When I stopped responding to emails, my retention increased.

I have a two-person SaaS business, and for months I responded immediately to all support emails like there was a fire. I had to drop what I was doing and respond in the hour, saying sorry even when the bug was small. Then I was sick for a week and couldn't respond like that.

Retention did not fall. It increased slightly. My take: immediate responses were teaching the users to ask me instead of looking at the two-line documentation I had already written; the stress of "somebody might need me right now" was taking up my valuable fix time.

I'm not suggesting to be intentionally slow. What I am wondering is: Has anybody else noticed that immediate support may not be the lever everybody thinks? What is your response time and does it matter?