The Idiot Test

I had a recent story come up that really got me to thinking about the Curse of Knowledge Chip and Dan Heath talk about in Made to Stick...

With gas prices on the rise, I decided to give up my 4 wheels and trade them in for 2. My first decision was: motorcycle or scooter? With my sales guy help, I landed on going for the scooter.

During the process of talking me through how the scooter worked, he told me that part of his process is to make sure he always shows customers how to start the scooter. Nonetheless, the first time they try to drive it on their own he usually ends up getting calls from his customers saying, "My scooter is broken! It won't start.". After he explained to me how the scooter started, I felt like I got down the basics and it was easy enough. No problem.

Two days later the scooter is delivered to my house, my sales rep is walking me through some logistics, and leaves me to it. So I'm alone with the scooter and ready to take my first ride around the neighborhood. Simple enough...right? I remembered him telling me that so many people forget to flip the power switch - so I make sure to flip it in the "on" position. I'm thinking, "man, all those other people are not too smart". Then I turn the key to start the ignition. The power comes on, but no ignition. The engine isn't making any sounds. Now I'm nervous..."is it just not working?" I keep turning the key, turning the key...still nothing. I call my sales rep, "Um, I think I may be one of those stupid people you talked about. I can't get the thing to start.".

The answer: I had forgotten that with scooters, you don't just turn the key to start the ignition. After you turn the key, you actually hit another button to start it. Its just a button! Easy enough...but still, I couldn't remember how to do it when it came to it.

Lesson here is that all of our customers are in this position at some point. Don't take for granted that they understand what a Database is, what Collateral means, that a quote doesn't include tax and shipping, that your meeting is set for EST. Be specific, don't assume, and over-explain all the details. Do this proactively so your customers don't have to feel like an idiot and fear looking like one by asking a question.