Can we take a minute and talk about timeliness & professionalism? Working as a professional for the past decade, I have a great appreciation and respect for both timeliness and professionalism You know me, I’m always preaching about setting expectations. All you have to do is set the expectation and meet expectation to make people happy. And, if you exceed it, they will be screaming your name from rooftops. It's rare in our society that people actually set meet or exceed expectations. How frustrating is that?! And, well, kind of embarrassing. It’s so simple and so overlooked.
I write this post as three things happened today and I felt inclined to offer some advice. With an attempt to create more professional people, better business owners, more successful and ultimately make you more money, or refresh you if you're already on it! So here it is. And, thank you for those of you already practicing these essentials, thank you!
I woke up early as I had a scheduled meeting with a biz coach looking to collab. She lives in Austraila so to make the time schedule work I was up early. I waited, and waited, and emailed, and got a response saying she wants to reschedule for next week. I’m a totally reasonable person, so happy to reschedule, but where we can improve is with perhaps a warning before the actual appointment or in this case 30 minutes into the scheduled time. Time is Money! Don’t waste other peoples time or it shows them that you have no respect for time, money or them and theirs.
Moving on with my day, I went to the 9:30 spin class which actually started at 9:40 am forcing some of my fellow cyclists to leave the class before our 45minute ride was complete. Because of the lack of urgency to get started on time, I felt these people were not getting the full workout they signed up for. I was also sent running home because I schedule my appointments according to the scheduled time with not much room for tardiness.
I had someone previously request to discuss an opportunity with me. I’m always open to opportunities, so I jumped onto zoom on our scheduled time and waited. Concurrently googling, making notes, updating my Instagram (a girl’s gotta keep her hustle going even in the face of tardiness.). Finally 15 minutes into our 30-minute scheduled time, a message, "sorry an emergency came up with my daughter." I can completely understand this, I replied, "absolutely no problem, family comes first, let’s reschedule". He said, "I have time now, it’s all good". So we jumped on a call for 10 minutes. I asked about his daughter, she is completely A-OK (wonderful) and playing in the background. Turns out, he had forgotten that he agreed to watch her for his wife. So, there was no emergency, just a scheduling conflict. In this case, RESCHEDULE! It’s better to reschedule and maintain professionalism. These things happen, I get it! Duties come up, planes get canceled, life happens. I don’t recommend taking up the remaining 10 minutes of my time telling me what happened, suggesting we reschedule while half trying to pitch me on your idea and speak with your daughter (who's begging for your attention and playing an instrumental children’s toy in the background).
If you want to be taken seriously, be serious. You wouldn’t take your baby to your interview, (I hope!), so don't have her in your professional meeting. I love babies and puppies, but I wouldn't bring them to a client meeting. It's not fair for them to pay me for my time and me be unfocused.
If you wouldn’t do it in the corporate world, don’t do it in your business. This is your reputation, keep it presentable and respectful. Trust me, from someone who has a business, and has worked in the hiring for other people’s companies. I AM judging you! I mean this sincerely, because you will be an extension of me/the company/the owner. You will be interacting with my clients. They will have a certain expectation of professionalism., You must be available because you are the Biz Owner, Boss, Client Experience Creator!
The saying goes “If you’re not 5 minutes early, You’re late.”
Be timely, it's kind, it's empowering, it's professional.
I don’t need your excuses, I need you to be here when you say you will be. Perhaps a bit blunt today, but this could be affecting your bottom line and that's serious business!
If you need help with this, I will sort you out and motivate you to be your timeliest most professional self. Hit me up with a note below.
