Inverse thinking is the practice of looking at a problem from the opposite direction. Instead of asking what you should add, improve or promote, you ask what you might be overlooking.
In marketing, that leads to a particularly useful question:
What are you not talking about that your customer truly values in their buying decision?
I was reminded of this recently when I heard Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy speak at the National Entrepreneurs Convention.
One of the themes he explored was how businesses naturally focus on rational, measurable benefits – speed, price, features, performance and efficiency – while customers often place significant value on things that are much harder to measure.
Things like trust, certainty, reassurance, convenience and reduced risk.
What does inverse thinking look like in practice? #
Imagine a train company wants to improve customer satisfaction.
The obvious question is:
How can we make the journey faster?
Inverse thinking might prompt a different question:
What if journey time isn’t actually the biggest problem?
Perhaps customers would value better Wi-Fi, more comfortable seats, reliable information and good coffee more than shaving another five minutes off the journey.
The train isn’t faster.
But the experience is better.
That’s an important distinction for marketers.
Are you promoting what you sell – or what customers actually buy? #
Consider a business that proudly promotes having a dedicated account manager.
That sounds like a benefit.
But is that what the customer actually values?
Perhaps what they really value is:
“I don’t have to explain our business to someone new every time I call.”
That’s subtly different – and potentially much more powerful.
Likewise, a customer choosing an established supplier may not simply be buying expertise.
They might really be buying peace of mind.
Someone choosing a premium service may not be buying additional features.
They might be buying the confidence that nothing will go wrong.
And a customer paying more for a trusted supplier may be buying the certainty that, if something does go wrong, it will be sorted out quickly.
These emotional and psychological benefits can have enormous commercial value, even though they rarely appear on a specification sheet.
How can you identify what your customers really value? #
There’s a simple question you can ask:
If one of your best customers recommended your company to a friend, what would they actually say?
Probably not:
“They provide innovative, market-leading solutions and exceptional customer service.”
They are far more likely to say something like:
“They just sort things out.”
“They always answer the phone.”
“They understand our business.”
“They’re not the cheapest, but I know I can rely on them.”
Pay attention to those sentences.
They may reveal your real competitive advantage.
What should you do with this insight? #
Look at the messages on your website, sales presentations and marketing materials and ask:
Are we talking about what we think makes us good – or what our customers actually value about buying from us?
Then apply some inverse thinking.
If everyone in your market talks about speed, perhaps customers really value certainty.
If everyone talks about choice, perhaps they value simplicity.
If everyone talks about technology, perhaps they value being able to speak to a human.
And if everyone talks about features, perhaps customers simply value not having to worry.
Your next great marketing message might not require inventing another reason for customers to buy from you.
It might come from discovering the reason they were buying from you all along.
