This Experience Gets Customers To Come Back—And Pay More

What’s the No. 1 customer experience that gets customers to come back and pay more?

This is kind of a trick question, and I’ll explain why in just a moment. The top reasons customers come back to a business are:

1. Helpful Employees

2. Knowledgeable Employees

3. Friendly Employees

That would seem like a winning combination, and it is. Customers will pay more for those three experiences. But not as much as another experience, and that is …

Convenience
So, back to the trick question explanation. In our annual customer service and CX research (sponsored by RingCentral), we survey more than 1,000 U.S. consumers with an audience weighted to the U.S. Census for age, gender, ethnicity and region. To ensure we get accurate information, we ask some questions in different ways to see if we get the same or different answers. The good news is that the answers are very consistent, which validates the findings. So, why then isn’t convenience listed as No. 1? The answer is ambiguous. It is No. 1, depending on the question, but again, the percentage difference between the numbers is almost negligible.

In one version of the question, we asked respondents to prioritize different service experiences from a list. In another version we asked them to choose three favorites from a list. All answers to the four big reasons were very tight. When asked to choose from the list, convenience came in fourth. When asked to prioritize, convenience took the top spot.

If we asked another 1,000 people, we might see a tiny shift of 1% either way. However, the results came in, and when it came to prioritizing the list versus being forced to choose only three, convenience nudged out knowledgeable, friendly and helpful employees by just 1%. It’s been at the top or tied for first for the last three years.

Here are several examples to emphasize how a convenient experience influences buying decisions:

· There’s a Reason It’s Called a Convenience Store: In 1927, an employee of the Southland Ice Company, Jefferson “Uncle Johnny” Green, came up with an idea to add food offerings in addition to ice. This idea was the innovative spark for what we now know as 7-Eleven, the largest convenience store chain in the world. The stores sell just the basics, the most popular items customers buy in larger grocery stores. Smaller stores make it easier for customers to find what they are looking for. Smaller parking lots mean a shorter walk to and from the store. Most convenience stores are located in easy-to-get-to locations. And finally, while known for convenience, they aren’t known for having low prices. There’s a price to pay for convenience, and customers are willing to do so.

· Convenience Saves Time: You’re running tight on time for a meeting and want to grab a cup of coffee. Do you choose to stop at the café with the friendliest barista—and a long line—or do you use the office machine that serves a decent cup in under a minute? If time is important, the answer is the fastest—as in more convenient—choice, not the friendliest choice.

· Eliminate the Hassle: Remember a time without Uber, Lyft or one of the other similar transportation apps? Some can’t imagine what it would be like without one of these companies. It used to be that if you wanted a cab in a busy city, you stood on the street and competed with others hailing the same cab. Or, if you lived in the suburbs, you called the company and hoped the driver would show up on time. Then along came Uber with an app that disrupted the taxi industry. They made it so easy to hire a driver, know how much it would cost, when they would arrive and what time you would reach your destination. And you never had to reach into your pocket at the end of the trip to pay for the ride. It was all done on the app.

These are just three examples of many I’ve shared since writing my book The Convenience Revolution. Convenience is a competitive differentiator. And the story gets better.

Customers are willing to pay more for a better service experience (as in the 7-Eleven example). This year, 51% said service is more important than price. But if the experience is convenient—in other words, hassle-free and with low or no friction—that number jumps to 70%. Convenience makes price less relevant.

Furthermore, and this is a big one, 62% of U.S. consumers said that a convenient experience is more important than a friendly customer service experience. So imagine if you did both!