I have been thinking recently just how critical a good referral and a business being the trusted agent is for purchase of anything…
I had the need to buy a piece of software to manage my web site this week. I did my usual thing where I look for the best price using PriceGrabber. This software could be purchased at 20 different companies all within $10 of the same price. I decided not to go with the lowest price but to search to see if Amazon sold the product. They did at a high price. I decided to buy it through them because I knew based on past experience that the product would arrive on time and in good order. They also had free shipping so the “paid price” would be closer to all the other vendors. Amazon was my trusted agent even though they were the most expensive.
A low price is the poor man’s marketing strategy. We all will pay for value and do business with people we trust.
Speaking of a good referral, Eric Sink (http://www.ericsink.com) just reviewed your book. I’m looking forward to reading it this weekend.
Amazon does a decent job I guess, but their site is getting more difficult to use as they add more products. It isn’t clear where the company is really headed. Will they remain in retail or just act as broker to the retailers in their zShops?
In the mean, time Walmart is making a huge move into Amazon’s territory. Check out the price of you book there:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?cat=18600&dept=3920&product_id=2359683&path=0%3A3920%3A18600%3A18604%3A19450
And the service already approaches (if not surpasses) Amazon’s.