Did you know that there are 17 different Ketchup choices at my local grocery store? 17! I recently searched the words ‘ketchup comparison’ and got dozens of pages of results. Some of the information was straightforward and scientific, and some of it was utterly ridiculous. What does any of this have to do with branding, marketing, and sales?
People are overwhelmed with choices and information.
Consumers have access to more choice and information than ever. They are educated, informed, and you should assume that they have done their research. Therefore, they don’t want more choices and they don’t need more information. So, what do they need?
They need help deciding.
Last week I observed a young man as he stood staring at the ketchup shelf in my local grocery store for 3 solid minutes. Finally, I said “Who knew there were so many, right?” That young man looked at me, eyes glazed, and said “I just want ketchup.”
I currently have the privilege of building a custom sales training program for a large B2B sales team and have spent the last few months heavily researching what’s currently working in sales. And there is overwhelming research and statistics that points to consumers experiencing higher rates of decision paralysis. They have all the info they could ever need, but they don’t know how to make decisions based on that information.
That’s where you come in. Stop trying to offer your customers choices and information. Instead, offer them insights and expertise that will help them make an informed decision. You already know that they want what you’ve got – your job is to show them how you are different from the rest and how that will benefit them.
That young man in the grocery store knew he wanted ketchup but was overwhelmed by the choices. Imagine if one of those ketchup brands had been there to say, “Hey you look confused, how can we help?” Not only would he have bought their brand, he would have become loyal to their brand because they offered assistance instead of trying to cram more facts into his brain.