Tell Stories for Price Increase Acceptance

Over the past year, it seems that consumers have gotten more suspicious of retailers, especially when it comes to price increases. There are times you’ll need to increase prices. To maximize customer acceptance of these price increases, head off coming across as manipulative by telling the customer a story. A detailed true story. Ah, and as to why a detailed true story can cancel out impressions that a retailer is being manipulative? That, my friend, is a tale in itself.

      The tale begins with the abundance of research documenting the power of a story in persuading customers to take a retailer’s recommendation. Among the latest of these research findings is a report from researchers at University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. They showed how, as a general rule, it’s better to say, “May I tell you a true story to show the advantages of this product?,” than to say, “May I list for you the advantages of this product?”

      Then comes the twist to the University of St. Gallen tale: If the customer senses that the retailer is being manipulative, the advantages of telling the story disappear. That happens even if the customer’s suspiciousness didn’t arise because of the retailer telling the true story.

      And as in any good tale, there is still another twist from the University of St. Gallen research findings. It’s something that might actually be considered a surprise ending: Even if the customer senses the retailer is being manipulative, there is a way for the retailer to restore the persuasive advantages of the story. It is to fill the story with as much detail as the customer’s attention span seems to allow.

      Therefore, you might want to say, “May I tell you a true story with all the details that show the advantages of this product?”