Companies do the craziest things. Take Amazon for example. They have created an awesome new tablet, given it an uber-sexy name, priced it lower even than my wildest dreams, and then refused to sell it to me.

I’m not kidding. I tried to buy the damn thing and got fobbed off with some rubbish about living on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

Excuse me? This is me you’re talking to. ME! Have you checked my order history lately Amazon? I think it only fair that you make an exception in my case. Either that, or start selling the damn thing here in the UK.

Here’s why I want a Kindle Fire

It’s lighter and smaller than an iPad. The iPad is too big and clunky for the use I have in mind. I need something I can use comfortably while on the tube. I get a lot of use out of an iPhone App called QuickOffice Pro. It has the ability read, write and edit both Word and Excel documents. I use it to…

• Review notes on the tube while traveling to meetings
• Make notes when heading back from meetings
• Write Proposals when heading to and/or from meetings
• Create, edit and/or review financial projections

QuickOffice Pro syncs with Dropbox. This means my notes, proposal, and/or spreadsheet are on my laptop when I arrive at or get back from meetings. The work I’ve done while on the tube is ready and waiting.

In other words, QuickOffice Pro and an iPhone allow me to be productive while on the tube. This time is no longer lost. And it’s especially valuable if there are delays on the tube.

An iPhone does an adequate job but I’ve been looking for something bigger. I want more screen real-estate and a larger virtual keyboard. I’d use this device to run presentations too, and leave my laptop in the office.

I looked long and hard at the iPad, and almost pulled the trigger. In the end I decided it’s just too big and heavy. The Kindle Fire is a far better fit for me.

Other tablet makers offer a 7″ device, but none of them can replace Apple’s App and support infrastructure. Amazon can. And now they have (what looks like) the very product I’ve been looking for.

I have already tried to place an order through my Amazon US account. No such luck. They won’t ship it to my UK address. The question is, why won’t the buggers sell it to me?

amazon, ipad, kindle fire, tablet

Imagine that you’re in the market for the Blueray boxset of all 6 seasons of Lost. Consider the following online stores…

• unknown-entity.co.uk – £120
• amazon.co.uk – £130

Which of the above would you buy from?

If you’re like most people, you’ll buy from Amazon. Why? Because you’ve bought from them before and you you can trust them…

• If it’s defective they’ll replace it
• It gets lost in the post they’ll send you another
• It will arrive tomorrow
• They have a long established history of actually doing the above

It’s the last point that matters most. Any online store can say it will replace a damaged item, but how do you know they’re telling the truth? And if it gets lost (or stolen) enroute, you may well have a battle on your hands convincing an unknown estore that you’re telling the truth.

The thing that makes a client hover over the ‘buy’ button without clicking is doubt. It’s the #1 killer of sales. Doubt should be on the FBI’s 10-most-wanted list.

The key to overcoming doubt is trust. The question is, how do you overcome trust if nobody will buy form you in the first place? There are several strategies you can pursue…

• Make it impossible to say no by offering something at a silly price, just to establish that first sale. Consider this to be a cost of marketing
• Build trust over time by establishing a different kind of relationship, such as a supplier of knowledge or assistance
• Borrow trust from another organisation, such as Amazon’s own stores product
• Collect at least 30 video testimonials from genuine customers. This provides overwhelming evidence of your trust-worthiness. Unlike written testimonials, it’s easy to spot a fake on video and this makes them inherently trust-worthy
• Continue to communicate with prospects for years. This keeps your name in front of people, but also implies trust through longevity (i.e. you’re not a fly-by-night organisation)
• Incorporate and include your company registration number on your site, with a link to its Company’s House record. It helps present the idea that you’re a real company, thus overcoming some doubt. The longer you’ve been incorporated, the more trust this approach conveys
• Invest in viral marketing if your products/services and target market are suitable. Because viral marketing depends on friends passing the item on, it carries a degree of credibility with it
• Ask clients to personally recommend you to their friends, colleagues and associates

Which of the above strategies should you use in your business? Use all that are useful. The more trust you convey to your clients, the less doubt they’ll feel when hovering over the buy button.

direct selling, eselling, sales, web sales