Going Zen: Letting Customers Come to their Own Conclusions

Posted on | February 29, 2008 |

by Andrea Learned

Forcing an issue is rarely a good idea. Human beings, whether consciously or not, will sense that pressure and resist, because they want to feel like they made their decision on their own terms. Whether in interpersonal relationships or the marketing realm (and many others), the hardest thing to do is simply present your case to the best of your ability and let it be. I guess it’s too Zen for a lot of us.

But, here’s the thing: If your product or service is up to snuff in all other ways, the customers you want WILL come to the “right” conclusion and buy it.

Two articles on Zipcar - one the cover story for the March issue of Inc. and the other a shorter piece in Fast Company’s March issue - were what got me thinking on this recently. In the Fast Company piece, Alex Frankel writes (and he quotes the company’s CEO, Scott Griffith):

“While other companies wrap themselves in green with every modest earth-friendly nod, Zipcar has adopted a see-it and forget-it model. ‘There is a feel-good component to car sharing, but we let customers come to their own conclusion,’ Griffith says. ‘We don’t have to advertise it.’”

The company hasn’t made a big effort to compete with traditional rental cars (as covered in the Inc. piece), and it has never made a to-do about its “green-ness”(though, yes - they do now have a link on their site for “green benefits”) Still, word has gotten around. The right customers have been able to read behind the lines on those and other aspects of the brand, and Zipcar is seeing solid success (thus, major coverage in the same month by two of the most-read business magazines around).

We’d likely all agree that by and large, consumers are getting savvier and more sophisticated, whether they are renting cars, or buying refrigerators, toothpaste and houses. They also like to feel as though they are “in” on something that has perhaps not gained mass market awareness. So subtlety can be key. Rather than go on and on about how, in addition to the basics of your wonderful product or service, your brand is all about women or super green in its operations, for example - try to more quietly and creatively go about all of it. The conclusions you seek from your customers will come.
There are a lot of interpersonal relationship lessons (or sayings) that can be translated to helpful effect here: You can’t force someone to love you. If you love someone, set them free. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Your brand is the woo-er and the consumer is the woo-ee.
Let the competition make more noise about their fancy awards, trendy ad campaigns and clever initiatives. These days noise is over-rated. Instead, breathe deeply and let your customers walk toward the light of your calm, persuasive confidence.