Your next customer researched you from the sofa last night, on their phone, in about ninety seconds. Whatever they found made the decision for you. Would you pass your own test?
Somebody looked your business up last night. Probably around 10pm, on their phone, half watching the telly. They were deciding whether to message you, and they gave the decision about ninety seconds. You were not in the room. Everything you have ever put online was.
This is how nearly every customer arrives now. Not through the front door, not off a recommendation taken on blind faith. Through a quiet little background check you never see happen, and never hear about when you fail it.
What the ninety seconds looks like
The route barely changes. They search your name or your trade. They glance at your Google listing and the star rating next to it. They tap through to the website. If they are still interested, they have a nose at your Instagram or Facebook to check you are alive and see recent work. Then they either message you, or message someone else.
Run the test on yourself
Tonight, phone in hand, search for your business the way a stranger would. Be honest about what you find at each checkpoint.
- The search: do you even appear, or does a competitor own the results for what you do in your area?
- The Google listing: right hours, real photos, recent reviews with replies? Or a half-empty profile last touched years ago?
- The website: does it load fast, look current, and make sense on a phone? Could a tired person work out what you do and message you in under a minute?
- The socials: does the last post back up the standard you charge for, or does the feed go quiet for months at a time?
Why good businesses fail it
Almost never through laziness. You are busy doing the actual work, and each piece of the trail was set up at a different time by a different person. The website in one era, the Google listing in another, the socials whenever there was a spare hour. Each one might scrape a pass alone. Together they read as inconsistent, and inconsistency is what makes a stranger hesitate.
The businesses that win the 10pm test treat the whole trail as one thing. Same look, same message, same standard from the search result to the last Instagram post. That is what makes ninety seconds end in a message instead of a back-swipe.
If you ran the test tonight and winced at any checkpoint, that wince is money leaving quietly. Get in touch and we will go through your trail with you, straight answers, no obligation.
