How Your Default Hole Is Losing You Money
Processes used by default, and how they ruin your business.
When a new lead customer steps onto your business’ doorstep, it’s an opportunity to make a strong first impression or make it so irritating that they flee.
There are a lot of industries that inadvertently opt for the latter. They accidentally scare away potential customers by making the entryway to their business unwelcoming and unenticing to move forward with.
Let me give you an example —
I am currently planning a cross-country move and I’ve had to reach out to a couple of moving companies to get pricing. I entertained phone calls from 2 of the 8 moving companies I reached out to before stopping.
One of the 2 companies that I spoke to actually hung up on me because I wasn’t willing to commit to making a reservation without shopping for other quotes first.
I didn’t respond to the follow-up for 75% of the companies I reached out to because I was tired of re-answering the same set of questions over the phone.
After the second company hung up on me, I was definitely done because I got the sense that this antiquated method of lead engagement was also leading me to speak to antiquated businesses that didn’t understand the extensive price comparison shopping that Millennials like me do. (How many of you have looked up a price on Amazon while in a Target store to make sure that you were getting the best price?)
Why do moving companies do this? Use an antiquated method of calling leads and asking them the same 5 questions before giving them a quote?
- Because all of their competitors are doing the same thing.
- 99.9% of these companies haven’t surveyed their customers to understand the friction points in their sale process. I bet the drop-off rate in this initial “request for quote” phase is wildly high.
If these moving companies surveyed their customers, they would have found that customers who are already struggling with the overwhelming to-do’s of planning a move don’t want to talk to 8 different moving companies on the phone and answer the same 5 questions they could have answered online.
During a time of chaos and stress, a company within this industry should prioritize directness and fast responses rather than add more time and indirect conversations to the mover’s pool of stress.
None of these moving companies thought through their customer journey process from scratch, removing all the sales process norms within their industry. They didn’t question the necessity of the “request for quote” process. It’s a missed opportunity for innovation and more sales in my book.
If a moving company sent me a direct quote via email along with answers to FAQs, saving me a boring 10-minute phone conversation, I would’ve signed with them on the spot.
The Default Hole
This moving company example is a classic representation of the default hole. It’s a hole that new businesses fall into when they follow the classic rule book everyone in their industry follows without questioning its necessity, or if the customer even responds positively to it.
When you fall into the default hole, you lose leads and you lose sales.
The solution to staying out of the default hole is pretty simple — question everything. When you see any area of your sales process see a large attrition and fall-off rate, question how you can reinvent it and make it more effective.
Pinpoint why people hate this particular phase of your sales process and beat them to the punch — make it better than what they typically see during this phase from your competitors and blow them out of the water with an attention-grabbing play.
I recently received a cold pitch on my Instagram from a young startup that has no audience and is starting from complete scratch. I rarely respond to requests to collaborate or engage with these startups because I need to prioritize my time for my paying clients.
I ended up booking a meeting with this startup though. Here’s why —
They initially messaged me with a written message explaining their intention and that they wanted to book a quick call with me to discuss. I didn’t respond.
Then they did something interesting.
They sent me a video speaking to me directly about all of the different content they’ve read of mine, what they thought was interesting about them, and why they thought they’d be a good fit to engage with me.
I could read the charisma and passion for their business through their video. Their pitch was clear and communicated better verbally. It was damn good. I sent them my calendar link on the spot.
This startup had the intuition to think creatively about their outreach process without falling to defaults.
The solution to a default hole doesn’t have to be laborious or an intense orchestration — it can be as simple as a 2-minute video.
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