Making a product’s honeymoon period outlast its ownership isn’t complicated.
When a
product comes into a home, office or factory floor right out of the box or crate
and gets installed, there’s anticipation built about enjoying the product. The
expectation in the mind of a customer is that it must work. That’s a low bar. If
it works as intended, or as promised, customers are happy.
However, customers
like products to stay feeling like they are new.
When the
installer arrived with my brand-new microwave oven as a replacement for the
current one merely because the door handle wasn’t easily replaced, many
questions came to mind. The biggest one was, for how long will this feel like
new? Imminently, I wondered why the installation process did not start with
testing the product out of the box before uninstalling the old one? After the
new oven was fully installed when they opened the door to test it, the door
came undone in the hands of the technician. The factory had simply failed to
fasten the door at its hinges. It had to be taken back. The anticipation of
using the new equipment turned into a negotiation to re-install the old one
while we await a new shipment. It was an unfortunate false start to my journey
as a product owner.
When
manufacturers sell and ship products, they are also packaging the joy of
ownership of those products. The buyer’s journey is a part of a sales
organization’s lexicon. Let us not forget the ‘owner’s journey’.
After a sale
is done and the product delivered, the seller’s brand name has a permanent
presence at the buyer’s location. The brand becomes a part of their life. They
use it, show it off to visiting family members, sometimes brag about it on
social media, or drive it around with pride. Until it stops feeling new.
How can a
producer of a product help a customer retain the afterglow of a purchase, the
joy of having a product that looks, feels, and smells new forever?
I am
reminded of that ever-smiling mustachioed mechanic in Mumbai, who, for a small
amount of money, would appear once a year to service a ceiling fan. He would occasionally
take it apart and get it spray-painted. It worked and looked new even when the
home changed ownership.
That’s all
it takes for newness. A smiling mustachioed mechanic sounds like the mascot
every company needs. The easiest way to prevent buyers’ remorse is to always leave
behind access to a helping hand available at short notice so a customer gets
the most out of a product that looks and works like it’s new. A hotline to
help.
Extend your customers’ joy of owning the product. Handhold the product-owner even after the product changes hands. They’ll forever be grateful to you and open their wallets willingly for the joy and peace of mind they can unbox after delivery of their purchase.
Picture credit: Gentri Shopp on Unsplash
