What do you do if you work in an industry that people have come to mistrust?
An enquiry I got this week from someone in the loans space, reminded me of a story I read in Marcus Sheridan’s They Ask You Answer – about a US company called CarMax.
CarMax sell used cars – but they wanted to confront and address the sleazy, salesy, high-pressure reputation their industry had. So they looked at all the problems in the used car industry and tackled them head on. They identified consumer’s fears and sought to eliminate them, one by one.
For example:
Problem #1: People don’t like haggling over price with a pushy salesman.
Solution: They introduced “one fair price”. Absolutely no haggling. That’s the price. Consumers loved it.
Problem #2: People worry they’re going to be sold a dud car.
Solution: They introduced an intensive inspection process that every car has to go through to qualify to be sold on their lot. So rigorous is the inspection that 66% of vehicles fail. Unheard of in their industry.
And so on. You get the idea.
History has shown that those who listen to their customer, and fully commit to alleviating their fears and concerns, set the standard for their space.
If you understand the “what ifs” that are going through your customer’s head, you will understand the solutions and desired outcomes that need to underpin your brand story.
