Two-thirds of consumers in the Baby Boomer generation believe “people younger than them” are the least patient. In fact, Baby Boomers themselves are the least patient generation, and the youngest consumers - Gen Z - exhibit the most patience.

Two-thirds of Gen Z consumers say “people older than them” are the least patient. And they are RIGHT. Baby Boomers are the least patient generation, and Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers are all less patient than Gen Z.

Baby Boomers are the least patient. The oldest American consumers have the least patience for business delay, while Gen Z - the youngest cohort - has the most patience.

Half of all consumers say “people younger than me” are the least patient. About one-third say “people older than me” are the least patient.

Customer patience varies based on scenario and contact mechanism, but a good rule of thumb is a four-hour response time to all customer contact. Deliver on that, and you’ll meet or exceed customer expectations nearly every time.

Customers do not choose contact mechanisms randomly. And they universally HATE it when companies decide to reply to a phone call with an email. Or a social media note with a phone call, etc. Channel shifting may be convenient for the company but it shows great disrespect to the customers’ contact mechanism preferences.

Businesses often believe customers are okay waiting for an email reply, or a response to a contact us form. But, 8 in 10 customers expect a reply within 24 hours to an email, and nearly 7 in 10 to a form fill out. Are you losing business because you’re not quick enough?

Yes consumers sometimes opt for email, text, social media, or chatbots. But when they NEED to get in touch with a business, 75% of consumers prefer telephone.

Customers possess less patience than business typical believes to be the case. In fact, nearly half of all customers say they will not wait for help longer than THREE MINUTES in a store, or on a website. Are you fast enough?

More than 50% of Gen Z customers say they feel “disrespected” when a business takes longer than expected to respond. This is a far larger share than Baby Boomers, where just 1 in 3 feel “disrespect” in this situation.

More than 6 in 10 customers say they feel “disappointed” when a business replies more slowly than they expect. And 30% say they feel “disrespected” in that scenario!

More than half of all customers say they feel “appreciated” when a business responds faster than anticipated. And 4 in 10 feel “respected”!

More than one-third of Gen Z consumers are more loyal to brands that are faster than they expect, compared to 21% of Baby Boomers.

30% of customers are MORE loyal when a business is faster to respond than they expect.

35% of customers are LESS loyal when a business is slower to respond than they expect.

85% of customers say responsiveness is an important factor in their loyalty to a business.

Being first to respond is imperative in a competitive business scenario.

Responsiveness = Revenue. And lack of responsiveness = lack of revenue.

My new, national research found that 50% of customers will spend LESS at a business if that business is slower to respond than the customer expected.

This is a big opportunity for all of us. If you can surprise customers with speed, they just may surprise you with revenue. And the opposite, as well.

Half of all consumers have hired the first business to respond, even if they were not the least expensive. Speed matters, especially in a competitive scenario.

Men are less sympathetic than women about business speed, post-pandemic.

Gen Z consumers give less of a “pandemic pass” to business than do Baby Boomers.