Abstract vs. Concrete
When it comes to buying and selling, most people have a problem with the abstract. For the last 20 years I was involved in producing and selling custom-made products. These were things that started out as raw materials, had to be articulated and curated from a landscape of potential options, and then produced and delivered to spec. Strange as it was, many people I dealt with, on both sides of the equation, customers and fellow sales people, had a real hard time with it. It wasn’t concrete enough so they struggled to visualize the potential. I remember one time, in the early 2000’s, we were sponsoring the Urban Network, a music industry conference, and we wanted to showcase a new product line. These were custom-made USB drives that could be designed and molded to look like any 2D or 3D object. In an attempt to make it relevant, we produced and handed out self-promo USB drives that were shaped to look like a microphone with our and the conference’s logos molded into it. Everyone who received one was wowed. They all approached us to get more information. “How much for the microphone,” they asked? After we explained that the microphone was just an example and that they could make these USBs look like anything they wanted, almost all of them said, “yes, we understand, but we want the microphone with our logo on it.”
Fast forward 10 years to when I was running the Paper Tube Co. When we first launched, we presented our product lines as Stock Tube Packaging and Custom Tubes. Stock tubes were pre-made tubes that we had in our warehouse and could be purchased right on the website. They were available in a limited variety of sizes and colors and were ready for immediate shipping. Custom tubes were tubes that were produced from scratch at our factory based on customer specifications. These could be made in any color, using different materials, with various customization options, and any size and shape (as long as they were cylindrical). They also required an intricate sales process. As we increased our advertising and started receiving more leads, many customers asked for stock tubes, but in a different size/color and with their artwork printed on them. When our sales people followed up and explained the difference between the two product lines, customers still said that they didn’t want to pay for custom tubes and that all they wanted were stock tubes with slight modifications. We had the microphone problem on our hands. The custom tubes were too abstract. After weeks of research, polling, and A/B testing, we renamed Stock Tubes to Ready-Made Tubes and Custom Tubes to Custom-Made Tubes and the problem was solved.
And it’s not just the customers. I’ve seen the same confusion on the side of the sales reps. If you’ve never sold custom-made products, it actually takes a significant mindshift to understand how to do it effectively. In your typical product-centric organization, you have pre-determined SKUs. Think CPG or wholesale B2B supplies. Traditionally, you have pre-made product variations that are sold individually or in some form of bulk configuration, usually case packs, and carton or pallet quantities. The customer calls and asks to purchase X number of cases of a particular product in a catalog (digital or otherwise - think Uline). The salesperson then checks inventory, writes up an order, and the items ship to the customer. Even if you take a slightly more complex sale where you’re selling personalized products, like printed promos, a customer would ask for a standard item with their logo printed on it. As a salesperson, you would again check your inventory for the specific product reference and add a service add-on, like the printing of the logo. The items are printed and shipped. Concrete enough.
When you’re making things from scratch, however, the number of potential options is infinite. Not only do you not have a specific SKU number to reference, the add-ons could range from a few to a few hundred. As the seller, you have to make a strategic decision on how you want to present the options so that the customer feels like they have choices but isn’t totally overwhelmed. As we all know, too many choices lead to indecision. And indecision leads to nothing being purchased. Having done this across my entire career, here are a few effective paths I’ve seen work.
One, is to turn every conceivable combination of options into a cataloged product. This path relies on an infinite-scroll-style self shopping experience. I’ve seen a few companies do this successfully in the packaging and apparel spaces. Because custom packaging can truly have an infinite combination of options, from box style to construction, from material selection to dimensions, the magic for this type of system heavily relies on the search and “shop by” filter options. The key here is to understand how your potential customers shop for your products and build the filters around the most common scenarios. In addition to filtering by size and color, you might want to have “shop by industry”, or “shop by product fit”, among others. This allows the customers to quickly find a suitable item to purchase, and assuming the price works out, just add it to the cart and check out. Or alternatively, submit a quote request for something very specific.
Two, is to create a product customizer. This type of system is typically seen when purchasing custom-made vehicles. You go on a car brand’s website, choose a model, then start selecting the options across 3-4 screens that guide your selections. You first choose the exterior color, not via a color picked, but through 5-10 icons of curated color choices, then choose between 2-3 type of wheels, then interior, then add-on packages (navi, premium sound, …). Then you make a deposit and your custom car goes into the production queue.
Three, train your salespeople to become expert consultants. This is the path we chose at the Paper Tube Co. We realized early on that in order to articulate the value, we needed to talk to people. We scripted a sales process and regularly held internal training sessions to teach our salespeople the ins and outs of production decisions, and potential risks and benefits of taking the customer in one direction or the other. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for us.
Ultimately, what I learned through trial and error is that you have to turn the abstract into the concrete and make it easy for all involved to point to something specific and say, “I want something like this.”
