As someone who’s in the business of selling textbooks, I know that convincing a professor to adopt a new book for her classes is a long and arduous process. There are several good reasons for this. For one, there’s a certain comfort that comes along with using a product you’re familiar with. And don’t underestimate how much time it takes to rewrite syllabuses, assign readings, and make the other adjustments that a new book requires. These justifications are all reasonable, which makes the inertia chaining a professor to a particular book all the more challenging to overcome.
So it was with great interest that I read John Jantsch’s take on how to approach the strong bonds of habit. He advocates treating habit and inertia just as you would any other competitor:
Have you ever made a sales call, presented what was an obvious advancement in terms of innovation, quality, efficiency and price, only to walk away without the sale?
If so there’s a good chance you’ve met the competitor known as habit. Habit, even a costly one, can stop a buyer from switching to your product more thoroughly than any competitor’s feature set or low ball price ever dared to.
Changing your mindset in this direction allows you to formulate some real and effective strategies for dealing with this competitor. Jantsch proceeds to do what he does best, providing an example of how to effectively combat inertia. Let’s take a look at one of those:
Build a case of what’s in it
Since your fighting the laws of physics here you’ve got to create even more force to overcome the inertia of a reluctant buyer. Focus on what’s in it for them. Talk to your customers and get a good feel for the 3-4 “real” (meaning not the stuff you put in your marketing brochure) benefits your customers experience. Don’t worry about how simple you think they are, if your customers are telling that’s why they really switched, believe it’s why others will as well. I switched credit cards one time because the company showed me how much more detailed their online statements were than anyone else. That’s why I switched – not because I could get a cheap plastic cooler for every $1000 I spent.
I love how Jantch differentiates between real and unreal benefits. There’s a time and a place for marketing brochure speak, but when you’re facing a competitor as stiff as inertia, there’s no time to focus on the unreal advantages. It’s possible to overcome habit, but you need to be specific and focused. So this is no different than any good marketing. But what Jantsch makes clear is that these principles can prove effective even against an entrenched opponent.
How do you compete with habit and inertia? How do you maintain this position of priviledge once you earn it in the first place?
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