Does your customer suffer from decision paralysis?

A recent issue of Fast Company November 2007 had a great article by Dan and Chip Heath, authors of the book Made to Stick. The article discussed a phenomena that I often talk about in my seminars and classes but never found the right term for it until I read this article. It's called decision paralysis.

A Window Treatment Consultant can easily create decision paralysis for their customers when they try to get the customer involved in the design process. The reason a customer has called in a professional to advise them of the best window treatment is because they don't know what's best for their home and want to pay someone to tell them what they need. If you walk in there and give them dozens of choices, they are back to square one and will have a hard time deciding on the BEST treatment.

The solution is for the consultant to come up with no more than three designs that will meet their needs and their budget. It's ok to offer a few additional options that will add quality and value to the window treatments such as premium lining or the addition of trim but keep the fabric and overall design making process simple for the customer.

There was a great line in the article that sums it all up:

Simplicity allows people to act.

By following this principal, both parties will find the decision making easier and the end result will be completed quicker which is to sell the customer a beautiful new window treatment.