Episode 126: Digging Deep Into Consumer Behavior with Jeremy King at Attest

Jul 31

Jeremy King, CEO and Founder of Attest, began his career as a scientist working on mathematical modeling and ecological understanding. After nine years at McKinsey, he started Attest eight years ago to address a significant business problem. Attest aims to make consumer research effortless and accessible, believing that data from target customers is the key to success. Their platform allows users to test ideas and make informed decisions quickly.

The Attest difference

Traditional market research takes a long time to happen, and the data often comes back with holes and questions. The data is also static and may be irrelevant in just a few months. It’s expensive and time-consuming, and you can only do it a few times a year.

Jeremy’s goal in creating Attest was to dramatically improve that market research process. At Attest, each customer's experience is personalized and unique. Customers have the freedom to choose what questions to ask, who to show those questions to, and in what format, whether it's targeting individuals in one country or multiple countries with different languages.

Data is promptly delivered, usually within a day or two, and customers can easily analyze and interpret the results. The platform encourages iterative testing, akin to conducting multiple small, targeted experiments to refine and optimize strategies, be it color schemes, price points, or other variables.

Jeremy and his team transform market research into a streamlined, agile, and efficient process, where each data point is specifically tailored to the demands of individual customers, generating valuable insights from real consumers worldwide.

Attest serves a diverse range of customers, including B2C organizations, DTC subscription businesses, big brands, investors, and manufacturing companies. Operating in 58 countries and over 70 languages, Attest makes it easy for users to test concepts across various markets, saving time and resources.

Go-to-market strategies

In their go-to-market strategy, Jeremy and his team utilize a mix of traditional B2B sales approaches, including marketing and inbound sales leads, as well as outbound and product-led strategies. They hold the belief that their buyers prefer to chart their own journey, catering to diverse preferences, whether it's independent learning, product trials, or seeking case studies.

They refer to this approach as "buyer-led buying journeys," and it requires the development of various go-to-market motions to accommodate these different paths. Balancing and optimizing these methods is an ongoing challenge akin to managing multiple parts of a circus simultaneously.

Their sales cycle is characterized by rapidity, coupled with high average contract values and strong net retention, reflecting the typical traits of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company. These factors contribute to driving customer expansion, empowering users to explore new use cases, conducting research across multiple markets, and tackling valuable problems with greater frequency and efficiency.

The company's mission centers around facilitating user discoveries and making their research endeavors seamless, whether it involves testing audio ads in different countries, fine-tuning pricing strategies at a regional or even city-specific level, or overcoming other specific challenges. They strive to simplify the entire process, making it accessible and effective for their customers.

Eliminating guesswork

Jeremy says that “guesswork should be illegal” and replaced with data-backed insights. Attest helps businesses understand consumer behavior and preferences, avoiding mistakes and helping them to make informed decisions. By testing ideas with different customer groups, companies can find the best strategies that yield positive results.

They avoid asking existing customers questions during cancellation or purchase journeys, as it may lead to low-quality data. Instead, they focus on understanding drivers of cancellations through moments that aren't part of the cancellation process. This approach allows for better segmentation and insights into consumer behavior.

Adapting the subscription playbook

As the subscription business landscape evolves, traditional tactics for churn avoidance and cancellation may no longer be effective. Jeremy believes new ways to understand consumers and develop tailored strategies are essential for success in the current market.

Jeremy points out nefarious tactics that some businesses use, such as hidden fees, misleading marketing, and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions. These practices can lead to negative customer experiences and erode trust, increasing cancellations.

Attest conducted research to identify external influences and attributions of blame in subscription cancellations. Understanding these drivers helps businesses be part of the solution and retain customers effectively.

In the research, consumers ranked better pricing and product value as their top priorities when reconsidering subscriptions. Other factors like packaging, delivery, and customization ranked lower in importance.

The research also revealed variations in consumer preferences based on demographics, regions, ages, and genders. Understanding these nuances is essential for subscription businesses to tailor their offerings effectively.

Annoyed customers and cancellations

Jeremy and his team conducted research on the annoying aspects of subscription businesses from a consumer's perspective. They identified potential irritants such as excessive use of non-recycled materials, short shelf life of products, imposed choices and unexpected advertisements in subscriptions. The top two most significant annoyances were found to be charging customers for failing to return packaging or resources and long delivery lead times. These issues are easy to control to minimize customer dissatisfaction and reduce the likelihood of cancellations.

The research highlighted several effective win-back approaches, including price reductions, free trial periods, flexible subscription pausing or skipping, and offering special VIP privileges. Consistently adding new content, services, and features were found to be impactful ways to engage customers and create perceived value.

The study also dives into how consumers spend money saved from canceled subscriptions. One eye-opening stat that he talks about is the fact that only 26% of consumers spend the money they save on a canceled subscription on a similar product from a competitor.

Serving their customers

Attest's business model involves annual commitments to encourage users to utilize the platform's capabilities fully. The platform serves a wide range of customers, including those tracking competitors, monitoring market trends, and making data-driven investment decisions.

Jeremy encourages his customers to use Attest to test their hunches, no matter how crazy they may sound. He tells the story of the team at Bloom and Wild, the number one flower retailer in Europe, who had a hunch that people hated giving and receiving red roses on Valentine’s Day. The research backed up that hunch, and they made the bold move to delisting its top-selling SKU of red roses during Valentine's Day, and encourage shoppers to buy an alternative. This decision led to increased revenue and media attention, showcasing the power of innovative ideas and informed decision-making using Attest's platform.

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#SaaS #Subscriptions #SubscriptionBusiness #SubscriptionService