--- title: The 3 timescales that are crucial to your marketing strategy description: How long does it take to buy from you? You might be talking about elapsed time, accrued time or your welcome window. Here's what they mean and how to them. image: https://rosconkie.com/hubfs/3-timescales-blog-2_orig.png --- [![TMMW_main logo_RGB-1](https://rosconkie.com/hs-fs/hubfs/TMMW_main%20logo_RGB-1.png?width=150&height=266&name=TMMW_main%20logo_RGB-1.png "TMMW_main logo_RGB-1")](https://rosconkie.com) Search toggle - [Home](https://rosconkie.com) - [How I Work](https://rosconkie.com/how-we-work) How I Work - [Client Stories](https://rosconkie.com/case-studies) - [Work with us](https://rosconkie.com/get-started) Work with us - [Support for CEOs](https://rosconkie.com/ceo-marketing-support) - [Mentoring for Marketers](https://rosconkie.com/mentoring-for-marketing-managers) - [Training for Micro Businesses](https://rosconkie.com/small-business-marketing-training) - [Support for Charities & NFPs](https://rosconkie.com/pro-bono) - [Resources](https://rosconkie.com/resources) Resources - [Read the Book](https://rosconkie.com/shop) - [Listen to the Audiobook](https://rosconkie.com/audiobook) - [Blog](https://rosconkie.com/blog) - [Free Guides & Tutorials](https://rosconkie.com/resources) - [My Story](https://rosconkie.com/about) - [Book Ros as a Speaker](https://rosconkie.com/speaker) - [Contact](https://rosconkie.com/contact) [![TMMW_main logo_RGB-1](https://rosconkie.com/hs-fs/hubfs/TMMW_main%20logo_RGB-1.png?width=150&height=266&name=TMMW_main%20logo_RGB-1.png "TMMW_main logo_RGB-1")](https://rosconkie.com) - [Home](https://rosconkie.com) - [How I Work](https://rosconkie.com/how-we-work) How I Work - [Client Stories](https://rosconkie.com/case-studies) - [Work with us](https://rosconkie.com/get-started) Work with us - [Support for CEOs](https://rosconkie.com/ceo-marketing-support) - [Mentoring for Marketers](https://rosconkie.com/mentoring-for-marketing-managers) - [Training for Micro Businesses](https://rosconkie.com/small-business-marketing-training) - [Support for Charities & NFPs](https://rosconkie.com/pro-bono) - [Resources](https://rosconkie.com/resources) Resources - [Read the Book](https://rosconkie.com/shop) - [Listen to the Audiobook](https://rosconkie.com/audiobook) - [Blog](https://rosconkie.com/blog) - [Free Guides & Tutorials](https://rosconkie.com/resources) - [My Story](https://rosconkie.com/about) - [Book Ros as a Speaker](https://rosconkie.com/speaker) - [Contact](https://rosconkie.com/contact) Search toggle [![TMMW_main logo_RGB-1](https://rosconkie.com/hs-fs/hubfs/TMMW_main%20logo_RGB-1.png?width=200&height=266&name=TMMW_main%20logo_RGB-1.png "TMMW_main logo_RGB-1")](https://rosconkie.com) - [Home](https://rosconkie.com) - [How I Work](https://rosconkie.com/how-we-work) How I Work - [Client Stories](https://rosconkie.com/case-studies) - [Work with us](https://rosconkie.com/get-started) Work with us - [Support for CEOs](https://rosconkie.com/ceo-marketing-support) - [Mentoring for Marketers](https://rosconkie.com/mentoring-for-marketing-managers) - [Training for Micro Businesses](https://rosconkie.com/small-business-marketing-training) - [Support for Charities & NFPs](https://rosconkie.com/pro-bono) - [Resources](https://rosconkie.com/resources) Resources - [Read the Book](https://rosconkie.com/shop) - [Listen to the Audiobook](https://rosconkie.com/audiobook) - [Blog](https://rosconkie.com/blog) - [Free Guides & Tutorials](https://rosconkie.com/resources) - [My Story](https://rosconkie.com/about) - [Book Ros as a Speaker](https://rosconkie.com/speaker) - [Contact](https://rosconkie.com/contact) Search toggle What are you looking for? Search # The 3 timescales that are crucial to your marketing strategy 3 Feb 2023 ![Picture of Ros Conkie](https://rosconkie.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Ros%20Conkie%20-%20Portraits%20-%20turquoise%20marina%20024%20square.jpg?width=40&name=Ros%20Conkie%20-%20Portraits%20-%20turquoise%20marina%20024%20square.jpg) [Ros Conkie](https://rosconkie.com/blog/author/ros-conkie) ![The 3 timescales that are crucial to your marketing strategy](https://rosconkie.com/hubfs/3-timescales-blog-2_orig.png) How long does it take to buy from you?   This sounds like an easy question. But, it actually has 3 different answers depending on what you want to do with the information. You might be talking about elapsed time, accrued time or your welcome window. Here's the meaning of each time-period and when you should use it in your marketing strategy.   ## Buyer journey timespan This is the period from a person first coming across your business to them buying from you for the first time. For my business this can sometimes be a year or more! People need to be in the right position to want marketing consultancy and sometimes they meet me when the timing isn't right. For many other businesses it isn't so long. And I've worked with clients that have even longer "elapsed time" timescales than me. ## Active consideration timespan This is the amount of time that a customer needs to spend actively considering their decision before they buy. "Active consideration time" might include time spent in the following ways... - Speaking to you in person or on the phone - Watching your videos or webinars - Reading your blog posts, articles and case studies - Speaking to others about the decision, such as influencers or gatekeepers This timescale is often more difficult to put a number on than accrued time because customers might spend time doing the above without you knowing. But it is important to know roughly what this timescale is. For example, you might discover that a customer is unlikely to buy from you until they've spent about two hours thinking about their decision. Now you can create a sales process that invites and enables prospects to spend that long with you.  ## Welcome window In her book "Watertight Marketing", Bryony Thomas describes the welcome window as the period between a person handing over money and them feeling like a customer. I like to use the example of when I buy a piece of clothing. The shop might consider me a customer when I pay for the item. But I don't consider myself to have "bought" it until I cut out the tag or the returns period expires. That's when I know I'm going to keep it. Up until that point I might choose to "undo" my purchase. For considered purchases especially, the welcome window is a crucial time-period. This is your opportunity to build a strong emotional connection with your customer, so give them a big "hug" with a welcome gift, card or offer! ## Slowing customers down increases sales A lot of people think that marketing is about speeding people up in their buying decision – it's not. It's about understanding how people want to buy from you and supporting them throughout their buying process. They might have questions that need to be answered and objections that need to be overcome before they feel comfortable about making that first purchase.  Excellent marketing helps your customers make good, rational buying decisions that they’ll be happy with long after they’ve bought. So, instead of rushing them through the process, you want your marketing to help overcome these obstacles so that your customers will confidently decide, in their own time, to buy from you. This way you end up with more happy, loyal customers. If you'd like some help to put a strategy like this in place in your business, [give me a call](https://www.rosconkie.com/contact.html). And you can rest assured I won't try to rush you into buying anything from me. After writing this I have to practice what I preach. After all, even if you're my ideal customer you might still need another year or more to decide, so I'll look forward to supporting you however long it takes! ### Share: [Share on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://rosconkie.com/blog/the-3-timescales-that-are-crucial-to-your-marketing-strategy&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook) [Share on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://rosconkie.com/blog/the-3-timescales-that-are-crucial-to-your-marketing-strategy&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin) [Share on X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https://rosconkie.com/blog/the-3-timescales-that-are-crucial-to-your-marketing-strategy&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&url=https://rosconkie.com/blog/the-3-timescales-that-are-crucial-to-your-marketing-strategy&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&source=tweetbutton&text=The%203%20timescales%20that%20are%20crucial%20to%20your%20marketing%20strategy) ## Ros Conkie ## Comments ## Related posts Search [Marketing: is it a "numbers game"?](https://rosconkie.com/blog/generating-marketing-leads-is-it-a-numbers-game) [Are you checking your marketing assumptions?](https://rosconkie.com/blog/are-you-checking-your-marketing-assumptions) Search ![TMMW_white logo_RGB](https://rosconkie.com/hs-fs/hubfs/TMMW_white%20logo_RGB.png?width=170&name=TMMW_white%20logo_RGB.png "TMMW_white logo_RGB") The Marketing Machine Works is a Marketing Consultancy and Training company based in Portishead near Bristol, North Somerset, UK VAT: 468 4037 71 - [Home](https://rosconkie.com) - [How we work](https://rosconkie.com/how-we-work) - [Work with us](https://rosconkie.com/get-started) - [The Marketing Machine Book](https://rosconkie.com/shop) - [The Marketing Machine Audiobook](https://rosconkie.com/audiobook) - [Free Resources](https://rosconkie.com/resources) - [Our Story](https://rosconkie.com/about) - [Client stories](https://rosconkie.com/case-studies) - [Contact us](https://rosconkie.com/contact) - [Privacy Policy](https://rosconkie.com/privacy-policy) - [Cookie Policy](https://rosconkie.com/cookie-policy) - [Marketing for Engineering Companies](https://rosconkie.com/marketing-for-engineering-companies) - [Book Ros Conkie As A Speaker](https://rosconkie.com/speaker) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MarketingMachineWorks) [Follow us on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/marketingmachineworks/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketingmachineworks/) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ros Conkie", "url" : "https://rosconkie.com/blog/author/ros-conkie" }, "dateModified" : "2024-02-07T11:06:12.161Z", "datePublished" : "2023-02-03T11:06:00.000Z", "headline" : "The 3 timescales that are crucial to your marketing strategy", "image" : [ "https://rosconkie.com/hubfs/3-timescales-blog-2_orig.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://rosconkie.com/blog/the-3-timescales-that-are-crucial-to-your-marketing-strategy", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://rosconkie.com/hubfs/TMMW_main%20logo_RGB-1.png" }, "name" : "The Marketing Machine Works" } } ```