As a buyer, have you ever found the sales process difficult? Think about it. You’ve decided you want to buy something. You’ve told the salesperson you want to buy it. Then, all sorts of obstacles magically appear. Complex pricing and feature options. Requests for additional information about yourself, your significant other, and your dog. Long delivery horizons. Mysterious handling fees. In short, friction.
In a March post this year, Robbie Kellman Baxter of Peninsula Strategies says, “Businesses need to remove friction that slows the transition from ‘prospect’ to ‘customer’ so that “the minute you decide you want to buy something should be the minute you are able to buy it …”
True to my conservative New England Puritan roots, when I want to buy something, I want to buy it on the spot. And that includes major investments in life, such as a car. After a short test drive and some background research, I’m ready to go. I’m really not a shopper and don’t delight in searching out and comparing umpteen choices and chuckling with delight over a good deal. If there must be paperwork—a cell phone contract, for example—I want it to be minimal and easy to understand. Perhaps foolishly, I want to move ahead expeditiously, unburdened by the feeling that I’ve just gotten into something I won’t be easily able to get out of. I shouldn’t, in other words, feel that I’ve tiptoed to the precipice of a mistake and merrily jumped off.
Ms. Baxter asked Facebook friends to name some of the industries that seem to delight in making it difficult to act on our needs and desires. Real estate came to mind, as did medical coverage, furniture and appliances, and TSA Precheck. They also mentioned shopping for clothes, with which I heartily concur.
The thing is, though, some of the list includes pretty serious investments. Like buying a dwelling. Perhaps that shouldn’t be all that easy to do. (Some folks who ended up underwater and didn’t really understand the real estate market would probably agree.) On the other hand, shouldn’t there be a way to render those confounded “sales contracts” in plain English so that you can say no before it’s too late?
Leave a Comment