This is an older article, one I wrote back in 2004. It’s now on many other article sites around the world and ranks very highly. For that reason, I’ve posted it again on this site.
My mother instilled in me an ethic of reliability and punctuality. It’s been with me for as long as I can remember. I was never late for school, for scouts, for sports training; I’ve never missed a plane, train, bus or ferry.
You could set a meeting with me today for November 12, 2007 at 11 am and I guarantee that as long as I’m still breathing, I’ll be there. You won’t need to remind me.
I allow travel time and parking the car time in between client meetings; being late is just not part of my agenda. Nevertheless, every now and again it happens. A client meeting runs over time; there’s a traffic accident or roadwork and things just go pear-shaped. So here’s what I do to prevent stress…
When I schedule meetings, I always say I’ll be there at (say) 2pm “Give or take a few minutes – is that OK?” and invariably it’s OK. So I have a small buffer. But if I know I’m delayed, I take another step and call at my earliest opportunity, saying, “I’m running a few minutes behind schedule and expect to be there at 2:15. Is that still OK or did you want to reschedule?”
Most times it’s OK but if it isn’t, I say “OK, when I get back to the office, I’ll call or email you to find out when it suits you to meet again” Then I’m at their mercy because I’ll do whatever it takes to make it at their convenience. I figure I’ve put them out so now it’s my turn.
What gets me annoyed is when people don’t tell me when they have to cancel. Like today; I drove 35 minutes for a 9:30 meeting only to find the client would be out until 2pm. And he wanted the meeting… I billed him for my travelling time, stating on the invoice “Travelling time to appointment cancelled without notice”
What made it worse was that it was the second time this week only he called to cancel the first.
Another client, who knows that Friday afternoon is difficult for me with family sport commitments, cancelled their second consecutive Friday afternoon meeting – they knew on Tuesday they were going to cancel, yet didn’t tell me until today, Thursday.
Like most people, I budget my time and allocate it to projects, research, marketing etc. I turned down another meeting on Friday because I was already booked and now can’t reconvene with the second client for another week.
The results of all this:
- One morning and an afternoon that could have been billed but now isn’t
- Time today that had been allocated to preparing for Friday now unused
- An alternative client who could have had his problem solved earlier now waits a week
- My cash flow adversely impacted as of course I can’t invoice Friday afternoon
This is neither a professional nor a profitable way to conduct business – for any of the parties involved. Not for me; not for any of the three clients.
Why did it happen? The bottom line is that both clients who messed up my schedule ironically really need my services because they’re reacting to crisis rather than planning their time and actions. Someone else’s priorities interfered with their day / week. As a result, they jumped in response – putting out the fire instead of having support mechanisms or systems in place to deal with them.
Do I just say “Ah, that’s business…” – yes I have to right now but it begs the question: How much do these clients value time, especially other peoples? If they do it to me, how many others do they do it to.
Or do I change my habits and say, as another coach I know does:
“Cancel or not be available for any appointment with me and the fee stands, along with the remainder of all fees for the remainder of our agreement AND our agreement is immediately cancelled as I can’t and won’t work with unreliable people”
He never gets cancellations… His fee? $1,000 per hour. The duration of his agreement with you? Minimum 13 weeks.
A reputation as being unreliable gains momentum quickly and it’s one you can’t afford.
Punctuality leads to reliability, which leads to trust which is seen as professionalism. That’s why mother taught me about punctuality.
I urge you to reflect on the way you conduct your timetable and to ensure that you respect other people’s time the way you would have yours respected by others.
