12 ways to overcome customer procrastination🛒

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Doing great. Thanks for asking.

Today’s Feature Story lays out 12 ways to overcome shopper procrastination. I’ve got five practical tips and then seven more that get into the psychology of procrastination.

After that, scan through the following sections: 

• The Knowledge Base  

• Self Help (best part missed) 

• Facts & Stats (big soda tactics)

• Get Hacking (double dose) 

Appetizer: Common promotion mistakes that are easy to correct.

Now, let’s run face-first into today’s Feature Story…

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Feature Story

Shopping’s a Pleasure for Nearly 9 out of 10 People

Studies show nearly everyone likes shopping. Unless they’re overwhelmed with information during their research (comparisons, reviews, etc).

Research protects shoppers from wasting their money. Also protects them from feeling dumb after being let down by a product or service they chose.

The problem? A sea of information. And unhelpful formats in which info gets presented.

“Two-thirds of consumers say they delay or avoid making decisions when faced with too many options or information.” ~Think w/ Google Study

Even though AI is changing how people research products / services, brands still need to make efforts to avoid overwhelming shoppers with info, which costs brands sales.

How to Prevent Those Types of Lost Sales? 

(The first 5, then 7 more will make 12)

1. Make your info easy to find and sort through

2. Simplify your marketing messages

3. Put fewer products on single pages

4. Remove jargon & word-salad product descriptions 

5. Don’t depend solely on the web to get eyes on your content (details coming)

It’s a mental game too…

Psychological reasons humans procrastinate:

1. People avoid tasks that produce negative emotions

2. They see a task as boring

3. Fear of being judged for making a mistake

4. Perfectionism

5. Low self-esteem causes some to seek easier activities

6. Underestimating time required for a task

7. Overestimating their future self’s ability to finish a task

Seems odd, but buying something is a “task.” So, work on removing mental hurdles that allow procrastinators to open TikTok instead of pulling out their credit card.

What did the Googsters study say about recommendations?

Recommendations Rake in Revenue

In the old days, before the demonic birth of the web, you’d ask your friends and family where to buy tires, headphones, or illegal steroids. 

“Search” was a phone call back then. 

My dad never paid to advertise his house painting biz. People asked their neighbors who “their painter was.” 

Then, they called Dad and hired him. Their neighbors’ recommendation mattered more than price, BTW.  

It was a simpler time in the old days. Review and comparison sites took over. However, offline recommendations still work in 2025.

Better than ever, really, because most marketers and biz owners are too busy to invest time connecting with customers they already have. Or they believe offline marketing is dead (that’s just tech bro talk, though).

My dad made sure his customers were thrilled with his crew’s work, proving Google’s finding that…

Consumers who are highly confident at the point of purchase are 18X more likely to recommend that brand to family or friends than those with low confidence.

The Lesson

• Make it easy for your target customers to find your business.

• Be clear on why your company is better than any competitor.

• Make it easy to understand what you offer.

• Ask for reviews and recommendations.

• Follow up after purchase to be sure customers are 100% happy.

Key point→ Brands that are afraid to ask buyers if they’re 100% happy have bigger problems than consumer procrastination and information overload.

Let’s keep it moving with The Knowledge Base below.

Self-Help

Don’t miss the best part because you’re in a hurry.

Was at the beach last week. Noticed several people walking away from the beach with only three minutes before the sun dipped into the ocean.

What was their hurry! Can’t imagine it was worth missing a perfect sunset.

Reminds me of all the Dodgers fans who left a World Series game early (back in 1988). They thought their team couldn’t come back so they missed a Kirk Gibson game-winning homerun. 

As the ball sailed into the stands, you could see all their cars’ brake lights as they sat in traffic outside the stadium.

They missed the best part.

Facts & Stats

Bonus: 42% of consumers didn’t realize this major food brand uses what should be an obvious ingredient. Answer at end of email.

Get Hacking

A specific strategy to implement today

Hand-writing your ideas (pencil & paper) is powerful. Ramp up the power more by sketching the ideas out.

No drawing skill needed. Even imperfect sketches give your brain a better picture of the idea (research on sketching).

I’ll be trying this over the next few months. The results will be in a future edition of Inbox Hacking.

Let me know if you try it, and your results.

ALT Hack: Use a major brand’s name or motto in your email subject line to boost open rates. Works like a charm. Just do it😉.

Thanks for reading Inbox Hacking. Please share it with your peeps - it’s sugar-free but stings a bit.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

Bonus answer from Facts & Stats section: 42% of consumers did not realize Lay’s chips use real potatoes (1440).

“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.” ~Epictetus (old-timer from Greece).