Impulse Purchase
“If a customer says that a purchase was an impulse, that’s just a way to shut you down as an interviewer. They don’t know, they haven’t thought about it, they haven’t spent the time. It’s a way for consumers to get us to stop asking questions when they don’t think they have the answers. But what we know is that if you ask the right questions they have the answers.” - Greg Engle
“Impulse” is a signal to (kindly) dig deeper. An impulse is like the trunk of a tree. It’s what we see. But there are roots too.
One aspect of Bob’s interviews is the level of detail. Who was there? Oh, your wife and kids helped? Or What day of the week was it? Where were you coming from?
For one couple, the impulse to contact a realtor was preceded by - this took some digging - a friend’s funeral. They didn’t want to leave the task of moving to only the other. That was the catalyst. With this information, Bob’s condominium business began to advertise in the newspaper obituaries.
In the podcast, Bob and Greg reference the famous mattress interview: The Jobs-to-be-Done Mattress Interview (as seen in Competing Against Luck)
Here are the consolidated questions.
Bob ranges. He’s looking for that funeral moment. Does it matter if the shopping cart was full? Maybe. Bob’s unearthing the roots. Some will be shallow and irrelevant. But you can’t know until you’re there. “The irrational becomes rational,” Bob explains, “with context.”
Homework
Before the assignments, you need to understand the forces of progress.
➡️ Forces that push toward change are the appeal of the new and the discomfort of the present. That new car smell and my car smell.
⬅️ Forces that pull toward un-change are the anxiety of the new and the habit of the present. Can I afford a new car and ‘ugh, car dealerships’?
It’s these forces that explain “impulse”.
📝 Assignment 1: Think of your impulse purchases, “what’s pushing you to the one you pick, what’s pulling you, what are the anxieties, what are your habits?”
📝 Assignment 2: If you hear ‘impulse’ dig in. Ask, What do you mean by that?
From last week…