Time is said to be the great equalizer. It's arguably the most precious resource we've got. No amount of technology can create more time. (Electronic planners and organizers can only help you use your time more efficiently. They can't produce more of it.).
We're all limited to 24 hours in a single day. And we all have a lot that we need to do with that time.
This is something that every sales, marketing and customer service person must be keenly aware of, and more important, act upon.
A good friend recently took her car to dealership for service. The appointment was for 9am. They told here that she'd be finished by 10. So, she planned the rest of her day around that. By 10, they hadn't yet begun the work. Poor scheduling? Poor communication? Poor utilization of shop labor? The cause of the delay is not the issue.
The issue is that the dealership wasted 60 minutes of her life that she will never get back again.
No business has the right to do that, and no customer should ever have to tolerate it.
The Software Sales Person
I sat in on a sales presentation. All attendees were given an agenda that listed everything we'd see within the 90 minute demonstration.
At the end of the 90 minutes, there were still two items remaining. The vendor said, "If you give me another 10 minutes, I'll show you those final two features of the product."
100 minutes wasn't the deal. I agreed to give the vendor 90 minutes of my life to see the complete product. Now he was saying that it would cost me another 10 minutes to get the full deal.
He wanted to take another 10 minutes of my life, that I'd never see again.
The Marketer
I received an email with an interesting subject line. I opened the email. And I began to read it. The more I read, the more I realized that it did not apply to me. The Marketer should have known better, because I already subscribe to what the email was promoting - the premium version of their service. They didn't properly target their email marketing campaign.
They caused me to waste 2 minutes of my life that I'll never get back again.
Marketers, please respect your prospects' time. Make sure you're sending them a message that is relevant to them. And don't send us long emails. Long emails take to much of our time to ready. Send us short, relevant messages. You'll earn more respect, credibility and increase your chances of making the sale.
If you want your customers to trust you, respect their time in everything you do. Because it's their life your dealing with.