Time is arguably the most precious commodity we have. You can always make more money, but I haven't found any way to actually create more time. If you find a way, let me know.
As it turns out, others will only respect your time if you respect it as well. And people who don't respect their own time are much less likely to respect yours.
A while back, a client of mine ran into an awkward situation with a referral partner who didn't respect her time. Let's take a look at what my client did in that situation, then I'll share some additional resources.
An inconsiderate referral partner
We all want to have good referral partners. They can send a lot of business your way and even shorten the sales cycle for you. But what do you do when a referral partner doesn't respect your time?
A couple years ago, one of our clients had a referral partner she was meeting with on a regular basis. While my client understood the value of her own time, the same couldn't be said for her referral partner. He showed a chronic disregard for both his own time and hers.
The biggest way that was impacting my client is that her referral partner was almost always late to their meetings. Sometimes it was just a few minutes, but occasionally it was worse.
On this occasion, it was definitely worse. As my client sat there waiting, she started dreading the impact it would have on her schedule. Each time her referral partner showed up late, she shuffled her schedule around to accommodate him. As she sat there waiting, she decided she wasn't going to do that this time.
Being professional but firm
At long last, her referral partner showed up for the meeting. As he walked toward the table, my client stood up. She said to him, "Good morning! I would love to sit down and talk with you, but I only have a few minutes left."
They did end up having a short conversation before she left that day. Just a couple days later, he called her and apologized! He let her know that he would't be late the next time they got together.
My client knew enough about her own value that she respected and valued her own time and that of her referral partner. But the same wasn't true for him. Of course, in reality his time was valuable, but he had no awareness of that fact.
She was getting more frustrated each time they met, but he probably didn't even realize that! Because he placed so little value on his own time, he had no idea that she highly valued her time. Until, of course, she finally let him know through her words and actions.
Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever known someone who was consistently late and showed no respect for your time? Or, even worse, was it you?
You may think you're being nice when you rearrange your schedule to accommodate someone like that. You're not. You're teaching them it's okay not to respect the time of others.
Or if you're habitually late, you may have thought it wasn't a big deal. But are you unintentionally letting other people know that you don't respect or value their time?
Self development resources
Our clients share with us that one big benefit they get from working with us is self development. If they are open to change, our training programs affect not only their professional lives, but also their personal lives.
Here are a few other articles we've written on self development:
- Toughen up!
- Why I finally started journaling
- Change your "to-do list" to a "2 do list"
- Three simple questions for success
- Busy is not the same as productive
We also have a lot of tools available to help you improve yourself from a professional and personal standpoint. First up is one of the most popular videos we've ever put out, which covers the five steps to growth.
Next is an ebook specifically for sales leaders who are pressed for time. If you find yourself wishing you had more time in the day, this ebook can help you learn how to win back valuable working hours while effectively supporting your sales team.
Finally, our premier ongoing sales and personal development program known as President's Club stresses ongoing, incremental learning in an interactive, comfortable, and highly professional learning environment.
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