Why Time Matters More Than We Think in Customer Experience

So, I have just had a birthday that means the next one is a big one and I have been thinking about the value of time. I have also come back from a holiday in the mountains which gave me headspace..... so time is a funny thing. We all have the same amount of it each day, but how we spend it can make a big difference to how we feel. I can tell you time in the mountains was well spent!

So time and how we feel is particularly true when we are dealing with a company and are on a customer journey. Think about the last time you had to contact a business about something fairly simple. Maybe you were trying to change an appointment, find some information, return something or get an answer to a question. The actual problem might not have been particularly difficult, but the experience can quickly become frustrating if it involves waiting, being passed around or explaining the same thing more than once and no-one really listening to you.

The issue isn't always that the company hasn't helped you. It is that helping you has taken far more of your time than it should have.

I think this is something we sometimes overlook when we talk about customer experience. We focus on satisfaction, loyalty, personalisation and service, but time sits underneath all of these things along with listening

Customers notice how much effort something takes and they notice when it doesn't need to.

There is a big difference between spending ten minutes having a genuinely useful conversation with someone and spending ten minutes waiting to get through, only to then be transferred somewhere else. The amount of time is the same, but the experience isn't.

That is why making things easier for customers is so important. It isn't necessarily about making every interaction instant. Sometimes things take time. A complex issue needs to be investigated, a delivery can be delayed, or a decision needs someone to look into it properly.

What matters is how that time feels.

If I know what is happening, who is dealing with something and when I can expect an answer, I'm usually much more patient. If I am left wondering whether anyone has even seen my request, five minutes can feel like half an hour.

Just like when you are stuck in traffic and don't know the problem. Unlike when I was sat on the tarmac at Manchester for an hour and every so often the pilot came out personally to update on the situation - amazing!

When a company remembers what I have already told them, I feel like they value my time. When I don't have to repeat myself, it feels like they have made an effort. When I can find an answer without having to contact anyone, that is a small but quite a significant improvement to my day.

None of these things are particularly complicated in isolation. But together, they shape how I feel about the organisation. The same applies to employees.

If someone working in a business has to navigate three systems to answer a simple customer question, or spend time searching for information that should be readily available, that eventually finds its way into the customer experience.

We often ask employees to deliver a great experience, but sometimes the best thing we can do is make it easier for them to do their jobs.

Ultimately, I think respecting someone's time is one of the simplest ways of showing respect for the customer.

It doesn't mean everything has to be faster. It means being thoughtful about what we are asking people to do, particularly when they have already made the effort to choose us.

Because when you look at customer experience from that perspective, the question changes.

Instead of simply asking, "Did we solve the customer's problem?", perhaps we should also ask, "How much of the customer's time did it take us to solve it?"

That feels like a useful measure of experience.

After all, customers aren't just giving us their money. They are giving us their time.

And unlike money, none of us get that back.