The Stuff Your Customer Hates

My wife and I are buying a second car to shuttle our little guy around and we want to buy a used one. Online research is tough because the “ranking” sites are now referrals and ad driven and feel less objective. Used car marketplaces could be good, but I’m weary of any transaction where both sides are only going to ever interact once.

There’s a lot of emotion — I don’t want to get screwed and the stakes are high because of the price.

There are also a lot of variables — how much less should a car with 40k miles be than a car with 20k, if the 40k has leather and the 20k is a model older and the color we want and on and on.

There’s a misconception that choice is a good thing. In reality, no one wants choice, ever. They want an expert to tell them what’s best for them.

I was telling a friend about our struggle to get a car and he immediately recommended someone he’d worked with who did two things for you for $600 — 1) he sent you a survey with 30 or so questions to figure out which car you should buy, and 2) he finds, negotiates, and buys the car for you. You just sign the paperwork.

He promises he’ll save you more than $600 through negotiation and his expertise on what a deal actually is, but more importantly, he tells you which car to buy and tells you which car is a deal.

What’s the corollary for your customer? What does your customer hate to do? What has a lot of emotion associated with it? Or tough to discern variables?

People happily, willingly overpay to have these sorts of problems solved when an expert comes in and says, “Here’s what you need, and here’s what to do.”