At the point of sale, customers need to be told how to make the first step.

If left alone or uninformed, customers may walk away even when they were ready to buy.

Last week I had to get our car’s alignment fixed. As I was waiting in the lobby, I observed several customers enter the shop and look around confused, not knowing who to talk to or how to request service.

This mechanic shop had a counter where you’d expect to see an employee, but no one was there.

The customers would stand around, looking into the garage bay or oddly around the room. After several minutes, one of them walked out into the garage and tracked an employee down.

This was too much work for a customer.

Don’t Make Customers Work to Buy from You

You need to make it extremely easy for customers to place their order, request service, and buy your product.

Contrast the mechanic shop with the bakery down the street. This bakery had a sign on the counter with a bell that informed the customers to make a choice and then ring the bell for service.

Just like the mechanic’s shop, the bakery will have employees actively engaged in performing work and may be out of the customers’ sight.

Nevertheless, the bakery made it very clear how to proceed.

Show Customers How to Proceed

Give your customers a way to say “I’m here” or “I’m ready to buy.”

Without the clear path to a sale or checkout, you are losing frustrated customers that simply give up instead of going through the effort of figuring out the quirks of doing business with you.

Don’t be quirky. Be obvious. Your customers and bottom line will thank you.

Wired magazine’s editor-in-chief Chris Anderson tackles the changing landscape of pricing in his book
Free: The Future of a Radical Price.

Having read Anderson’s original article in Wired magazine, I was skeptical that a full-length book would be able to elaborate on his claims.

I was pleasantly surprised that the book kept my attention and was actually entertaining and informative.

What is in Free?

Anderson covers the history of “free” and how it has evolved in commerce to what it is today. As I enjoy history, this was an interesting component of the book.

The main premise of the book is that the cost of digital goods is decreasing so rapidly that the incremental cost of one more customer is essentially zero. Thus you see that companies are able to offer their products and services online for free to millions of users.

Anderson explains how many web-based services survive while appearing to charge their customers nothing.

Free pulls back the curtain of the business models of many companies that leverage the zero dollar price point to their profit. You’ll learn how companies defy common paradigms and essentially turn pricing models upside down.

Free is Free

I was intrigued by how this book was marketed. Since it is called Free and talks about making lots of things “free” the book should be, well, free. Right?

Well, the book is free. Really.

At its initial launch, the book was offered in many formats for free. I listened to a free audio book version of Free read by the author.

While many of the free versions have disappeared after the initial hype, you can still listen to the free audio version on audible.com.

Recommendation: Read it

If you are selling any product or service, this book will help you think through your options on what to charge customers. Don’t be scared by giving something away for free, just be sure you know how you will monetize that transaction with the customer. This book will show you how.

Prefer a tangible, physical copy of the book? Order a copy of Free: The Future of a Radical Price on Amazon.com.

Recent years has brought the emergence of “mashups” to the internet. These web-based applications and sites combine or mash up content and services for different sources to create a unique and beneficial experience.

For example, a hotel site will show available hotels on a Google map. This mashes up the hotel information with a third party map service.

Mashups don’t just exist in the online world.

You have the opportunity to make something new out of components you already have.

For example, I recently ate at a restaurant called Moonshine. One of their appetizers is a corn dog shrimp.

Like the name implies, this is a shrimp skewered on a stick, battered, then fried just like a corn dog.

The outcome was a unique and delicious experience.

The chef took components that were already within his reach and created something noteworthy, remarkable, or as author Seth Godin would say, a purple cow.

Your business is in a similar situation. You sell products or services to your customers.

What would happen if you start combining those, mixing them up, and offering them to customers?

Can you deliver on an unmet need and open up more revenue opportunities for your business?

Try mashing up what you have at your fingertips and see what you can make.

Don’t let your business be distracted by bright, shiny objects.

With the passage of time, a couple of things are inevitable: new technology will emerge and new business practices will hit the market.

While some of these may add great value to your company and customers, they can too easily be a distraction that takes you off your core focus.

I was at a conference recently where the design and the layout of the stage completely distracted from the speakers and demonstrations.

Behind the keynote podium was a large bank of bright LED lights that slowly changed colors during the presentations.

These lights were too bright and since they were positioned right behind the speaker, they were downright annoying.

This was the first year I had seen these lights at this conference and I wonder why the sponsors used them. Perhaps this new technology came along and everyone thought “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?”

Unfortunately, whenever someone says “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” you need to put on your analytical and rational thinking cap and see it this new gizmo merits the attention and implementation.

Progress is inevitable. However, it must be implemented on your terms in your business. Perhaps your customers aren’t ready for the latest and greatest widget. Maybe it’s just what they need.

Try to remove the emotion as you think through chasing that new, shiny object before you actually make the leap. Your business and customers will thank you.

Your business is famous for a certain product or service. Perhaps it is what you’ve sold the longest, or has become the most popular.

Customers expect you to have that product whenever they interact with you.

What happens if you’re not ready? Customers will be disappointed.

This exact thing happened on my last trip to Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I ordered my meal, a drink, and a side of fries.

When I ordered my drink via the drive-in speaker box, they said, “Sorry, we’re out. Do you want something else instead?”

I agreed.

Then when I drove through the drive-in and up to the window, they said, “Sorry, it will be a 5-minute wait for the french fries. Do you want another side dish instead?”

Are you kidding me? It is lunch time and you don’t have fries ready?

Needless to say this experience was less than pleasant. My expectations were completely destroyed and I was left with disappointment before I even got my food.

This didn’t set a good stage for a satisfying meal.

Your business may be likewise disappointing customers. Do you have the products customers need in stock?

Are you able to deliver on the promises and expectations you have made with them?

If not, maybe you need to rethink your supply chain, or even cut out the distracting products that are getting in the way of your core products and services.