When is it okay to care what other people think about you?

When you put your customer's USER EXPERIENCE first.

"Your cart is having abandonment issues..."

How cool is this email subject line?

• It grabs your attention
• It taps into trending popular language
• It's funny. 

Am I likely to go back to my lonely cart? I sure am. 

Will I definitely buy what I left there? No. 

But they got me to go back to the cart and take another look. Because Penguin's marketing team realize not everyone is an impulse buyer.

They know that I want at least one item in my cart. They know that I have recently bought from them. If I don't buy from them now, I will again. 

Why? Well I obviously like their stuff, but they also treated me like a grown up. Plus, they lightened a situation which can often feel pressurized.

Why does this approach work? How can you apply it to your sales process?

Put yourself in the User's shoes (or shirt) first.

At each stage of the Buyer's journey, ask: what is the Buyer feeling right now?

Now you switch from asking” “How can I sell this?” to... “Why should I buy this now?”

What objections, pain points or hesitations might you have?

Well in my case, the reason the shirt is still in the cart is because I recently bought a jacket from them which I had to pay shipping for as it was below the Free Shipping threshold. 

Of course since then every time I open FB there's another ad for their clothes as part of the same spring sale. So I was suckered back into seeing what else they had on offer.

Which takes me to adding the shirt to my cart. So why did I abandon the poor feller there?

Because buying this alone would also be below the Free Shipping mark. If I had bought both together, I would have had free shipping. But this was too close to the last purchase for me to feel justified paying shipping twice. 

What would be a good User Experience (UX) response to my “objection” to closing the deal? Well, what if...

Penguin notice that I recently bought from them. They see I have a shirt in my cart. They send me an email: “We see that if you had bought the jacket and shirt together, you would have got free shipping. Tell you what. As it's so recent and we think you'd look the bomb with that shirt under your new jacket, have free shipping on us.”

They would have had a customer for life. 

How could they follow that up to make sure I share this experience with others?

A week after delivery, they could ask:

“How's your new outfit? Do you look as sharp as we think you do? We hope so because we make damn good clothes and our customers rate our Size Guides at 99% accurate. If you're one of the 1% who disagrees... congratulations! You're as unique as your style suggests. And we don't want you to be stuck with something that doesn't show you off at your very best. Here's your hassle-free way to exchange your shirt for a different size...”

How would that make you feel?

• Listened to?
• Understood?
• Respected?
• Flattered? (Never a bad idea, when done right for your customer base).

As business owners, why not strive to be like the server who magically appears at just the right moments during your meal, then sinks into the shadows until you need a coffee refill and another spoon for dessert?

Run your own business through the User Experience filter.

This is one time when it pays to care what others think about you.