How to Change 200 Year Old Consumer Behavior
Every once and awhile I come across a startup that absolutely fascinates me. It could be the founder’s that inspire me – or the product that impresses me – or some combination of the two.
Over the last year, that startup has been Outbox Mail.
Outbox is capturing the imagination of people everywhere by digitizing snail mail. It’s not out to replicate America’s oldest social network, the USPTO, in a digital format – it’s actually looking to improve the postal mail experience by providing better access to higher quality content (click link for video).
Today, so many consumer startups create products that are more like features. It’s refreshing that Outbox is creating something original that has the ability to change an entire industry.
The company clearly has ambitious goals – its founders are visionaries – and it’s tackling a problem that nobody else wants to touch. In my opinion, that’s a recipe for success….if executed properly.
As you can tell, I want Outbox to succeed. But I’m sure most of you are thinking that this idea is never going to work. I agree that there are many obstacles to overcome. Outside of the obvious operational and government challenges, the hardest challenge is to change 200 year old consumer behavior.
Changing consumer behavior is something that we had to overcome every day at DashLocker. Based on my experience, here are some tips that can help Outbox with this challenge:
Touch > Read: The best way for a consumer to fall in love with a new product is to use it. It doesn’t matter how many articles are written about a product, or how many people tell you to try a product – you will never understand the magic of a new product (or in this case a new digital service) unless you try it for yourself. Do whatever it takes to get a user to demo your product.
3 Times is a Charm: At DashLocker we found that if a customer seamlessly used our service three times, they would become a lifelong customer. Customer acquisition is expensive, so focusing on customer retention is critical. The key to making customers use your product 3 times is to make your product as easy to use as possible and to provide the best possible customer service.
Customer First Mentality: Changing your daily behavior is risky. Most people are inherently scared of risk. In order to eradicate risk, your startup needs to be human and accessible. If people have problems or questions, they want to speak to a well-spoken individual on the other end of the phone. Put the customers’ needs first and everything else will fall in line. (Note – a well thought out Q&A on the website can reduce the number of customer calls)
These are just a few things (at a very high level) that Outbox can do to help change consumer behavior and hopefully increase the chances it successfully scales to all U.S. cities.
Note - The execution of each tip varies based on the product and marketing strategy of your startup