I'm not talking about great things about referrals. We all know that referrals are great, because we can trust our friends. And so whatever friends refer to us with enthusiasm, we tend to try, and sometimes maintain, without thinking it through thoroughly. I call this mindlessness.
Take this, for example, a person I know has gone to a hairdresser for a few years now, because he was referred to her from a very good friend. This person has almost never gotten a good haircut from this hairdresser. But she went back, time and time again. This has been going on for 5 or 6 years now.
Then, one day, she noticed his work deteriorated a little bit. That was her excuse anyway - but really, the work quality was of no difference from what she has had the many times before. But now she is willing to try someone else - assuming for whatever reason that the other person offers a better price, just because she noticed the seemingly good haircut of another person has from this new hairdresser.
She visited this new hairdresser. The cut was a little better, but the price was also higher. The place was further than the location of the old hairdresser. I wonder what this person will do next - I think she would likely go back to the old hairdresser - given the closer location and price.
Moral of the story? There are two -
1. Referral is powerful - even if the product or service offering is bad, just as long as clients do not know the offering is bad, and are too lazy to make comparisons. This work for products that are not expensive and are convenient to get.
2. Mindlessness is costly - are your decisions costing your more than the benefits you reap from them? Have you questioned the true benefits and drawbacks behind your purchases? The decisions you make daily?
