Technical Language Creates Insiders

Shaan Puri shares how using specialized language and higher pricing dramatically improved his online sushi restaurant's performance, based on advice from behavioral economist Dan Ariely (author of "Predictably Irrational").

• Counterintuitive Pricing Strategy:

  • Raising prices not only increased revenue but also improved conversion rates
  • People associate cheap sushi with low quality - "cheap sushi is the worst type of sushi"
  • They tested this by alternating menu prices day by day and tracking results

• Power of Specialized Language:

  • Sushi and wine industries create their own language around products
  • This language makes products seem exclusive but makes customers feel smart when they understand it
  • Example transformation:
    • Basic description: "Philadelphia roll - salmon and cream cheese wrapped up, tastes great"
    • Enhanced description: "Fresh never frozen Atlantic hand-caught salmon..." (same product, more words)
    • Result: Conversion rate increased significantly

• Impact of Language Testing:

  • These changes weren't minor improvements but "2x-3x type of improvements" when stacked together
  • Showed that restaurants should A/B test their menus but rarely do
  • Demonstrated that marketing isn't just something "you slap on at the end"
  • The same product can be dramatically more successful with better words and positioning