Buying a new bike is like picking an MSP: Perception is reality

As I write this, my daughter is aged 12 and full of "pre-teen confidence". Yes, let's call it that, so we don't have to use the "attitude" word.

In a shed clear out this weekend, we found the bike I bought her as a 6-year-old back in 2016. That's a photo of it above. Lovely colour, right?

Back then, the only bike she liked was sold exclusively in Toys R Us (remember them???).

This was a distress purchase for me. I have lots of skills and talents in life. But building and repairing bikes (or any machinery) is not one of them.

So when I need something doing, I’m very happy to pay someone else to do it for me.

To me, a new bike must come from Halfords (a UK based chain that sells bikes), or an independent bike shop. Because that’s what they do. In my head they’re the experts.

Toys R Us… well, it (was) just a big toy shop.

Anyway... at my child's insistence we bought that bike, and I paid an extra ￡5 for the building service.

At the collection counter the girl brought out a flat pack box. “Er, we paid for the build service,” I said.

“Did you?” she replied. “Oh, well we can’t do that today. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

“What time tomorrow,” I asked.

“Whenever, really. I’m sure someone will build it in the morning,” she said.

Now there’s a sentence to fill you with fear.?I'm sure someone will build it in the morning. Not a bicycle build specialist. Just… someone.

??

I pressed to have the build booked in at a specific time, and 24 hours later we picked up the built bike. According to the checklist I was given, a number of different items had been checked by the builder and again by a supervisor.

20 mins later... the front wheel seized up.

Turns out the front brakes hadn’t been fitted properly.

There’s a marketing lesson for your MSP in this

Toys R Us probably had exactly the same building process as Halfords, the bike chain. With the same kind of staff. And maybe mis-adjusted brakes is just something that happens now and again.

But in marketing, it’s never about?reality. It’s about?perception.

My perception is that Halfords are experts and do a better job.

That perception is a feeling, not a cognitive thought. And it will have a surprising amount of power over me in the future.

Interestingly, when people are driven by powerful perceptions, price becomes less of a factor. I would happily pay ￡20, ￡30, ￡40 for Halfords to build a bike in future.

Paint a picture for your prospect that you're the perceived expert, and price becomes?A?factor, not?THE?factor.