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Imagine this…

One of your closest friends just started their own business.

Knowing you’re a freelance copywriter, he asks if you wouldn’t mind looking through his newly launched website and seeing if there are any glaring problems.

You happily agree.

After carefully scrolling through the homepage, about page, and product page like you’re Sherlock Holmes, you open up a trusty Google Doc and get to work.

In just 9 minutes, you write down 3 pages’ worth of copy suggestions to boost conversions.

It was easy to spot where potential customers could get confused or overwhelmed.

You email him the GDoc jampacked with suggestions, take a sip of your homemade pumpkin spice latte, and wait for a reply.

You don’t have to wait long.

Just 7 minutes later, your phone rings.

“This is incredible,” he tells you. “I knew it could be better, but I couldn’t find the words myself. How did you do that?!”

“Honestly, I don’t know. It just felt easy,” you say. “I wish I had that much clarity about how to improve my website. I’ve revamped my messaging 3 times over the past 6 months, and it still doesn’t feel ‘right.’”

Why is it so easy to suggest solid improvements for your friend’s website, but figuring out your messaging feels harder than rocket science?

In today’s edition of Why We Buy 🧠 we’ll explore Solomon’s Paradox—why we find it easier to solve other people’s problems than our own.

Let’s get into it.

🧠 The Psychology of Solomon’s Paradox

Solomon’s Paradox got its name from King Solomon—considered one of the wisest rulers in history.

There’s a catch, though.

He was known to easily solve other people’s problems.

But when it came to his own problems, he struggled. Hard.

Researchers found we tend to think more “wisely” when considering solutions for other people’s problems.

That is, we approach the problem more objectively, acknowledging our knowledge limitations, weighing alternative perspectives, realizing the importance of compromise, and considering the long-term outcome.

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However, researchers also found that considering our problems from a third-person perspective—as if giving advice to a friend—helps minimize the emotional bias that often clouds our judgment.

The result? We can apply wiser thinking to our own problems.

And that applies to your customers, too.

When customers are faced with a problem in their business or life, they’ll often overthink it and struggle to see solutions that may seem obvious to you.

And while you may have the solution for their painful problem…

If you can’t instill confidence they’re making the right choice by buying from you, they’ll overthink the possible purchase—possibly to the point of never hitting the “Buy now” button. Yikes.​

🤑 How to Apply This

Alright, so how can you apply this right now to sell more?

SaaS​
​Offer a free trial to reduce choice overwhelm

There are LOTS of software options to help you grow your business.

That means there’s LOTS of overwhelm and confusion involved in trying to find the “right” option.

And to make matters worse, you already know when there are too many options, customers are less likely to make a decision anyway.

QuickBooks addresses both of these problems by offering a 30-day free trial.

This acts like a third-party guide for the customer.

So instead of worrying about whether the software is too complicated or unsuitable for their biz (and whether they’ll regret their purchase), they can try it out risk-free.

This removes the overthinking associated with the decision, making customers more likely to try QuickBooks.

Personal finance​
​Introduce a third-person perspective for complex problems

Money is a touchy, emotional topic that customers typically want to stay far away from—especially when it comes to something as daunting as retirement planning.

So Vanguard uses a “retirement income calculator” that lets customers input their financial data and see projected long-term outcomes.

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Instead of crunching numbers themselves (a hard “no” from us), this calculator acts as a “third-person consultant,” allowing the customer to think of their retirement from an outside perspective.

This helps customers distance themselves from the overwhelm and stress that are usually attached to complex financial decisions (and that decrease the likelihood of investing).

As a result, customers are more likely to make rational, well-informed decisions about their retirement instead of falling victim to the Ostrich Effect.

eCommerce​
​Address objections immediately

Two of the biggest objections that hold customers back from buying shapewear are that it’ll be suffocating and a hassle to keep in place.

Honeylove tackles these sale-stopping fears by assuring browsers their shapewear won’t squeeze the life out of them and stays in place.

Those 7 simple words (“without squeezing, and always stays in place) remove emotional roadblocks, helping customers bypass the need to overthink the purchase decision.

Without those objections clouding their judgment, customers can confidently grab a piece of shapewear without worrying about being uncomfortable.

💥 The Short of It

Solving other people’s problems is 100X easier than solving our own.

And that rings true for your customers, too.

The biggest hurdle they need to overcome is deciding if your product or service is right for them.

So find ways to shift their perspective and minimize the emotional bias that clouds their judgment to make more sales.

Until next time, happy selling!