When Customers Groan About Complexity or Price, Disruption Is Breathing Down Your Neck

Picture a time you or a friend opened a brand-new device just to be overwhelmed by an endless setup process, or found a streaming service so loaded with choices that half were irrelevant. Overshot customers—those who feel they’re getting too much at too high a price—often start opting out. Take the story of a gym member who quit her fancy club, tired of paying for a pool, spa, and cafe she never used. She quickly signed up for a no-frills $10-a-month gym closer to home. That gym didn’t have towel service, but it offered what she actually valued: clean equipment and longer open hours. It thrived, filling up with similarly overshot customers who saw the older, pricier club as irrelevant.

When products or services start layering on features, complexity, or prestige that don’t matter anymore, the door swings open for simpler and cheaper alternatives. This pattern repeats: from data plans to higher education, once the extra benefits stop being worth extra money, new entrants can swoop in with “good enough” options that undercut incumbents. Behavioral research even shows people will pay more for less if the package fits their true priorities. Practicing this internal audit, companies and individuals can retool quickly—or risk being left behind.

Next time you hear complaints about overcomplicated products or grumbling about high costs for features no one seems to value, make it your mission to dig deeper. Ask customers or colleagues which aspects they actually use, and which ones they wish weren't bundled in. Brainstorm or experiment with stripped-down options—maybe fewer channels in a streaming plan, a trimmed curriculum, or simpler product packaging. Offer these alternatives openly, and observe who switches eagerly, even if the package seems less impressive. Notice what truly matters to your audience and how flexibility or savings can earn fierce loyalty. Try it with one product or process now, and see what new segments you uncover.