GPS

Along the lines of my last post, a great service truly does alleviate a discomfort/stress/anxiety for an individual or company.

A GPS device is sort of a hybrid of a service and a product, but the service is really what sells it. Keep that in mind as I describe a recent example that caught me off guard.

My wife does many things better than I can, but getting to a particular destination that she is not familiar with is not one of them.  This is so challenging for her that she spends a good 20 minutes before any trip to an unknown place writing down directions, putting highlights on a map, tracing the course on a map, creating post-its, etc. She has done this since I’ve known her. Does all this really help her get to where she wants to go? Maybe, but I think most of it is her trying to alleviate the stress she is feeling. Because of this stress she has mentioned getting a GPS device on more than one occasion. We’ve just never made the effort to do the research and buy one.

So the other day I see a TomTom One on Amazon for $199. Perfect.  I place the order and the package arrives to our house within a few days. We go through the whole “Oh my gosh, you bought me a present? What is it?” conversation as she is opening the Amazon box. When she finally realizes what it is she actually starts to cry. The fact that she now has a device that can potentially reduce, and maybe eliminate, her stress over driving to new destinations is somewhat overwhelming to her. There is nothing more powerful than relieving someone of a stress or discomfort.

Figure out  the discomfort your service relieves and leverage it.