sleep.

What else have you learned about establishing trust in your business?

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