15 Minutes Early Plan by Howard Shore, Date: Oct 31, 2011
Have you ever heard the adage that 15 minutes early is on time, on time is late and if you are late, well, you may as well not have shown up for your meeting/appointment/interview? True story! A truly effective executive keeps his/her time commitments. Regardless the industry, position one holds, function you are in, or size of the company, it is critical to take being on time seriously. In addition, I believe that if you do not get to most meetings at least 15 minutes early you are losing huge opportunities. While being on time and keeping your meetings is necessary, being 15 minutes early can be a gold mine. I have had clients partially apply this secret, and the results were automatic.
Here are some examples of the problems that can be caused by cancelling, re-scheduling, or showing up late to meetings:
- Reduced employee loyalty/satisfaction because of frustration, disappointment, or even anger, which in turn leads to decreased productivity and/or increased employee turnover
- Reduced customer loyalty/satisfaction because of frustration, disappointment, or even anger, which decreases revenue
- Increased errors, which can reduce customer service or product quality, leading to a rise in product returns, reduced revenue, increased charge-backs, etc.
- Decreased productivity while people wait around for meetings to start, or stop for recaps of material already covered for the benefit of latecomers
- Increases in the length of time it takes to make critical decisions, sometimes by months, which costs you revenue and sometimes extra expenses.
We all know how important it is to be on time, in any situation, and yet the vast majority of people fail to use this simple idea of the “15 Minutes Early Plan”. If you are on time and keep your meetings with someone, you help earn trust, which in turn helps earn power with someone, and then the sales process has a chance of happening. On the other hand, if you cancel meetings, make people wait, show up late, and constantly reschedule, you lose their trust. You lose power with that person, and there is no deal. It is that simple!
To add to your success, try the “15 Minutes Early Plan”.
Howard Shore is a business growth expert who works with companies that want to maximize their growth potential by improving strategy, enhancing their knowledge, and improving motivation. To learn more about him or his firm please contact Howard Shore at [phone link=”true”] or shoreh@activategroupinc.com.
