Warby Parker is an American brand of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses founded in 2010. Warby Parker sells online and has a limited number of showrooms in the United States. By designing glasses in-house and selling only directly to consumers, the company lowers the cost of its glasses by a significant amount.
Just like most other people. I too, am plagued by terrible organic eyesight that requires specialized assistance so I can make out the letters on this screen.
I first came across Warby Parker while listening the Jordan Jesse Go podcast about a year ago and was completely taken a back by the claim that I could go to this website, choose frames that I liked, have them shipped to me so I could try them on at home and then ship them back all on the dime of Warby Parker. It sounds too good to be true, am i wrong?
If you wear glasses then you understand that these things have to sit on your melon all day. Other people have to look at you wearing them all day too. I tell you this because it reminds me of the car buying process. Not only do I need my glasses to be comfortable, durable and feel good on long road trips. I need them to look good too. I need them to be an extension of my personality.
They say you can tell a lot about a person by the kind of car they drive. Well, you can tell even more by looking at the type of eyeglasses they wear.
So I visit their site. I choose only the ones that make me yell out “Ah, Hell Yeah!” I hit the checkout button, add in my contact info. Bada Bing Bada Boom, 5 pairs of glass frames in a box on their way to Sin City.
I am telling you this story for a couple of different reasons. First, when you think about eyeglasses and the attachment we have for them. It relates very well to the automotive industry. They may not cost as much but i’ll be damned if I’m not even more picky about the crown that calls this nose it’s home. Secondly, it’s what happened during and after this whole process that made me save all the emails I got from them so I could one day tell this tale.
This brings me to the idea of** Passive Intent**.
Passive – accepting or allowing what happens
** Intent – intention or purpose**
Passive Intent a phrase you wont find anywhere. Because for the most part it’s somewhat contradictory. However the intention of being passive seems like an idea that we probably could all get behind.
In Warby Parkers communications with me I never once felt pressured, or lured in to thinking I was missing out on something. They provided me with information like next steps, or easy to click options to call or email.
The one factor that did remain through all the communications though is the consistent visual representation of all the cool styles I’d chosen for myself. They never acted like they were concerned because I hadn’t responded to them. Or that I better hurry up and buy these frames or I wont be able to get them.
Warby Parker knows I’m busy. If I wasn’t I probably wouldn’t have chosen to pick out frames online, have them shipped to me so I could stand in front of a mirror for 5 minutes, put them back in the box and ship em back. If i wasn’t busy I could of just went down to lens crafters and done the same thing.
So, Warby Parker knows not to push me. They know they probably need to remind me often of all the cool stuff I haven’t got yet. All they need to say is “Hey Chris, Remember that time you tried on all those cool glasses…. That was pretty cool”
Warby Parker doesn’t need to remind of what Warby Parker is or what awards they’ve won. Warby parker doesn’t have to earn my business because they already did as soon as I hit “Ship”
Often times we get so caught up in this instant transactional mindset when we operate on the web. Whether that be through our sites or email communications. We desperately lean on weak arguments and say things like Top Dollar (whatever the hell that even means) and we lose sight of what our customers are really asking of us. Which is to be cool.
We don’t need to make it more complicated than that. We don’t need to remind them of who we are and what we do. They know who we are and what we do. We don’t need to be the kid who is always over doing it in hopes that he’s impressing some girl who isn’t even paying attention.
The Warby Parker approach to follow up as I took it. Was to not assume that I didn’t like the glasses I picked out and were looking around at other glasses providers. They know I’m busy so they reminded me of the cools ones I had already picked out.
They didn’t assume that I was having a financial hardship and send me a credit card application. Instead, they knew I was busy and sent me a reminder of all the cool glasses I had tried on.
They never discounted their products in hopes I would convert right then. Because, they know i’m busy so they reminded me of the cool stuff I picked out.
The difference between their approach versus many of our approaches is that they’re in it for the long haul. Because when I finally do get around to getting new glasses I already know who I’m getting them from and the ones I’m getting. I’m not saying that we aren’t in it for the long haul either. I’m just saying that we don’t always act like it.
So I call this approach Passive Intent. Each exchanged came with intention but was actively passive at the same time.
Just because I didn’t buy today doesn’t mean I wont buy tomorrow or a week from now or a month from now. But in our industry we act like thats how the world works.
I wonder how a Passive Intent approach in the automotive market would fair?
Would it fill our funnels so much we would need to get a larger funnel and hose?
What would happen if we stopped pressuring and became intentionally passive.
I ask these questions because it seems like these guys have intentionally or unintentionally created an environment that makes me want to spend my money with them.
And, if there is one thing I’ve learned from Warby Parker its that the really really cool kids never ever have to tell anyone else. Just how cool they think they are…
**What Do You Guys Think? **
Do you think an approach like this is exactly what our industry needs?
Sound off in the comments below.