Customer Confusion: Are You to Blame?

You've heard the saying, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly, but expecting different results"?

The government officials in Stonea, England are insane.

Over the past 12 months, 33 separate vehicles have collided with the town's low railroad bridge, peeling off the roofs of SUVs, vans, and campers like the pop top on a can of Pringles.

One surprised motorist had his roof-mounted $4,000 bicycle flung off his SUV and into a ditch like a kindergartener flicking a booger.

Last month, two different cars hit the bridge on the SAME DAY.

I'm sure that after shaking their heads at yet another "foolish" tourist, officials mutter "they can't even follow simple signs."

But here is the actual sign approaching the Stonea rail bridge. Note that the sign is placed right before the road branches. To the right, safety. To the left, a vehicular scalping.

Bridge Headroom Reduced to 6'-6" does not accurately convey the urgency of the present circumstances!

How about: "No SUVs, trucks, campers, and vans to the left ahead"

In fact, there are a LOT of ways to make this warning better, and thus create a massively improved customer experience.

What's your idea?

Reply to this email with your best idea for a Stonea rail bridge warning sign. Best answer will win a $20 Amazon gift card. 

Why is this important?

Because too often when customers have problems - especially recurring ones - we blame THEM for not being able to figure it out.

At one time, I led customer experience for a software startup that offered free video calling over the Internet. It was essentially Skype long before Skype existed.

I pointed out to our lead developer that one of the buttons customers needed to click to connect a call was not intuitive, and was creating a lot of confusion.

"If people aren't smart enough to figure this out, we don't want them as customers." He actually said that. Those exact words! 

It is not the customers' job to gaze through your haze and figure out how your product or service works. 

It is YOUR job to either make the product or service so seamlessly usable that questions are largely unneeded, or to at least communicate with enough precision and clarity that you don't get 33 cars running into a train bridge annually.

So as we get rolling on 2023, here's some advice:

1. Figure out the 10 questions your customers ask most often.

2. Set a goal of reducing frequency by 50% (this year, only 16 train bridge disasters!)

3. For each of the 10, honestly determine WHY they have to keep asking.

4. By the end of January, concoct and enact a plan to communicate with the precision and clarity necessary to reduce questions volume.

Confusion is never a natural state. 

It's just a byproduct of weak communication among the responsible party. And in almost every case, the responsible party is the company or organization, not the customer or patron (or driver).

THE BOOKS REPORT

Fantastic job by my friend Brittany Hodak on her new book: Creating Super Fans. 

It's a terrific, proven system for customer relations and advocacy that's clear, concise, and actionable.

PLUS: the book itself is absolutely gorgeous, with full-color inside! 

Jay's Faves

I love my wireless iPhone lavalier microphone set. I use it for all video content that's not recorded at my desk, including my tequila reviews.

Just charge the microphones via USB, then plug the transmitter into the charging port on your iPhone. Voila! Solid, wireless audio for up to two people, from as many as 100 feet away. 

The microphones shown here work great, but the kit also includes the typical, tiny lavalier microphones with foam tips. They plug in to the base packs shown. 

A very worthy investment if you make video!

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