CX Book Gems #6: "The Time to Win" by Jay Baer
Book summary of "The Time to Win: How to Exceed Your Customers’ Need for Speed" by Jay Baer.
This week’s book is The Time to Win: How to Exceed Your Customers’ Need for Speed by Jay Baer.
📘 Book Summary
In The Time to Win, Jay Baer delves into the critical importance of speed in customer service and its profound impact on customer loyalty and business success. Through his latest research, Baer reveals startling statistics that underscore the value customers place on quick responses and efficient service. Key findings indicate that speed often trumps price, with a significant portion of customers favoring the first responder to their queries, even at a higher cost. Baer's study highlights that the modern customer's patience is thinning, with expectations for immediate service growing each year. The book challenges businesses to respect and value the customer's time as much as their own, offering insights into how swift service can serve as a formidable competitive advantage.
We care about time (and how we spend it) more than ever. When a business or organization takes longer than you expect, it feels like they are stealing time from you.
The Right Now: perfect amount of elapsed time
The Right Now is when you deliver faster than customers expect but not so fast that they question the quality of your delivery.
In every customer interaction, however, there is an optimal and ideal amount of elapsed time: not too slow, and not too fast. This is the “Goldilocks zone” of responsiveness.
6-part framework for Time to Win
Perform a Got It Audit: figure out how long it takes your customers to get what they need from you today so you can begin to improve your responsiveness.
Answer before they ask: stop playing hide-and-seek with your customers.
Respond without answers: this takes it off their mental to-do list and wipes away the anxiety while waiting.
Set speed expectations: under-promise and over-deliver.
Close uncertainty gaps: Customers expect status updates and hate uncertainty gaps.
Offer a fast pass: 1 in 4 customers will pay as much as 50% more to never have to wait.
If you give your customers time, they will give you money. But if you cost your customers time, it will cost you money.
💎 3 CX Gems
Prioritize speed in customer interactions: Recognize that speed of response is as crucial as the quality of service. Strive to be the first to respond to customer inquiries to significantly increase the chances of winning their business.
Understand your customer demographics: Adjust your service speed based on the patience levels of your target demographics. Surprisingly, older people are the least patient, and the younger people are the most patient. Knowing whether your customer base leans towards Gen-Z's patience or Boomers' demand for immediacy can tailor your approach effectively.
Incorporate convenience into service design: Develop service strategies that minimize customer wait times, recognizing that customers are willing to pay a premium for immediate service. This could mean investing in technology or processes that expedite service delivery.
In a world where time is equally finite for everyone, businesses that respect and efficiently manage their customers' time not only stand out but also secure a decisive edge in the market. By integrating speed and responsiveness into the heart of customer experience strategies, companies can unlock new levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, with customers buying more, buying more often, and telling their friends.