Responsiveness can be as important as price

People value money but they also value time, and if your service can be faster and/or more responsive customers are willing to pay more. Disney’s “Lightning Lane” (formerly “FastPass”) is proof of this — millions of people pay billions of dollars every year just to get in the park, and a huge percentage of them are willing to pay more in order to save time in line. I know the times that we’ve gone we always purchased the pass, and the time saving were worth it to us.

Or look at the popularity of Chick-fil-A; even if it’s packed, you know that their drive-thru is generally the fastest in the industry. Other fast food restaurants are more hit-or-miss, so even if McDonald’s has a shorter line, you’re more confident that the line at Chick-fil-A will move quickly. It also helps that their food is fantastic!

Expectations matter

As Jay Baer shared in a recent conversation with Jason Falls, expectations are the key to this because raw speed matters a lot. At 59 seconds per car Chick-fil-A is considered fast, but so is someone that can remodel your entire kitchen in just one week. You’d still consider that a “fast” time for a remodel even though it takes more than 10,000 times longer than the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A. It’s all relative.