Most purchases are made through habit, with no real consideration of alternatives. People order the same type of coffee, in the same coffee shop, every morning, because the cost of reassessing their options every day isn’t worth it. In short people rarely switch, but when they do, there’s an interesting set of dynamics at play. Whether it’s coffee or software most companies take the myo- pic route, and simply try to make their product look better than everyone else’s. The appearance of your product is only ever one part of what makes people switch. Switching is also about removing fear or hesitation associated with trying out your prod- uct and making sure you remind them of the problems with their current solution. There are very real reasons why people still want to use Microsoft Word, no matter how much better your text editor works. The way you motivate somebody to make a switch is the same for a friendship, a relationship, or a software product – identify the struggling moments your customers are experiencing and build around that. Emphasize why the existing way does not make sense, why it’s safe to switch to your product, and why they don’t need to worry about leaving the existing way behind. If you can solve all those things, you’ll get customers to switch. • • • “To create an anxiety relievable only by a purchase…that is the job of advertising.” David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest The same can be said not just of advertising but of all marketing. Marketing increases familiarity, reminds consumers your product exists, and spreads product news. But marketing also does an- other job: it defeats inertia. Why customers switch products People don’t hate progress, they just prefer inertia. This stops them from buying your product, even when it’s the logical choice. It’s not that they’re happy running projects over email, tracking expenses in files called “Expenses- march-12-v3-final.xls”, or taking notes from meetings in a programming editor. It’s just not import- ant for them to switch. Switching is a big deal, you see. Customers don’t buy a product, they switch to it from something else. Most businesses try to motivate a switch by having the best design, the best performance, or the most features. That only affects your product quality, one piece of the puzzle. The ReWired Group identified four forces at play. Two of them are on your side, and two work against you: 20