How to Make Your Product or Service Simple to Understand

Last week I carried out some customer service training for a client.  The client provides financial payment services.  To the uninitiated this can be a little complex and there’s a fair amount of technical jargon. The customer service team is extremely good at patiently talking clients through the products and process, ensuring they know what they have to do to use the service correctly. 
 
However, some customers feel they ought to know the basics and are too embarrassed to ask.  There’s also a danger that a customer service team member may wrongly assume a customer knows more than they do.  Worse still, perhaps there may even be some prospects out there that never pick up the phone because it all seems too complex and daunting.  Perhaps another supplier makes it simpler.
 
Here are two ideas for helping solve this situation. 
 
One is to create a Glossary of Terms and to post it on your website. Also include a copy in your prospect information pack.  (It’s probably a useful internal document too, especially for new starters.  In fact, giving the compilation task to a new starter might ensure the explanations are in plain English and that they learn the terminology pretty fast!)
 
The other idea is to post a short educational video on your website that explains the basics of the product and/or service that you provide. 
 
Personally, I think animation is a great medium to get the message across.  (If you’re going to cover really basic things, using staff or actors can make the video look a little false and even patronising.  There’s a link to a good animation example at the bottom of this post.)
 
We all like to be informed and educated, especially when it comes to a buying decision.  Helping our prospective clients make the best decision for them should be our primary motive.  The more we educate our prospective clients, the more business we’ll do.  (Don't sell.  Nobody likes to be sold to. But we do like to buy. Help people buy.)
 
Another benefit of educating our prospective clients is that it levels the paying field and moves the conversation away from price.  If they’re considering alternative suppliers at least they’ll be armed with the right questions to ask.
 
Video on your website will also make you more attractive to Google et al.  Google really like good, honest, relevant content that is going to help answer the questions people ask.  (A relatively straightforward piece in the search-engine-optimisation jigsaw.)
 
Perhaps you could make the Glossary of Terms a downloadable document, exchangeable for the person's name and email address. (And then the relationship with your future customer can begin…)
 
So here’s an example.  Kim Emson of Kim Emson Animates created this super little one-minute animation for Paul Naylor of Trafford Surveys to get across a few basics about the importance of having a house survey and to promote Paul’s new Home Buyers Mobile App. Home Survey Video
 
Posting the glossary is just a question of time and effort. 
 
Creating the video will take time and effort and will also cost a little (please get it done by a professional!).  On the question of cost, the real question to ask is how many new customers will I need to cover my investment?  How likely am I to achieve that number of new customers?  Unlikely?  Or dead easily?  Decision made. 
 
If you’d like more business development ideas then you’re very welcome to join us this Wednesday morning (29th Oct at 9:30am) at The Life Centre in Sale (M33 4BP) for my ‘Growing Your Business’ seminar.  It’d be good to see you there. Simply register via Eventbrite: https://markdyble.eventbrite.co.uk

All the best
Mark
PS Send me your challenge and I'll try and weave in some helpful suggestions as part of Wednesday's seminar.