In a market saturated with ads and empty promises, the old strategies of driving customer consideration and increased spend are failing. Consumers are exhausted by jargon and skeptical of claims. They don’t just want to be told your product is better; they want you to prove it.
The most potent strategy for driving both consideration (getting them in the door) and increased spend (keeping them and growing their value) is to provide unexpected value—value that goes beyond the transaction itself and shifts the relationship from vendor-client to trusted partner.
The Consideration Crisis: Skepticism is the Default
Before a customer considers spending money, they must first spend their trust. Today, that initial consideration phase is the highest barrier to entry. Every competitor claims to be the best, fastest, or cheapest. This noise forces customers to slow down, delay decisions, and minimize risk.
To accelerate the consideration phase and drive higher Lifetime Value (LTV), you must actively lower the emotional riskof engaging with your company.
The Strategy: Radical Generosity & Unexpected Value
Unexpected value is the high-quality, often proprietary, asset you give away for free—be it information, access, or a superior online service. This approach is not about attracting leads; it’s about converting skeptics into evangelists by demonstrating your confidence and competence.
Here are three ways to leverage this strategy to increase consideration and customer spend:
1. The Ultimate Proof: Access to the Back Office
If you are truly confident in the quality of your product or service, you should have nothing to hide. Radical transparency—offering a window into your processes, or “back office”—builds immediate, powerful trust and closeness.
- For Services: Show the meticulous internal training, the software roadmap, or the quality control checklist. Giving clients a login to a transparent project dashboard (showing progress, not just results) makes them feel invested and secure.
- For Products: Reveal the supply chain ethics, the engineering tests, or the raw ingredients used. This vulnerability is a signal of strength, confirming that the quality claims you make are built on solid, demonstrable foundations.
2. Blow Away Competitors with Un-Gated Information
The traditional model of content marketing involves gating your best resources behind forms. A better strategy is to put your best information, research, and tools out in the open.
When you offer deep, high-value information that genuinely helps solve a customer’s problem before they even pay you, you achieve three things:
- You Establish Authority: You prove you are the expert, making future purchase decisions a non-issue.
- You Build Closeness: The customer feels indebted and grateful for the unexpected utility.
- You Increase Spend: By solving one problem with free information, you naturally lead them to the next, more complex problem that only your paid product can solve. Your free content becomes your most effective top-of-funnel consideration tool.
3. Proof-First Models: Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Increased spend is not just about up-selling; it’s about eliminating the friction in the initial sale so that the customer enters your ecosystem faster and is ready for the next step.
If you know your product delivers, absorb the risk for your customer.
- Offer Guarantees with Teeth: A standard 30-day guarantee is common. Offer something truly exceptional: a “Try before you buy” policy, a proof-of-concept installation, or a “90-day no-questions-asked, full-service refund” that blows away industry norms.
- The Accelerated Yes: By eliminating the perceived risk—the “what if it doesn’t work?” fear—you shorten the consideration window. Customers move from tentative interest to committed spend much faster because they feel safe. This trust, once earned, translates directly into higher retention and willingness to invest in future offerings.
The ROI of Confidence
In the modern competitive landscape, your confidence is your greatest marketing asset. By structuring your marketing around the principle of unexpected value and demonstrable proof, you don’t just capture attention—you convert it into loyalty and profitable spend.
Challenge your team today: What is the most valuable asset or piece of information we are currently holding back, and what would happen if we gave it away? The answer is often the fastest route to blowing your competitors away.
I am an active board member with the Retail Tech Media Nexus (RTM) Board, and we’re always looking for new insights and topics to explore. If you have any specific challenges in the retail, tech, or media space you’d like us to dive into, send me a message on LinkedIn!