Earlier this week I was in our local Tesco Express store (next door to Caffe Latte for those who remember one of my earlier emails).

Like many convenience stores these days they've installed a couple of self checkout tills.

And like I often see in this store, when I went to the checkout there was a queue for the traditional manned tills, but the self checkout tills were empty.

I find this hugely puzzling. its not like they're difficult. You scan your stuff, bag it, and shove your credit card into the same machine a checkout operator would give you anyway.

And it's not like the people in the queue were all so old they might have been wary of “new fangled technology”.

It was all people in their 30s, 40s and 50s.

But none of them willing to try self checkout.

So I whizzed past them, bought my stuff and was out of the shop (and sitting down next door for a coffee) while they were still queueing.

So one lesson you could take from this is “try new things”.

But actually, there's a deeper lesson.

It's easy to imagine that everyone else feels like us about most things. That we're typical.

In my case, I usually assume that everyone else in the world does extensive research on the web before buying anything. That they check out all the available options, reviews, opinions.

But in truth, many people aren't even ready to use the self checkout.

Remember, you are not (always) your customer.

Make sure you really know what they think and feel about things. How they like to buy, not how you like to buy.

Gear your business up for them, not you.