Our Competition is Beating Us, Despite the Fact We Are Better Than Them. Why?

One of our listeners, Jeanne-Claude, has a problem. He sells a complex product and despite the fact that they have the best one in the industry, the competition is outselling them. 

I can relate. I sold a complicated product when I was in corporate life, and it was always a highly competitive field. It can be challenging to communicate why you are the best when you have a complex offering and you want to tell customers all about it. However, one thing I know to be true is that it doesn’t matter who is the best; it matters who customers perceive to be the best. 

In this episode, we explore what behavioral science concepts might help Jeanne-Claude, and all the rest of you that suffer through something similar, to get the best of his competition. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are a number of factors that influence how customers perceive and offer. In the case of a complicated offering, they might be using something that is easier to compare to get them to a decision. However, it could also be the way the information is presented that drives them to the competition. It might even be that the way the choices are presented is making it difficult for them to choose Jeanne-Claude’s company. We talk about all of these concepts in this episode and how they might be influencing his results as well as how he can leverage them to change the outcome. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion.

• 01:54  We read Jeanne-Claude’s frustrating problem that despite being the best, they are losing to the competition. 
• 03:39 Ryan explains the Evaluability Hypothesis and how it might influence the decision-making process for customers.    
• 07:50  Colin shares a story about choosing travel insurance and how a magazine provided an easier metric to choose one from the many available options.    
• 14:44  Colin explains that it is essential to understand what motivates a decision for specific customers so you can appeal to that in your communication.    
• 21:22   We introduce the concept of framing and how it might influence people’s decisions.   
• 25:42  Ryan brings Choice Architecture into the conversation and how presenting the choices in a different way might lead Jeanne-Claude’s customers in a new direction. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.