I was staring at my broken garage door last week. Completely useless. Wouldn't budge.
The thing looked like it was installed when bell-bottoms were still cool the first time around. Our house was built in the 70s, and I'm pretty sure this garage door opener was the original.
So I did what any normal person would do - grabbed my phone and googled "garage door repair near me."
The Customer Experience Nightmare
I got a referral from some relatives and checked out the company's website. Complete disaster.
All I wanted was simple information: what openers they carried and how much they cost. Instead, I got a labyrinth of useless information and those dreaded words every consumer hates: "Call for an Easy Quote."
Easy for who? Certainly not me.
Look, I'd rather spend 6 months teaching myself garage door installation than spend 5 minutes on a sales call. But I figured I'd be an adult about it. I assumed they'd schedule someone to come out, assess the situation, and give me options.
Nope.
When Businesses Make Customers Do Their Work
The lady on the phone immediately started interrogating me about technical details I had no business knowing:
- What size door do you have?
- How many panels?
- Is it a chain or belt drive?
I don't know any of that. I'm not even home when I'm making this call!
What they really wanted was for ME to diagnose my garage door problem, tell THEM what parts I needed, buy it over the phone, and then they'd send someone to install it.
Wait, isn't that THEIR entire job? Wasn't I calling them because they're the garage door experts and I'm just a guy with a door that won't move?
How We Apply This at Wild Ridge Coffee
This experience crystallized something we've believed since day one at Wild Ridge Coffee: Never make your customers do your job.
When someone comes to our website or reaches out about our coffee, we don't expect them to know the difference between washed and natural processing. We don't require them to understand extraction ratios or optimal brewing temperatures.
That's OUR job. We're the coffee experts.
Instead, we ask simple questions about what they enjoy drinking now and what flavors they like. Then WE translate that into recommendations that will delight them.
The Solution Was Simple
Back to my garage door saga - I eventually found a company with a website that actually respected my time:
- Visit site
- Click to schedule
- Pick a time on the calendar
- Expert comes to assess
- They recommend solutions based on my specific situation
- Installation happens
No technical interrogation. No making me do their job. Just professionals being professional.
The Business Lesson Hidden in Everyday Frustrations
Every business should remember: Your expertise is what customers are paying for. The moment you make them do the work of being the expert, you've failed at your primary job.
At Wild Ridge, we've learned this lesson the hard way a few times. We used to get very technical in our descriptions and ask customers detailed questions about their brewing methods before making recommendations.
You know what happened? We confused people and lost sales.
Now we keep it simple. We guide. We educate when appropriate. But most importantly, we do the heavy lifting so our customers don't have to become coffee experts just to enjoy a great cup.
So whether you're selling coffee or garage doors, remember this: Your expertise should make your customers' lives easier, not more complicated.
And for the love of good coffee, please put your prices on your website.