Your Customers are Cavemen… And So Are You!
There’s a myth every organisation has around their customers:
“Our clients aren’t like that. Our clients are different”.
The truth is, practically cavemen with computers.
– We’re still scared about what “our tribe” will think of our actions;
– We’re still more motivated by fear and pain, than what’s good for us;
– We’re still distracted by the most trivial diversions;
– We’re still irrational, prone to emotional outbursts, endlessly illogical, hypocritical, self-serving…
…And – in so many ways – we’re still largely the cavemen we evolved from.
The way we approach a website, email promotion, or sales process today (as a sales prospect) echoes how our ancestors would have approached their forest surroundings:
Checking for Opportunity – does it help me to live better? (Food; Shelter; Procreation; Status within our Tribe.)
Checking for Threats – how might this negatively and unexpectedly affect me? (Could there be a snake? A tiger? A wolf? A poisonous berry?)
Considering Others, and What They Might Think of Us – If I make a decision, will I increase (or decrease) in status in the eyes of my tribe, family, or elders?
Weighing Up The Value – What might it cost me? What will I get out of it? Is the cost risk too high?
Since we’re driven by fear and pain more than pleasure, our default decision when faced with a decision is to say “No!”
That is, unless the value clearly and massively outweighs the potential for damage or pain.
This decision-making process is hard-wired into all humans brains – whether they’re CEO’s, Doctors, Lawyers, Mothers, Plumbers, Investors, Teachers, Professors, or Salespeople.
In all of these markets (and more), simple tweaks to the way your website, email sequence, or sales messaging works can speak to the caveman better – and increase your leads, sales, and profits.
For example, simply adding a big, bright button on a prominent location on an ecommerce site increased sales by 137.1%. (It didn’t make the product any more attractive. It just made it more obvious to the caveman what he/she should do next.)
When we reduced the information on the website of a large chicken-centric fast food chain, online order completion rates increased 416.67%. (It reduced the number of decisions the caveman had to make, and removed distractions.)
And when we sent an automated SMS reminder to prospects about upcoming sales appointments – the no-show rate at sales appointments dropped by 37.3%.
All of these changes were fought initially.
They were seen to be “unprofessional”. “Ugly”. They would “take away from the quality of our website and marketing.”
But the results don’t lie.
You might think you’re treating your customers “professionally” and “with respect” in your website, email newsletters, or sales process.
But if you’re not speaking to the caveman within your potential customers – and you’re not giving the caveman everything he needs to grunt “Yes!” to the sale – then you’re wasting the prospect’s time, and your own.