If you have ever worked in a vendor-client relationship you will appreciate the following clip. I hope it’ll add a little humor to your day. Enjoy!



Question: Have you ever found yourself in one of these situations – on either side? If so, how do you typically handle it?

Once you learn to estimate time accurately and plan ahead, the last step in becoming punctual is to execute your plan. Sure, it seems a bit obvious and maybe even anticlimactic, but how many of us know what we should do and fail to follow through? Think salad instead of burgers, running instead of American Idol, saving instead of spending. Right, most of us fail to do what we know we should.

In order to execute, you must be convinced that this is something worth accomplishing. If you’re not convinced that there is value in being punctual, it will be very difficult to make the necessary sacrifices.

If you’re sold on the idea, but finding it a bit overwhelming to commit, start at the beginning. As I said in Step 1, don’t worry about being on time yet, just start writing down the time it takes to complete your everyday tasks. Once you see where your time goes, you’ll naturally be more aware of where you misjudge or waste time. In fact, I guarantee that if you keep a log for 2-3 weeks, you will automatically be more punctual.

You can’t change over night, give it some time and reward yourself along the way. I was chronically late for most of my teens and early twenties. It was such a habit that it has taken years for me to change. I still have to work at it, and even then, I don’t always plan ahead well. As the saying goes, I’m not where I want to be, but thank God I’m not where I was.

Finally, the key to success for this, or any goal, is the mastery over procrastination. Start now. The longer you wait, the less likely you’ll be to follow through. Go back, reread this series, and start executing today.

Note: If these last few posts have been helpful, or if you’re committed to becoming punctual and improving your life, I’d love to hear about it – please leave a comment.

My last post, Learn to Estimate Time Accurately, detailed the first critical step in the quest to overcome tardiness and never be late again. However, accurately estimating time is only valuable when you plan ahead. If you know how long it takes to get from your bed to your desk, but you fail to have your clothes ready, check the weather, ensure there’s enough gas in the car, or make the kids’ lunch, you will be late. The old adage is true, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.

Using our example of getting to work on time, planning ahead means starting the day before. Check the fuel gauge before you get home the night before so you can either get gas then, or allow time to stop in the morning. Choose your clothes, prepare your lunch, and have your children’s things ready to go before you go to sleep. Check the weather the night before, and when you wake, check it again along with the traffic report. You know that rain will always make your commute longer, plan for it. By planning ahead, you remove potential obstacles that will slow you down or distract you. You’ll also be in a better position to handle the unknowns when they arise – they will arise.

Although I continue to focus on getting to work on time, the same principle can be used regardless of the situation. In fact, thorough planning is more important for one-time events such as major presentations, sales meetings, banquets, or vacations. Take time to plan out all aspects of these events and write your plan down. Then, ask others to review your plan for holes or errors. This may seem like overkill, but trust me, the people who are punctual, and who always seem to be in control, don’t just “wing it”.

As you begin to plan ahead, keep in mind that you’ll need to leave room for error. There will always be that unexpected obstacle, a mishap, or any number of things out of your control. While you can’t plan for everything, you should leave enough buffer to absorb some amount of delay. Your buffer should be commensurate to your total schedule. If your start to finish time is 30 minutes, giving yourself an extra 5-10 min should be sufficient. On the other hand, if your start to finish time is 3 hours, perhaps you should give yourself an extra 30 minutes for unexpected circumstances.

Like anything we do repetitively, the more you plan, the easier it will become and the less effort it will take. Before long it will be second nature and you’ll be amazed at how punctual you are, how much more time you have, and how much more you’re in control.

Once you can estimate time accurately and you learn to plan ahead, all that’s left is to execute. Check back for the final step and conclusion.

Coming Up: Part 3 – Execute

I could also title this “Stop Kidding Yourself”. I’m sorry, but you can’t wake up, shower, dress, grab breakfast, grab your stuff, and leave the house in 20 minutes. You also can’t quit applications, shut down your computer, pack up, and leave the office in 2 minutes. You can’t drive across town, get seated, eat a nice lunch, and be back at your desk ready to work in exactly an hour. I’m sorry, but you just can’t.

If you’re chronically late, you need to first realize that you don’t truly understand how long it takes to do the routine things you do on a daily basis. On the other hand, once you acknowledge this you can start to learn how to manage your time. We’ll talk about planning and execution later, but I can’t reiterate this enough, you MUST change your thinking if you want to change your life.

Let me be more specific. Try approaching your daily life as if each segment of the day is a project and you are the project manager. Start with the end in mind. For example, let’s take starting work at 8am (not arriving to the office, but when you start being productive). In order to successfully complete this task, we need to know quite a bit of information. We need to know the following:

1. How long does it take you to start working from the time you enter the office? do you stop and talk to people, get coffee, check the mail, turn on your computer, check email, tweet, or read the news?
2. How long does it take you to get to your office? do you have to wait for a train or subway, do you ever get behind school busses while driving, do you regularly get stuck in traffic, do you park in a garage, do you have to walk a block or two, do you walk up stairs, or do you take the elevator?
3. How long does it take to leave the house? do you fix and eat breakfast at home, do you fix something to take with you, do you spend time in front of the mirror, do you have to pack your things, do you need to get the kids in the car?
4. How long does it take you to get ready? how many times do you hit snooze and how long does that last, how long do you spend in the bathroom from the time you set foot in til the time you walk out, do you spend time picking out clothes, do you change outfits 3 times, do you have to wake up your spouse or children, do you have to help them in any way?

Sure, this list of questions seems excessively long, but I’m willing to bet that you really don’t think to account for all these things when you plan to start work at 8am.  And if you do account for them, you probably misjudge the amount of time required.

Start a journal or just make notes on a sheet of paper, but make your own list and keep track of your start and stop times for all of these things.  Do this for a couple of weeks.  Then, once you have all the necessary data you can start adding them up: 9min + 18min + 5min + 7min + 11min + 21min = 71min.  I picked these numbers at random, but if each of your individual tasks equated to these figures, you would know that it takes 71 minutes from the time your alarm goes off to the time your sitting at your desk ready to work.

However, you need to make one more critical adjustment. . .

Stop planning for the average!  This is another very common error for people who are usually late.  The average time is just that, an average.  That means that there are quite a few times where you took a lot longer than the average.  Once again, don’t kid yourself by thinking that you can always hit the average.  You can’t.  Instead, start planning based on one of the more regular figures on the high end.  This will ensure that you’re successful more than just the 3 days each week you manage to hit your average.

Again, once you know what is involved in completing each task, and how long it actually takes to accomplish each small piece, you can then move on to planning.

Coming Up: Part 2 – Plan Ahead

My last post, 10 Things Your Tardiness Says About You, provided a short list of things others may think of you when you’re late. Those statements ring true for me because I have been on both sides of the tardiness coin.

Yes, for most of my life I was “that guy”. The guy who was always late – late to everything. Late to school, late to work, late to golf practice, late for dates. It was so bad that my friends, when organizing events, would always give me a time 30 minutes to an hour before everyone else, just so they wouldn’t have to wait for me. I could share some pretty embarrassing stories, but I think I’ll pass.

But that was then and this is now. Thanks in large part to my ever-punctual, beautiful wife (I love you, honey). Obviously, I had to “want” to change, but she taught me the skills and methods I needed to change my habits and essentially, change my life.

Change my life? Absolutely. If you are habitually late, you probably feel as though life is chaos, that you’re never in control or on top of the situation. You feel like everything happens to you, and try as you may, your plans always go awry. It’s not for lack of desire, it’s for lack of knowledge and understanding.

Today, I’m on the receiving end of the I’m-going-to-be-late phone calls, and I’m doing my best to offer the “benefit of the doubt”. But when it comes down to it, my job is to help people better themselves, and helping them overcome their chronic tardiness is one key to their success.

Making the change is not that complicated, but it does take time. You won’t be able to change over night, but if you stick to the plan and celebrate the small accomplishments, you’ll soon find yourself frustrated with those people who are always late.

Because this is so critical to success in all areas of life, I’m going to take time to focus on each key element separately. My next few posts will outline the specific steps you can take to overcome tardiness. I will also be glad to address any questions you may have – simply leave a comment, or email me via the contact form.

Coming Up: Part 1 – Learn to Estimate Time Accurately

Being punctual is critical no matter what your job. Whether you’re a student or an executive, a sales rep or a job hunter, being late says more about you than you probably realize. Because you may not be aware of the negative message you’re sending, I thought I should give you a list to consider:

1. I didn’t get here on time, so I probably won’t finish your project on time
2. I’m not able to manage my life, let alone the team you want me to lead
3. Time isn’t important to my firm, the deadlines we set are just random dates
4. I’m not prepared . . . ever
5. I don’t know how to plan for worst case scenarios, this happens to me all the time
6. I’m lazy
7. This appointment just isn’t that important to me
8. I am a prima donna, you really don’t want me to work here
9. I stay up late partying, because that’s really what’s important
10. I don’t respect you or your time

Do you have anything that should be added to this list?

I previously mentioned a situation where I experienced poor customer service at an auto shop. There’s more to the story, a happy ending if you will.

When faced poor customer service, I do my best to be confrontational in a civilized and constructive way (according to me, not my wife). I don’t raise my voice, offer insults, or say anything offensive. I don’t want to be treated with a lack of respect and I don’t intend to treat others any different. In this particular case, I informed the manager, who recognizes me because I’m in there all the time (I believe in the saying “it’s cheaper to keep her” when it comes to cars), that I didn’t appreciate the level of service, and I was frustrated that I left my car there all afternoon and the work was never done. He apologized, but was in too much of a hurry to do anything more. I was very disappointed and thought about taking my business elsewhere.

However, the following day, I got a call from that manager. He apologized again and said that if I would bring the car back in, they’d do the oil change and rotation for free. I gladly took him up on his offer, and continue to take my car to that shop today.

Look, we all mess up and drop the ball from time to time. It’s how you handle it that makes all the difference. When you mess up, you should obviously apologize, but go one step forward and find a way to satisfy your customer or client.

Keep in mind, it’s about how you make people feel, not necessarily what you do. Some people will be ecstatic over a 5% discount while others while simply appreciate your sincere apology. A great gesture that will keep money in your pocket and potentially bring in more business, is offering a discount on future service – you get paid in full for the current work, plus encourage repeat business.

Not sure how to make it up to a client or customer? Just ask. Most people will let you know how you can make it up to them. But whatever you do, be sincere!

Do you have any good customer service stories?

You Provide Customer Service!

No matter who you are, or in what industry you work, you provide customer service, good or bad, whether you want to or not. It’s not just for those answering phones in a call server, or serving dinner at a restaurant. All businesses, institutions, and organizations have customers, and must provide a certain level of service in order to retain those customers.

Want to be better than your competitors? Provide better customer service. How? By understanding and managing your customers’ expectations.

Customers’ form expectations in a variety of ways: marketing, word of mouth, personal experience, etc. Be aware that customer service starts with the very first interaction a potential customer has with your brand, product, or service.

What does your marketing tell your customers?

Ever seen an add for a sandwich or salad that looked enormous, only to have it placed in front of you and think “this looks nothing like the ad”? Ever visit a website for a business that looked like Fortune 500 company, only to find out the firm should really be marketed as a home-based business (not that there is anything wrong with home-based businesses). Is your business card, website, or print ad setting your customers up for disappointment? If you can’t live up to your marketing, you either need to improve your offering, or change your presentation.

Several years ago I stopped at a certain fast food chain while traveling. It was around the time they started adding the second drive up window (which apparently failed badly because no one ever uses them now), and the restaurant had a big sign in the window that said “60 seconds or less”. They were apparently advertising the fact that you could get in and out of the drive thru in less than a minute. You know where this is going. Three minutes later I get my food and drive away.

What are you telling your customers?

Communicate, especially in service-based businesses. Tell your potential clients, what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, how you’ll deal with issues, how much participation you expect from them, and so forth. Once they sign on, follow through and continue to stay in touch. Be in control, be honest, and communicate well. Even if things go wrong, you’ll be able to provide excellent customer service and retain your customers. Trust me, we’ve made plenty of mistakes. When we do a great job of managing expectations, our clients are happy and sing our praises. But even if the end result is great, if we’ve done a poor job of communicating with a client, their satisfaction suffers.

Not too long ago I had my car at the repair shop for some minor work. I made an appointment and dropped it off on time. It was to be ready by 3pm; my wife and I had plans to leave the area for dinner with friends at 5pm. At 4:45pm, with no word from the shop, I called to inquire if the car was ready. I was told they were “just getting to it” and it would be ready by 5:30pm. I told them not to bother, that I was on my way to pick it up. I understand that things don’t always go as planned and in this case, other repairs took longer than expected. If the shop had called at 2:30pm to let me know it would be later in the day I probably could have altered my plans with no problem. The failure was in the lack of communication with me, the customer – it was absent, and I was extremely frustrated.

What’s the takeaway?

The bottom line is that unrealistic expectations will always, always lead to poor customer service. Therefore, do everything in your power to set and meet or exceed those expectations every step of the way.

Yesterday I posted a list of five things I learned at Enterprise that would benefit you in any job or business. The following is a list of five more:

1. Reward Employees Well – Expect 110% from your employees, but reward them for it. If they know they’re appreciated, you’ll see obvious results in their work ethic and productivity. Rewards don’t have to be monetary. In fact, in a down economy, it’s important to find ways to reward employees without increasing expenses (additional time off, more breaks, flexible hours, etc).

 

2. Have Fun – Enterprise does a great job of creating a competitive but enjoyable atmosphere, even going so far as to hosting after hours events for several branches together. Encourage laughter and chatter. Get a foosball table, have someone bring in a Nintendo Wii, or host a night of bowling.

 

3. Team Work – Find ways to reward the team, unit, or business (if small) as a whole. Set up challenging competitions or goals, and make sure to come up with a reward that your employees actually want. You may also need to ask around to make sure office politics, negative employees, or egos aren’t getting in the way of great team work.

 

4. Share The Numbers – Don’t be afraid to let your employees in on some of the financial figures. If you’ve hired the right people, they want the whole business to succeed. Knowing how their work affects expenses or revenues may help them be proactive in affecting the bottom line without you having to ask.

 

5. Give Opportunities To Advance And Excel – This is critical to keeping employees. No one wants to feel like they are trapped, and if they do, they’ll start looking for the nearest exit. Make sure there is a clear path for each employee to advance or gain rewards. But don’t stop there; you must make sure each employee is fully aware of their potential path and how they can reach their destination.

I worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car for three years, one year full-time, two years part-time while going to grad school. I’ll be the first to admit that there are great things about Enterprise, and not-so-great things about Enterprise. It has a great reputation among some business schools, and a poor reputation among some former employees. But, as with any job I’ve held, I prefer to glean what I can, learn from it, and apply it to the next job. The following is a list of 5 things I learned from my stint there that you can apply to any job or business:

1. Dress Well – Most industries no longer require formal business attire anymore. But that doesn’t mean you should come to work looking like you’re headed to breakfast on Saturday morning. Dressing well is a sign of respect towards those with whom you interact. If you interact with lawyers and bankers – wear a suit, marketing professionals or mid-level management - business casual, a team of programmers – well, at least wear clothes that are clean and odor-free.
2. Smile, A Lot – This is pretty simple. Smiling is contagious, and it puts people in a better mood. You’ll leave a better impression and have a better chance at closing the deal.
3. Don’t Take It Personally – Nothing is more important when you’re involved in customer service than remembering that 99% of the time, it’s not about you. Do your best to figure out what the primary issue is, then go a step further and take their side. Literally talk and act as if you’re making it your job to solve their problem. They will no longer see you as the enemy but as a champion for their cause and things will be much easier on you.
4. It’s OK To Sweat – Enterprise employee’s wear dress clothes, yet spend hours each day washing cars. Whether it’s 100 degrees or there’s snow on the ground, the cars get washed. What’s more, Enterprise managers start off at the bottom, washing cars like everyone else. Don’t be afraid to get dirty or break a sweat from time to time. You’ll be surprised at how far that goes with your employees. It’s also good for the soul.
5. Great Customer Service Is Critical – This seems like a no-brainer, but if you don’t make your customers happy, you will cease to have customers. Enterprise focuses heavily on customer service, going so far as to making the customer satisfaction score of each branch part of the criteria for bonuses, rewards, raises, or promotions. Make Great Customer Service a priority at your job and it will surely pay off.