How persuasive is speed when a consumer is deciding where to make a purchase?
Turns out… very…
Jay Baer, one of my favorite marketing gurus, conducted a study on Consumer Patience, and the results revealed this not-so-surprising statistic:
“64% of customers say speed and responsiveness are as important as price when they decide where to make a purchase.”
At JDA, we’ve used speed as a killer marketing strategy in many successful campaigns for categories like dental, specialties within health care, and home service businesses.
And speed doesn’t just influence a consumer’s initial purchase decision. Other findings from Baer’s study:
- 52% of customers have hired a service provider or made a purchase because they were the first to respond, even though they were not the least expensive
- 85% say Speed and Responsiveness is an important factor In their loyalty to a brand
- Customers would pay nearly 20% more for getting ‘always immediate service’ (no waiting in line, on hold, etc.); 1 in 4 would pay 50% more
- 27% are more likely to spend money when a brand responds faster than expected
- 49% are less likely to spend money when a brand takes longer to respond than they expect they should
- 67% of customers have asked a business a question about something they purchased, but the business was so slow to reply, the customer wanted to return the item or cancel the service
Download and share the complete study and share with your team. I see 4 ‘ah has’ in sharing right off the bat, and bet you find others upon review. Here are my four:
- For prospects who can brag about a fast response time, it’s a winning position to own.
- For current clients, sharing this study is a VBR to see them, and wrap in a business review as well.
- For your team, this study serves as a great reminder that we, as marketing partners, must be extremely responsive with our own client communications.
- And for new business, it’s another reminder ‘time kills deals’ in relation to closing.