simplify choices for customers

It seems great to offer plenty of options to your prospects and customers, is it good to give prospects and customers too many choices?

Not funny, right?

Here’s one of the many great examples that Barry Schwartz discusses in his book PARADOX OF CHOICE.

A group of shoppers was given the chance to sample an assortment of premium jams. Half the group was offered a selection of 6 (six) samples, and the other half was offered a selection of 24 (twenty-four) samples.

A full 30% of the shoppers who were offered ONLY six samples ended up purchasing some of the jam. However, only 3% of the group offered twenty-four samples made a purchase. That’s 90% fewer sales.

Too many choices lead to a perplexing state, a longer purchasing process, and fewer sales.

But why is this true?

It boils down to this: Too many choices require too much thinking and easily you will get frustrated to get the one you are looking for.

When too much thought is required to make a decision, we often choose to do nothing.

Even when we know that a decision WILL BE required, we will often delay the decision until we can collect more information to help us justify the decision. No one likes to make THE WRONG DECISION.

And this is why we by default look for specific information before making a difficult decision. We don’t want to blame ourselves for making the wrong decision.

Here are 3 steps to help your prospects and customers make favorable purchasing decisions more quickly.

1. Organize Purchasing Decisions Into Categories

Think about purchasing a new vehicle.

How frustrating and confusing would the process be if car lots mixed new and used vehicles?

And what if they didn’t put all the trucks in one section, all the cars in another, and all the SUVs in another?

Imagine how frustrating the process would be.

2. Give Them Guidelines For Making Decisions

If your order process contains multiple steps or has more than a dozen (or so) options, be sure to give your prospects and customers guidelines to help them make the decision quicker.

Let them know what will happen during the purchase process, and exactly what step they should take next.

Despite the confusing menu in the photo above, it’s clear exactly where to go when you’re ready to place your order.

3. You Are Not Alone

Because no one wants to make the wrong decision, we often look to see if others have previously completed the decision we are about to make.

We are looking for social proof that the decision is okay.

Using testimonials can go a long way toward relieving the innate fear of making the wrong decision.

Amazon does a great job of this through its customer reviews on the products they sell.

McDonald’s uses a subtle testimonial on their signs, can you spot it?

While it may seem beneficial to offer a wide range of choices to prospects and customers, it often leads to inaction and frustration.

The paradox of choice is evident in studies like the one discussed, where fewer options resulted in significantly more sales.