Daily decisions. Some of them are easy to make, like when we choose between brands of pretzels.
But then there are the decisions that are true moments of truth. These are particularly difficult. Something about them — the risk of being wrong, the feeling of inability to choose — causes us to hesitate. We feel like we are betting our lives. Or betting our children’s futures. Or betting our health, our home, or our business.
Overwhelmed by the perceived risk, we don’t feel competent to make the choice. In the end,
we might choose poorly. Possibly worse: we might not choose at all — and miss the opportunity to save the day.
This is when we are befuddled. What puts the FUD in befuddled? Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. They wrack us, overwhelming our usual confidence, faith and competence.
Think about when you have been befuddled. I know that my wife and I, even though we are well educated, feel befuddled when making big choices. These choices are often in the life-changing areas of education, financial services, healthcare — and anywhere where the stakes are high and we aren’t trained as specialists.
And the stakes are high. These decisions shape our lives.
What do we need to make such decisions — to free ourselves from the state of befuddledness? Here is our cry for help:
• We need marketers who appreciate our position. We need them to sympathize with our predicament and opportunity. We need them to know how it feels to walk in our shoes.
• We need marketers with a warm bedside manner. They will speak patiently to us, never patronizing us.
• We need marketers who will educate us. We don’t need to be merely entertained — save that for the easy decisions of daily life. We need education. Not so much information, please, that we can perform our own appendectomies, but enough so that we can helpfully answer the doctor’s questions.
In a world where so many advertising agencies love the song-and-dance tradition of har-de-har and whoop-de-do, Young Isaac focuses on the clients whose customers are befuddled. We appreciate the gravity of their moments of truth, and help our clients respond with a calming voice that helps educate the customer.
When we do our work correctly, hesitation does not paralyze both our client and the end customer. And our clients win the business they deserve from customers who are truly grateful.