It’s All About The Customer
Let’s get into some things that you can start using right now.
Whenever any of us is stuck at JDI, we do whatever is necessary to get back in the shoes of the customer and see things firsthand from their point of view. At the Acton School of Business where I teach in the MBA program, this concept is sacrosanct, and for good reason.
Making money is about selling a product for more money than it costs you to create it. How much more is about answering the ultimately very personal question: is the money worth making?
Based on your answer, you can decide whether to proceed with an opportunity or not. You can decide whether to price high or low, move fast or slow, and skim or penetrate a market.
But none of that matters if you don’t have a customer with an intense need. And it does need to be intense. Then, you need to solve that need an order of magnitude better than competitors.
When we poke and prod at customers from a distance we seldom come to understand the true nature of their intense need and we seldom come to understand their psychological reality.
A long time ago we were advising a fintech startup through Techstars called SelfLender (now Self Financial) that helped automatically improve your credit score by exploiting a loophole in the FICO system. It turns out that one way to improve your rating is to lend yourself money and then pay yourself back. It totally works. The company is now a unicorn.
This company was struggling with their “hero” website copy — the words that appear at the top of a page, above-the-fold (before you start scrolling). Their existing copy said something like “we automatically improve your credit score; get started now for free.” Conversion was poor.
The team was frustrated. They thought their product was going to be an easy sell. We summoned our Inner Three Year Old, as we like to say. Why? Why? Why?
Three year olds are relentless. They are never satisfied. Three year olds have a lot to teach us!
Most marketers and business people leave off too early. “Why do I want to improve my credit score?” we asked.
“Because you want to get a better rate on your lease or loan,” they replied. This team thought they were in the saving money business. They never asked “why?” a second or third time. They never sought the “reason behind the reason” of the customer’s psychology.
Self’s most attractive customer was a Millennial who was coming onboard to the credit system for the first time. They could also help someone who had been out in the world and ruined their credit, but the Millennial was the most attractive. SelfLender’s methodology helped the most if you had a clean slate to start.
To make a long story short, we eventually got to the heart of this customer’s intense need and psychological reality. Why did the Millennial care about a better FICO score?
The breakthrough insight was stark when we finally hit upon it: she didn’t want a parent to cosign on their lease or loan. Touchdown! The customer wasn’t in it for the money. The customer was in it for status. They wanted to be independent. They wanted a passport to adulthood.
A better hero message was suggested: “A New Lease On Life.” Conversion improved dramatically.
Always remember that it’s all about the customer, it’s all about the customer, and it’s all about the customer. If you ever lose sight of this fact, you’re screwed. And if you ever just don’t know what to do, do the work necessary to get back in the shoes of the customer and we promise, the answers will come.
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At my firm JDI, we make precedent-setting science companies well known and understood. Learn more at: www.jones-dilworth.com