Time is our most precious asset. Once we have lost it we can never get it back. We must guard our time like a junk yard dog guards a scrap heap.

Business Time Wasters

OK we all know them, time wasters. And we have all probably been on both sides of the time waster equation. We can have time wasters in our personal lives i.e. girlfriends and boyfriends and we can have time wasters in business. In this brief article we will only be talking about time wasters in business.

Let’s face it these aren’t ordinary times and it is pretty competitive out there. Everybody is looking for “a deal.” But at the end of the day “the deal” has to be a win – win for both parties. What happens in my opinion and with all good intentions is a prospective client comes along with a grandiose promise of a great project and it turns into a marathon time waster.

“Just do this one more thing, and we’ll get started.” How often have we all heard this? Now Mr. T. Waster did not have the intent of wasting his time or yours but that is how we both fell into the trap. The intentions appeared to be honest, the project seemed to be sound, the fit seemed to be a match and all systems are a go…..but something never happens. Mr. T. Waster never cuts a check. It isn’t about he needs to be “closed” or “we didn’t ask for the sale.”

Here’s the deal about the camouflaged time wasters. Sometimes they come in camouflaged planning their attack; however you can usually spot them when they approach this way. The true T. Waster insurgent comes in with a sweet smile, good intent and a lot of integrity but no ability to execute.

A sale happens when one party provides enough value to another that the agreed upon price for the transaction is a deal and money changes hands. Even if we are experienced in these types of deals we can be snowed over. Remember when Barack Obama was championing for the Olympics to come to Chicago? In the end that was probably nothing more than a big time waster for him and the City of Chicago.

On the flipside it is easy for us to become Mr. or Ms. T. Waster. How often have we strung someone out only to finally tell them that there is no deal? In my case sometimes I can get a little over enthusiastic and optimistic about a project or projects and promise that something is going to happen and in reality it takes forever to complete. Meanwhile, I have set my business partners expectations the wrong way and they were expecting revenue yesterday, so was I, but it didn’t happen.

So it is really essential that we speak slowly and clearly and ask the person to speak back to us what we just said so we have confirmation of their understanding. E-mail sucks. E-mail is a poor form of communication. It is a great supporting form of communication. It is great for covering your ass, CYA.

So next time if your project is not moving in the right direction fast enough ask for a check. If they can’t give you a check, ask for a purchase order. If they can’t give you either then LISTEN really carefully as to why they can’t, because in that reply probably lays the hidden truth.

Speaking of T Wasting, I invite you to waste an hour of my time and yours. Hopefully it will take a lot less time than an hour to determine if we have a direct response opportunity to assist each other in our objectives. Call Jim Peake @ 941-787-3082 or click the button below.