Perfecting

 the  Customer  Experience  

Video  #3  –  Think  Small  to  Win  Big  

Hello,  and  welcome  to  the  third  installment  in  our  six-­‐part  series  about  Perfecting  the  Customer  
Experience.    I’m  Jeff  Havens,  and  I  know  what  I’m  talking  about.    Unless  you  have  a  medical  issue,  in  
which  case  you  should  probably  talk  to  a  doctor.    Last  time  we  discussed  the  role  that  convenience  plays  
in  shaping  a  positive  customer  experience.    In  general,  the  more  convenient  you  can  make  it  for  
customers  to  buy  and  use  your  products  and  services,  the  more  successful  you  are  going  to  be.    We’re  
going  to  talk  now  about  connection,  the  second  element  in  our  quest  for  crafting  the  perfect  customer  
experience.    Because  a  funny  thing  happened  when  we  created  the  Internet.      

The  most  supremely  convenient  thing  we  have  ever  created.    We  now  had  the  ability  to  share  
information  with  anyone  in  the  world  at  the  speed  of  light.    Suddenly  the  world  was  more  connected  
than  it  had  ever  been,  more  people  talking  about  more  things  in  more  ways  than  ever  before.    And  in  
the  middle  of  all  this  unprecedented  convenience,  and  the  infinite  connection  with  others  that  it  allows,  
we  actually  passed  a  tipping  point.    We’ve  been  striving  for  millennia  to  make  the  world  smaller  –  and  
somehow,  at  the  exact  time  that  we  got  it  just  about  as  small  as  we  know  how  to  make  it  –  the  world  
got  too  big  on  us.    All  of  our  connections  have  actually  overwhelmed  our  ability  to  handle  them.        

I’m  positive  you’ve  felt  that  way  before,  I  certainly  have,  that  all  of  this  is  simply  too  much,  that  the  
world  is  simply  too  big,  too  noisy,  and  people  should  just  go  away!    That’s  how  I  feel  every  time  I’m  in  
traffic.    And  there  are  real,  biological  reasons  we  feel  that  way,  things  rooted  in  how  our  brain  operates  
that  directly  relate  to  how  you  should  be  crafting  your  customer  experience.      

The  first  thing  to  understand  is  that  our  brains  are  actually  not  designed  to  hold  a  lot  of  information.    
Think  of  how  many  songs  you  know  the  lyrics  to,  or  how  many  phone  numbers  you  memorized  back  
when  you  had  to  do  that  –  now  most  people  don’t  even  know  their  own  phone  number.    Mine  has  a  ‘6’  
in  it,  I  know  that.      

The  point  is,  odds  are  you  know  dozens,  not  hundreds.    And  that’s  also  true  of  the  number  of  
meaningful  connections  we’re  able  to  make  with  others.    In  the  1990s  a  British  psychologist  named  
Robin  Dunbar  decided  to  try  answering  this  question  –    

How  many  other  human  beings  can  a  person  care  about  at  any  given  time?    And  he  ultimately  
determined  that  the  answer  was  close  to  150.  

Turns  out  that  the  average  size  of  a  prehistoric  village  is  estimated  from  archaeological  records  to  have  
been  150  people.    The  average  size  of  a  Roman  military  company  was  150;  and  multiple  social  media  
companies  have  done  this  study  –  regardless  of  the  number  of  people  you  have  in  your  network,  you  
only  talk  to  about  150  of  them.          

The  point  is,  our  brains  are  wired  to  focus  on  a  fairly  small  number  of  people,  and  that’s  true  of  the  
products  and  services  we  buy  as  well.    We  simply  aren’t  designed  to  keep  track  of  500  different  brands  
of  perfume  or  68  different  health  insurance  options.    And  if  we’re  offered  that  many  choices,  then  
another  psychological  phenomenon  kicks  in,  known  as  the  poverty  of  choice.    It’s  called  this  because  
when  we  are  presented  with  too  many  options,  our  brains  have  a  tendency  to  shut  down  and  choose  
nothing.    The  poverty  of  choice  is  what  happens  when  we  decide  that  it  is  easier  to  do  nothing  than  to  
sift  through  too  many  alternatives.      

And  this  happens  all  the  time.    Back  in  2000,  psychologists  Sheena  Iyengar  and  Mark  Lepper  conducted  
what  is  now  known  as  the  ‘famous  jam  study.’    Seriously,  that’s  what  it’s  called.    Fame,  apparently,  is  
very  subjective.    Anyway,  they  went  to  a  fancy  grocery  store  and  set  up  a  display  of  24  jars  of  gourmet  
jam  one  day,  and  then  a  display  of  6  jars  of  gourmet  jam  another  day.    And  what  they  found  is  that  
people  more  commonly  looked  at  the  larger  display,  but  they  more  commonly  bought  from  the  smaller  
one  –  about  1,000%  more,  in  fact.  

Since  then,  others  have  found  that  the  poverty  of  choice  holds  true  pretty  much  everywhere.  Economic  
researchers  have  found  that  the  more  401k  options  an  employee  has,  the  less  likely  they  are  to  choose  a  
plan,  which  is  why  many  large  employers  only  offer  3  or  4  options.      

Technology  researchers  have  realized  that  while  mobile  app  downloads  are  increasing,  mobile  app  
usage  is  actually  decreasing.    We  have  more  choices  than  ever,  but  we’re  using  fewer  and  fewer  of  
them.    And  the  average  person  has  approximately  103  items  of  clothing  in  their  closet,  but  they  only  
wear  about  10%  of  it.  

In  short,  our  brains  aren’t  designed  to  handle  the  number  of  options  the  world  now  provides  us,  and  
when  we  have  too  many  things  to  choose  from,  we  have  a  tendency  to  simply  turn  off  and  do  nothing.    
Ultimately,  when  it  comes  to  connecting  with  others,  most  of  us  are  actually  looking  for  ways  to  do  less  
of  it.    So  the  question  you  need  to  be  asking  is  this  one:  

 “What  can  we  do  to  make  the  world  smaller  for  our  customers?”  

The  best  customer  experiences  provide  customers  with  the  ability  to  feel  connected  to  you  and  the  
products  and  services  you  sell,  and  we  can’t  do  that  when  things  are  too  big  or  too  impersonal.    That’s  
one  of  the  reasons  upscale  food  stores  tend  to  keep  their  footprint  small,  about  a  third  the  size  of  
conventional  grocery  stores,  because  they  don’t  want  their  customers  to  feel  like  they’re  shopping  in  a  
warehouse.    It’s  also  why  they  generally  don’t  have  automated  checkout  counters,  because  they  want  
their  customers  to  have  some  human  interaction  every  time  they’re  there.  

Or  how  about  discount  retailers  and  fast  fashion  stores?    At  the  same  time  Amazon  has  been  crushing  its  
retail  competition,  these  businesses  continue  to  prosper.      

And  they’ve  done  it  by  catering  to  customers  who  like  hunting  for  deals,  and  who  don’t  always  know  
what  they  want  until  they  find  it.    Which  is  impossible  to  do  online,  isn’t  it?    From  a  shopping  
perspective,  the  Internet  is  basically  useless  if  you  don’t  already  know  what  you’re  looking  for,  and  even  
if  you  do,  not  everybody  wants  to  wade  through  70,000  shoe  options  until  they  find  the  right  ones.    I  
don’t.    Plenty  of  discount  retailers  understand  that,  which  is  why  many  of  them  don’t  even  have  online  
stores.    They’re  selling  a  small  and  simple  experience  to  people  who  get  frustrated  with  the  enormity  of  
the  Internet,  and  in  a  lot  of  cases  it’s  working  out  really,  really  well.      

They  haven’t  sacrificed  convenience,  but  they’ve  combined  that  convenience  with  an  understanding  
that  their  customers  want  a  smaller  world.      

So  there  you  go.    The  best  customer  experiences  combine  convenience  and  connection  in  a  way  that  
feels  easy,  intimate,  and  genuine.    But  none  of  that  is  going  to  matter  if  nobody  knows  it  exists.    Which  is  
why  our  next  video  will  dive  into  the  importance  of  telling  people  how  amazing  you  are.    Which  is  
actually  pretty  easy  to  do.    I’m  amazing.    I’m  amazing.    I  am  amazing.    See?    I  could  do  this  all  day.  

I  am  amazing.    I’m  amazing.    I’m  (cough)  whoops.    Messed  up.    Doesn’t  matter,  still  amazing.