How many times each week do you say “I didn’t have time?”
Do you “often” find yourself trying to explain “why you didn’t have time to do what you said you would do?”
Does simply telling your customers, supervisors, family and friends “I didn’t have time” still work or are they beginning to catch on to your default excuse.
Are you really time challenged or is there something else?
Last week a supplier agreed to provide a quote to us on a rather large project by Friday. The supplier went so far as to state “don’t worry we have it covered.” You might have guessed, Friday morning they called and informed us that they would not be quoting the project. When we questioned why, the excuse was “we just didn’t have time.” This was followed by several reasons (excuses) why they didn’t have time but nevertheless we were left scrambling to provide pricing to our customer.
So what did the supplier mean by “didn’t have time.” They knew we were counting on them for pricing. They knew we had made commitments to our customer that depended on them doing what they said they would do. They’ve always told us we are very important to their success.
Couldn’t they have told us sooner they were too busy?
How could they leave us in such a predicament?
Why?
Seth Godin wrote an article in his blog called “I Didn’t Have Time” that may help answer these questions. Here is an excerpt:
“This actually means, “It wasn’t important enough.” It wasn’t a high priority, fun, distracting, profitable or urgent enough to make it to the top of the list.”
We should have known better than to place such trust on them performing. This was not the first time this supplier had told us “they didn’t have time” but maybe it should be their last.
All right, enough of this rant!
I’m guilty of making this same “I didn’t have time” excuse.
I’ve always known at times I use this same excuse but since reading Seth’s Blog I realize “I didn’t have time” has become my default excuse. I suspect it has become yours as well.
I have a hard time saying “no” when asked if I can get something done, only to find myself overcommitted at the end of the day or week. (This usually results in me working late at night or the weekend trying to make sure I do what I said I would do.) But this does not always work. What I find is the things that end up getting done are the things I think are a high priority, fun and most profitable. The other things seem to fall in the “I didn’t have time” bucket.
In sales we are expected to always try to find solutions or a way to get something done. In other words to find a way to say yes. To say “no” is not in the top of our vocabulary.
However, not doing what we say we will do is not acceptable either. So here come the excuses:
- “I didn’t have time.”
- “I would have done what I said I would do if I only had the time.”
- “It’s not my fault I just didn’t have time.”
This is our way saying “what we said we would do is not urgent, fun or important enough to get to the top of our list.” So instead of saying no or telling our customers the true reason, we just say “we didn’t have time.”
Maybe, we should not be so afraid to say no or at the very least let our customers know we don’t or may not have time to do what’s being asked. (I know I’m beginning to waffle.) This would at least give them a chance to find alternatives.
“Consider making the “not enough time” excuse the first excuse rather than the last.”
Our customers should expect and trust that we will do what we say we will do. By not saying no to the things we know we can’t or won’t do, the trust we work so hard to develop will quickly slip away. Much like the loss of trust in our supplier mentioned above.
Always doing what we say we will do and not overcommitting our available time does and will take effort and practice. There will be times that things happen beyond our control but if we are intentional with our commitments and willing to say no, we should be better far more than not.
The next time you find yourself saying “I didn’t have time” ask yourself if time is the true reason or as Seth says “it wasn’t important enough.”
Maybe, I need to take a lesson from our youngest grandson. At 18 months he has the word “No” down pat. If it’s not a high priority to him (like taking a nap or eating his peas) it’s “no”. If it’s not fun or he feels urgent it’s “no”. Heck, for all I know he may already be only committing to the most profitable. One thing for sure he lets you know his intentions without any excuses.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this article.
Now let’s get out there and over-deliver!
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