I was lucky enough to see Jay speak at the ActionCOACH global workshop in Dublin, Ireland this August. When he challenged Benjamin Franklin’s assertion that “Time is Money,” it felt a little uncomfortable. Was this world-famous guru of marketing about to tell us that Franklin was wrong? After all, Franklin was trying to make us all aware of the IMPORTANCE of money. But Levinson’s point wasn’t that time is LESS important than money, but that it’s much MORE valuable.
Unlike money, time is a truly limited resource. We are given so many hours in the day, the week, the years, and then, it simply runs out on us. Time is the source of all possibility, the one thing of which we are never given more. In short, Time is Life.
So, how are you using your Life? Do you put as much care into the way you spend your days as to how you invest your savings? Is enough of your precious resource being spent with the people you love, or doing the things that bring you joy and satisfaction? Or do you allow low-value tasks to consume much of your day? Do you convince yourself that it’s easier and faster to do something yourself than to train someone else, or learn a new technology that will save you time in the long run? How often do you trade your most precious commodity for a bit of cash?
As a marketer, how aware are you of your customers’ time? Here’s an exercise: quickly imagine your customer and come up with three ways you could add value through convenience. Is your service or product easy to buy? Can you make it easier? Could you offer delivery, early or late hours, mail-order? Could you shave even two-three minutes off your transaction time and let your customer know you’ve saved them time? Thinking creatively about saving time for our clients and customers is one of the keys to success in today’s busy, crazy world.
So challenge your thinking about time. Time is not Money; it’s Life!
About ActionCOACH
Brad Sugars founded the brand Action International in 1993 when he realized there was a disconnect between business advice and implementation. The answer was Action! Brad Sugars created a business coaching company so that business owners throughout the world can realize their goals in business. Today the company is known as ActionCOACH. To learn more about business, visit Brad Sugars Review blog!
