This episode might reference ProfitWell and ProfitWell Recur, which following the acquisition by Paddle is now Paddle Studios. Some information may be out of date.
Originally published: February 27, 2019
Design has become a qualitative non-negotiable. If you don’t have good design, prospects tend to distrust the value of your product and ultimately customers may be wooed away from a better designed product.
At least that’s what you tend to hear devoid of any actual data, so to answer this question we gathered data from over seventy thousand customers and nearly three thousand companies. Here’s what we found.
But first, if you like this kind of content and want to learn more, subscribe to get in the know when we release new episodes.
First up, to get a direct answer out of the way, great design definitely boosts willingness to pay.
We coded respondents perception of a company’s web and product design before measuring their willingness to pay. Those customers and prospects who perceived a company’s design positively had between an 18% and 41% higher willingness to pay than the median. Those on the negative perception side had 4 to 11% lower willingness to pay.
What’s fascinating about these results is that this indicates that great design is a value added feature or aspect of the experience. Bad design doesn’t necessarily take much away from the value perception of a product. In other words, design drives higher value, but doesn’t detract from value.
So should you not worry about your poorly designed experience?
Well, not exactly, because when we look at retention, what you’ll see is that those individuals with a positive perception of the company’s design have roughly 8% to 12% better net retention than those who were neutral or had a negative perception.
More research needs to be done here in particular, because like most things happening in the subscription market, the need for great and relevant design is becoming more and more important as a differentiator.
Yet, as the data suggests, if you don’t have the rest of your house in order, great design probably isn’t going to save you.
Want to learn more? Check out our recent episode on how Solid Customer Onboarding Drives Higher Retention and Willingness to Pay and subscribe to the show to get new episodes.
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You've got the questions,
and we have the data.
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This is the ProfitWell Report.
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A quick question.
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How does design impact
willingness to pay and growth?
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Welcome back, everyone.
Neil here from ProfitWell.
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Design has become a
qualitative non negotiable.
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If you don't have good design,
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prospects tend to distrust the value
of your product, and ultimately,
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customers may be wooed away
from a better designed product.
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At least that's what
you tend to hear,
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devoid of any actual data.
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So to answer this question,
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we looked at the data from over
seventy thousand customers and
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nearly three thousand companies.
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Here's what we found.
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First, to get the direct
answer out of the way,
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great design definitely
boosts willingness to pay.
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We coded respondents'
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perceptions of a company's
web and product design before
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measuring their
willingness to pay.
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The customers and prospects who
perceived a company's design
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positively had between an
eighteen and forty one percent
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higher willingness to
pay than the median.
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Those on the negative
perception had four to eleven
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percent lower
willingness to pay.
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Now what's fascinating about
these results is that this
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indicates that great design is
a value added feature or aspect
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of the experience.
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Bad design doesn't necessarily
take much away from the value
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perception of the product.
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In other words, design
drives higher value,
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but doesn't detract from value.
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So should you not worry about
your crappy design experience?
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Well, not exactly.
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Because when we
look at retention,
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what you'll see is that those
individuals with a positive
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perception of a company's
design has roughly eight to
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twelve percent better net
retention than those who are
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neutral or had a
negative perception.
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More research needs to be done
here in particular because like
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most things happening in
the subscription economy,
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the need for great and relevant
design is becoming more and
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more important as
a differentiator.
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Yet, as the data suggests,
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if you don't have the rest
of your house in in order,
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great design probably
isn't gonna save you.
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Well, that's all for now.
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If you have a question,
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send me an email or video
to neil at profit well dot com.
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If you got value here or any
other week of the report,
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we appreciate any and all
shares on Twitter and LinkedIn
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because this is how we
know to keep doing these.
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I'll see you next week.
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This week's episode is
brought to you by Vendasta.
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Vendasta's white label platform
empowers you to provide
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marketing solutions to local
businesses under your brand.
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Vendasta dot com.