Something was wrong. I was sure reason was not the amount as I never asked for any specific amount. In fact, I precisely mentioned that even the small amount such as Rs. 500 would be fine. Then I did what a PM does. I picked my phone and called up a few of the guys. and then a few more… Talking to your users/customers always helps.
As I told them that the call was regarding contribution many of them said, yes, they will do soon. But my main motto was to know why they haven’t done it yet.. was my message not compelling enough? Or did I pitched in the wrong way? It was embarrassing for them as well and I knew this was going to happen (another trait of a PM, know your customer). So I framed my questions accordingly. But did not get many insights.
As a habit, before concluding the call, as I do during any customer interview, I asked casually if they have to add anything. I know this is the part of the conversation when your customer/user gives more insightful answers if you let them talk freely, without any constraints. And even this time, I was right. Around 80% of the people I called, asked me, “Do you have GooglePay/PayTM/PhonePay?”. And many of them added, transferring the money with bank details takes time so they will do it later.
And I got my answer… We, humans, are wired to be lazy 🙂.
I thought about the “user journey” in paying through the bank and realized there are too many steps for a person to perform the transaction when the motivation is not enough strong. To list them broadly:
Logging in to your bank account and navigating to “Transfer Fund” page
- Adding a payee
- waiting for OTP (or any other authentication methods)
- Transferring the money.
Though my message was compelling, it moved a few of the audience and make them take action. But it probably was not strong enough to change the habit of those who did not take the pain to perform all those steps. In other words, the gravity of their habit of being lazy was so strong that my message did not propel them out of their comfort zone and moved them to donate. I also realized I had a limit on how strong the message I could compile. The cause itself was not that strong that it will change their habit (of being lazy).
Then what was the reason, that few initial friends/family members paid instantly when I assumed I validated my “product”? Well, I found that most of those people already had me as a payee. And hence it was easy enough for them to pay.
Later, I messaged a simple one-line addition that payment could also be done using PayTm, Google Pay and BHIM. And that worked… people start transferring the funds. I was able to raise a handsome amount and contribute to Pradnya’s cause.
