Don’t Say “It’s Usually Better”
Thomas McKinlay
When presenting a product, don’t add comments such as “it usually looks nicer”, “it looks even better when…”. They backfire. For example, people were 24% less likely to buy an indoor plant.
10 Jan 2023
Don’t point out “It’s usually better” or “It can be better” when presenting or selling something.
For example, instead of saying “It looks better under a better light” or “Sorry my voice is usually clearer, I’m sick today”. Don’t say anything or pretend the imperfection is not there.
By pointing out a small imperfection you get people to notice it - when they probably would not have.
People’s impressions will worsen.
The effect weakens or reverses when the imperfection is obvious. For example, a presenter’s apology for the quality of their terribly blurry slides is good - but it backfires if the slides are only slightly blurry.