You know that unpleasant feeling you get when you’ve bought something and you somehow just feel a little let down by it?
Maybe you feel you paid too much. Maybe you felt the product wasn’t up to spec. Maybe you felt a little ripped off. Whatever the reasons, this is known as post purchase dissonance. Or cognitive purchase evaluation.
I believe that combating this is essential if you are to gain repeat business and recommendations from your clients. And the good news is that there are a number of steps that you can take to reduce or completely combat post purchase dissonance within your clients.
Firstly, talk to people a couple of days after they've bought from you. Just because people haven't complained doesn't mean that they're happy. So give your customers the chance to give you feedback and then take steps to put it right.
Secondly, ensure that you don't make the classic mistake of only investing in smart marketing materials for contact before the sale. How you deal with people, the effort you put in after is just as important, if not more. This means that boxes (if you use them) should be smart and branded, the art of receiving the goods should be just as exciting as ordering them. And if you think that you can get away with home-made invoices, well, this is the time to think again. What does that tell your customers about how you feel about their business?
Design plays a big role in the avoidance of post purchase dissonance. It’s your way of showing that you’re serious about your business. That you take yourself seriously and you believe you’re worth investing in.
But what about you. Have you ever had positive or negative post purchase dissonance feelings? Sometimes it can be the smallest, most unrelated thing that causes a big impression in someone's mind.
I can remember when I bought my Golf a few years back. I went to collect my shiny new car, and there it was - exactly as spec. The colour I'd ordered, with all the extras and on the day they told me it would be ready. And yet do you know what gave me that unpleasant feeling in my stomach? The fact that I'd always heard that when you buy a new car from a dealer you get a bunch of flowers or a bottle of champagne. I looked in the back and there sat... a branded teddy bear! Not the same effect. Not at all.
Contrast that with a recent purchase I made online with Isabella Oliver. The clothes are expensive but I'd looked around for similar quality and wanted to treat myself. The package arrived literally 24 hours after I'd placed the order (BIG tick in the box!) and was so impressive that it actually encouraged me to go back online and order more. Yes, the clothes were fab. But to be honest, I'd expected that. It was the extras that really impressed me, that really gave me the feelgood factor. They came beautifully wrapped in swathes of orange an white tissue paper, with a thank you note from the business owners, postcards to send to my friends (branded of course) and a discount voucher for future purchases.
The Isabella Oliver experience just goes to show how you can use the natural post purchase feelings to your advantage and really cement a relationship with your customer. And at no extra hassle to the company.
What can you do in your business to create a feelgood factor after purchase?
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