Today TOA released the Annual Cost of Waiting survey.

This is  a Zogby survey which determines the cost people perceive that they have to wait at home for a good or service to be delivered to their home.  The most interesting aspect of this year’s survey is its focus on the personal toll in dollars, pounds, euros and reals that consumers in four countries perceive the wait for the delivery of an in-home goods or service delivery is costing them from their own pay.  In these economically challenging times – this is of particular concern.

Key Insights:

We commissioned the survey in the US, UK, Germany and Brazil, of more than 1000 adults per country – On average, 58% of respondents waited for in-home deliveries or services in the past year:

• 58% = total # of respondents who completed the survey, divided by the total # of completed respondents and # of respondents who opted out of the very first question (they didn’t wait)

The report found a potential $37.7 billion economic impact of the total time spent waiting for in-home services (like utilities, retail delivery, broadband, etc.):

• $37.7 billion = US average cost of waiting (per individual – $250), multiplied by the American Civilian labor force (based on 2010 US Census data)

The annual Cost of Waiting per individual is equivalent to removing the average American from the workforce for more than two full days:

• Cost of waiting per individual is nearly $250 annually in the US – based on respondent-reported values
• The average wait time for in-home services in 2011 was nearly four and a half hours (4.5) – two hours and 30 minutes longer than expected – and took place approximately three appointments per year

The impact of social media on the customer service process and a focus on preventative and real-time solutions will also be key to service differentiation:

• Our survey found that 55% of respondents would complain, either to their friends or social networks, if their service technician was not on time.

This year’s study showed a low consumer threshold for frustration – for every customer lost, it costs businesses $330 annually (based on respondent estimates):

• Improving customer service and investing in advanced technology tools can dramatically change a customer’s perception of a business – Of the respondents surveyed, 70% stated that they would recommend a company solely on the fact that an appointment was on time.

There has been a drastic shift in opinions of good customer service, as customers are taking note of each technician’s skill level as the main determinant of good customer service.

• 81% of respondents noted that the skill of a service technician as being critical to creating a positive service experience, and their initiative to go above and beyond, was among the most important aspects that positively impact their opinion of a company.

I found this piece in the NY Times revealing.

Clearly, the end is not near as some people predicted for video consumption via cable (even I wrote a piece about this last year). Netflix’s recent unraveling hasn’t helped the cause of cord cutters.

The CEOs of the cable companies quoted in the article are confident. But I don’t think that they are out of the woods yet…

Time Will Tell!

Well we knew this… didn’t we??

TOA adopted the Mac as its corporate platform in 2004.5 . Kudos to my partner and co-founder Irad Carmi for leading the way here. He saw the light back in ’03!

I was talking to a friend last night and we were reflecting that Wednesday night, the night Steve Jobs died, was another one of “those moments” when the world connected instantaneously and will remember…

That moment, when the preponderance of people (at least those I know, and know of, and who emailed and texted to spread the news…and beyond…all the millions who Tweeted…), was one of those  ”exact moments” when many people felt the same thing and will remember…was reminiscent of the moment when Kennedy was assassinated (they say…), when John Lennon was killed (I remember), when the Towers fell (I was there), it was an extraordinary moment of coming together, confronting our shared humanity/mortality, a moment that overtook everything else because it was also a moment that symbolized for many the cutting short of something terrific, and the irretrievable, undeniable end of  something great…

And we were reflecting, my friend and I, that each of these people (Kennedy, Lennon, Jobs) really DID represent their era, their time, in something incredibly positive, transformational and all about modern communications and networking:

Kennedy – the emergence of an optimistic future-looking world, post 2 World Wars, a world led by a young, courageous, fresh, inventive and vibrant America and a charismatic US President who commanded it and transformed the televised media; Lennon – the mainstream rebel redefining popular culture as a multivalent, multilayered composite of music, philosophy, politics, poetry, spectacle, underscoring the emergence of ‘people power’ in the mid- to late 60s and 70s and inspiring a revolution for a generation; and Steve Jobs – redefining culture as “digital culture” – and along the way touching and yes, revolutionizing generations (not just one) and design, marketing, business strategy/tactics, execution, music, film, publishing, computing (of course) and etc etc.

So when I say ‘Don’t Expect This to Stop…’ I mean the continuous re-thinking and examination of the man’s impact on our lives and his legacy….especially in anticipation of the Walter Isaacson Authorized Biography due on October 24th (btw- another Jobsian marketing master stroke – Isaacson is, after all, best known for his biographies of… Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein…good company to keep). For now – here’s another little interesting piece in the NY Times.