Kelford Labs Daily: Do your customers choose?

“People seem to like a choice for its own sake.” — Rory Sutherland, Alchemy

People crave having options, and we like the feeling of getting to select something.

Of course, people can get overwhelmed and paralyzed by choices—see every long restaurant menu—but the desire to choose remains.

So, think about how you offer your product or propose your services: is it a take-it-or-leave-it deal?

Or do you provide so many options that the client has to ponder and consider (and perhaps wonder if it’s all too complicated)?

Or do you provide a simple, easy choice for the customer to get to make?

When we propose marketing services at Kelford Inc., we usually have three easy options, with obvious tradeoffs, depending on the requirements of the project.

Every option would be a great choice, but the client gets to choose based on their budget level and urgency.

And because we understand the tradeoffs and how they affect projects, we’re able to provide these options on the initial conversation, instead of making them wait for some long and arduous proposal document.

Because of that simplicity, our clients almost always choose their preferred option on that initial call, which means they get to leave the call knowing what they’re getting, why it’s the best option for them, and what it’ll cost.

Which is a better feeling than leaving an inspiring conversation with a potential partner and wondering if you’ll be able to afford whatever eventually gets proposed.

And it’s a better feeling than knowing that, when the proposal comes, it’s almost certain to be a take-it-or-leave-it arrangement, denying them the chance to choose.

We all like to get to choose things, and that includes our customers. So are we letting them?

Do your customers get to choose from a simple set of options with clear tradeoffs?

Or do you choose for them?