The Awful Truth About Questions
They are asked because people want to look smart.
Basically, these people don't want to hear your answer. They want to hear their own answer in your voice, which means they are just as smart as you. Or no answer at all, so they can give it to you and show how they are smarter than you.
Similarly, when you ask a question, most people are not going to give you the answer... unless it shows how smart they are.
(Well, unless they think it does, anyway. Sometimes those answers really just demonstrate how completely stupid people are.)
If they can't figure out how to look smart by answering the question, they will try to answer a completely different question which will make them look smart.
If they can't think of a question to answer which will make them look smart, they will usually do one of four things:
- Make a joke
- Get offended
- Ask why the question matters in the first place
- Ignore everyone else entirely and talk about themselves
This is all motivated by a single drive: the desire not to appear stupid in public.
The fact is, we're all stupid most of the time about most things. Stop and think about what you've done today. How many stupid things have you done that you only got away with because nobody was looking? If anyone was actually spying on you all day and could see everything you did all day, wouldn't you look like a complete moron? How many of us have mornings like this two or three times a week?
10:14 - Lost glasses
10:15 - Found glasses on desk
10:17 - Lost glasses
10:19 - Found glasses on desk
10:23 - Lost glasses
10:25 - Found glasses on desk
10:41 - Lost glasses
10:42 - Found glasses on desk
10:56 - Lost glasses
10:58 - Found glasses on desk
Because seriously, if you were smart, none of that would be there. You would just know your glasses were on the desk. Your glasses are ALWAYS on the desk. And once you know that, you never "lose" them. You just go "they must be on the desk," where indeed they are.
But you're an idiot, so you lose them. Over and over again.
I do this with dry erase markers. I go to write something on the whiteboard, and I don't know where the marker I was using is. I have another one... but I want the one I was using. And it is always either on the desk or in the kitchen. But I am an idiot, so I call it "lost" and check the bedclothes and the bathroom and the refrigerator first. I don't know why. Just stupid, I guess.
And that's our lives, when you really look at it. We do stupid things, then pretend we didn't do them, and if we got caught doing them we make excuses for why they're not stupid. Then we spend the rest of our time looking for ways to be smart. We have to, or people will think we're stupid.
So why does this observation matter to us, as marketers?
Well, simply put...
Your customer is terrified of looking and feeling stupid.
This is a desperate niche nobody is really talking about, and it's everywhere.
If you're in the classic car niche, there are people terrified of not knowing the difference between a Charger and a Challenger, let alone between a '68 and a '71.
If you're in the dating niche, there are people terrified of looking stupid in front of a potential date.
If you're in the internet marketing niche, there are people terrified of admitting they don't know the difference between CPA and CPM, let alone how to calculate their conversion rate.
Making people feel smart is something you can do anywhere, with anyone, and it always makes the customer happy.
So go forth and be badass.
Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
SteveBrowneDirect
Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
SteveBrowneDirect