Earlier this yr, I wrote an article in regards to the exhausting work it takes to make one thing look straightforward. I quoted a number of individuals from sports activities, leisure and enterprise. The gist of the article was that we work exhausting to make doing enterprise with us straightforward. Consider the quote I used from Steve Jobs of Apple, who mentioned, It takes quite a lot of exhausting work to make one thing look easy.
Notice that Jobs’ quote makes use of the phrase easy. Sometimes, individuals confuse easy with straightforward, and it’s vital to acknowledge the distinction between the 2 phrases.
So, let’s take this idea to the following degree. It’s not solely about making one thing look straightforward. It’s about simplifying the sophisticated.
When I’m requested to offer a buyer expertise keynote speech, one of many factors I wish to make is the significance of simplifying the sophisticated. All of my books are straightforward to learn. Some say the ideas are easy, however the actuality is that they’re typically not. They are simply introduced in a method that simplifies the ideas for the reader. And we should do the identical in enterprise.
Customers don’t need or like complication, confusion, or friction. They desire a customer-friendly expertise, however additionally they need the general expertise to be handy. My annual customer support and CX analysis contains some very compelling findings that can make you wish to simplify your clients’ expertise. For instance, 94% of the greater than 1,000 shoppers we surveyed mentioned comfort is vital, 87% of consumers will advocate a handy firm or model, and 70% pays extra for comfort.
As vital as comfort is to the client expertise, there may be extra to “de-complicating” the general expertise. For instance, how clear are your advertising and marketing messages and product descriptions? I’ve been to web sites the place, after studying all the pieces on the corporate’s dwelling web page, I nonetheless don’t know precisely what they do. They’ve sophisticated their message.
The idea of simplicity is financially highly effective. Siegel+Gale is a consulting agency that focuses on making manufacturers easy. Its analysis reveals an unbelievable monetary profit to creating simplicity. In 2009, should you invested in a gaggle of corporations acknowledged for simplicity, you’d have dramatically outperformed the inventory market by a whopping 1,600%, proving that simplicity delivers in ROI.
It’s vital to do not forget that easy doesn’t all the time imply straightforward. You can have a really sophisticated and extremely technical product. My sister used to work with corporations to rewrite sophisticated software program manuals so the typical particular person may perceive them. And that’s an ideal instance of creating the sophisticated easy.
Shep Hyken is a customer support/CX professional, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling writer. Learn extra about Shep’s customer support and buyer expertise keynote speeches and his customer support coaching workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.