The Importance of “No…”
The harsh reality of customers saying “No” to your product or service is very important. It helps learn how customers say “Yes”.
You can’t make everyone open to your solution at first. You have to work out where there are grey areas in the minds/situations of customers and then design for it. Great user experience can make an idea that was once unappealing, appealing.
For example Airbnb. The idea of asking people to pay for staying in a strangers homes at first is unappealing but when it is baked into a user experience that includes profiles, reviews, competitive pricing, etc. it can soon become a better idea than a hotel.
You can beat the competition through sheer doggedness — creating a user experience that builds on the “Yes’s” and keeps addressing the “No’s”, piece by piece.
When the people who previously said “No” do say “Yes” and have a great experience with your product or service, there is a delight that “it works better!”. The value is realised for them. And as a result, they are much more likely to talk about the experience with their friends and family which is the most important kind of marketing.
NB: A lot of this thinking is inspired by the podcast Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman
