Zion & Zion Study Shows Dramatic Drops in Customer Satisfaction as Wait Time Increases; Effect is Amplified for City Dwellers

TEMPE, Ariz. (Sept. 12, 2018) – When it comes to plumbing services, wait time matters more than you might think, according to a new study from the market research team at /Zion & Zion, a top ranked full-service, national marketing agency.

The findings of the Zion & Zion research have implications for managing and marketing home service organizations:

  1. Shorter arrival window times are meaningfully better with respect to initial customer satisfaction. Our research reveals the impact of the service arrival window is very sizeable. Plumbing companies and other home service providers ignore this at their peril. Shorter service arrival windows begin the customer relationship on the right foot.
  2. Geography matters. City dwellers are less satisfied with longer arrival windows than those who live in suburban or rural areas. Plumbing companies serving one or both markets, need to understand this difference in expectations and design their service arrival strategies accordingly.

This study, conducted by the Zion & Zion market research team, was based on a nationwide survey of 1,044 adult homeowners (age 25+) investigating “first-impression satisfaction in response to a promised wait window.” Authors of the study are Aric Zion, MS; Nicole Ellis; Anna Bussert; and Thomas Hollman, MBA, PhD.