THE BILLION DOLLAR 90 SECONDS

A colleague of mine was sharing how her daughter is terrible at making decisions. While we all know the effect that deferring decisions can have on our lives, from a business perspective, this can have a major impact on your bottom line.

“Consumer research suggests that a typical Netflix member loses interest after 60 to 90 seconds of choosing”

According to Business Insider Australia “If Netflix only has 90 seconds to grab a subscriber’s attention, it needs to find a good show or movie fast. If people were just typing in what they wanted to see into the search bar, this would be relatively easy. But Netflix estimates that only 20% of its subscriber video choices come from search, with the other 80% being from recommendations. So it’s essential that Netflix gets this right.”

Did you take that in?

80% of Netflix watchers make their decisions based on recommendations.

Given Netflix has a “cancel anytime policy”, its recommendations strategy is core to its survival. In fact, Netflix’s personalised recommendation engine is said to be worth $1 billion.

While most companies don’t have the funds to invest in Netflix’s sophisticated algorithms, we can all invest in systems that encourage customers to complete their purchase before the 90 second window closes.

We all have access to Google analytics. Use it. Find out where your traffic is coming from and design your look and language to capture the hearts and minds of your customers.

For companies who sell products on line, entice consumers with simple wording –

“Click here to purchase our top selling products as voted by our customers”

We often see this concept applied in retail stores.

In book shops, we see “Recommended reading by staff” sections.

This same concept can be applied when pitching for business in the services industry. Showcase your talents, then take the fatigue and overwhelm out of your potential clients’ decision-making by offering them one or two recommendations for the way forward. As Netflix says, by providing recommendations, “you’ll be preventing abandonment.”

Short concentration spans and increasing competition makes “Your Recommendations Strategy” an essential component of your sales and marketing approach.

Your Small Act that is sure to have a Major Impact is to create recommendations for your customers. Not only will you be making their lives easier through the ability to make quicker decisions, you will be positively impacting your bottom line.

Image credit: Diabluses / Shutterstock.com