Your business, in just one tap
If somebody needed your business, could they get it at the tap of a button?
How many decisions must a customer make before they can receive your service? How many steps must they take from the moment they want you and their purchase?
Simple companies are more valuable. Removing friction is a distinctive competitive advantage.
Every decision your customer must make is an obstacle for your service to overcome. Ask yourself, what lengths have you already gone to remove choices for these people, and could you go further?
I’m a waiter at a Peruvian restaurant, and recently I pitched the owner on the concept of a one-tap food delivery app… You tap a button, get food.
This concept works because we removed tiresome decisions from the customer’s plate. There is no selection of restaurant, there’s just one. Maybe there’s not even a menu.
Anybody who has read Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail knows that this strategy is not actually crazy. The internet favors the weird.
By making decisions for your customer and removing complexity, you become more meaningfully specific. Some people won’t understand you, but by being clear about what your product is and who it is for, you give a group of people the option to self-select for a higher tier service.
You win not because of all the people you appeal to, but because of the lengths you are willing to go to exclude outsiders to better serve your true fans.
A polarizing product will have both your fans and haters talking about you. A far better outcome than fading into obscurity.