Time gets away from us, everyone knows it. Everyone complains about it. The older we get, the faster time moves, while those in their younger years say time crawls.
As I am just three weeks away from turning 60, I can easily say my life is busier now than it was when I was 35 and a young mother who worked full time.
I’m not complaining. I like having a busy life. I love my job and love my hobbies.
I love being on the board at the Friends of the James Farm, the friendships I’ve amassed. I love riding the motorcycle with my husband. Weekends with my grandson. Vacations with family. I love writing and reading, whether doing it for my work, for James research or for my own pleasure.
So, isn’t my time valuable?
It’s nice to be busy, but it also means that I value my time and I don’t like to waste my time.
With that being said – I feel my time is valuable and should BE valued by others. After all, others value their own time, right?
A doctor’s time is no more valuable than my time. A minister’s time is no more valuable than my time. The hairdresser, nail technician, dentist, massage therapist, or anyone else in the service industry … their time is no more valuable than mine.
With that being said – what gives anyone the right to devalue my time? To make me wait, and wait, and wait after I’ve made a point to be ON TIME for an appointment I made in advance?
Reach out to your customers
I understand that things happen. A customer is late, which throws off the entire day for the service person – making every appointment following that late customer – run late.
In the old days – yes that of just 30 or more years ago – one would be told, “I’ll be right with you,” or “we’re running behind today, would you like to re-schedule?” Or, “we’re running behind today, the wait is …”
Simple statements like this go a long way in reducing the frustration and anger of the person who was on time for an appointment and now has to wait and wait and wait. Statements like this show that you, the person performing a service, value your customer’s time.
My tipping point
Recently I had scheduled a “me” day for myself. I didn’t have to work that day, so I made several appointments – manicure, haircut, audiology appointment, groceries, and finally – collecting my grandson for a weekend.
I’d made each appointment with plenty of time in between in which I could travel from one to the other, and manage to grab lunch and walk the dog.
The first appointment with the nail salon, was in fact – an appointment. I’d gone to this place, a new salon, a month ago before a vacation trip. I was 8 minutes early for my appointment. The salon has a “walk-ins welcome” policy.
I was greeted by one of the owners, my appointment confirmed, told to pick out a color and sit down. Twenty-five minutes passed without a word. People paid and left and still I didn’t get waited on. The last manicure I’d had there, the owner had multi-tasked me with someone else, so a manicure that takes about 35 minutes took 90.
I had another appointment in one hour which included 20 minutes travel time by this point, so I made the decision to walk out.
Had the owner said to me that there was a waiting time of x-amount of minutes, I might have stayed and called my next appointment to re-schedule.
My time and my business was not important to these people and so I left.
A new business discovered
After leaving, I looked at my nails which were in bad shape. I had two choices. Find another salon or try to get the professional manicure off the nails myself. I got in my car and instead of driving toward home, despite the time closing in on my next appointment, I drove to another, older salon in town.
Not only was I taken right away, but the technician was no-nonsense. She worked only on me, consistently and finished me in exactly 35 minutes. PLUS – the manicure was $10 less than the place I had originally gone.
I will return there and the other place has not only lost my business, but I’ll never recommend them, either.
I was on time for my haircut only to find there was a delay due to a client being late earlier in the day. I adore my stylist and she’s always willing to work with me. She managed to get me cut and out with an eye to my audiology appointment, which was an hour’s drive.
 |
| A happy, pleasant office worker, with good customer service skills is worth his/her weight in gold. |
Nevertheless, when I realized I was going to be late to that last appointment, I called. Sure enough, the receptionist was so thrilled that I called and she reassured me to drive safe and just get there when I could. In the end, I was just five minutes late and it was a slow day for them.
Tied to my ear doctor’s office, this business never makes me wait to be seen, is always apologetic if there is, for some reason, a wait. The doctor, simply the BEST doctor I’ve ever been to for anything - has given me his personal cell phone number in case of an emergency.
Who does that?
A person who cares and who values MY time.
Another lost business
We should never devalue our time for any reason, for anyone. A year ago I needed to have my blood pressure taken by a doctor in order to renew a prescription. I made an appointment at the clinic I’d been going to for more than 10 years. I was weighed and put into an examining room without a word that the doctor was running late. An hour and 15 minutes later, I had not been seen, the nurse hadn’t returned to let me know what was going on. I was basically left to stew over the fact I’d not been seen – not good for someone with high blood pressure.
For the first time in my life, I walked out of a doctor’s office.
 |
| Being made to wait and wait for an appointment you've taken the time to make and to arrive on time for, can be stressful. It doesn't help if you also have high blood pressure. The act of waiting and waiting can make blood pressure rise to unhealthy levels! |
I stopped the nurse and was polite, but firm, in telling her I’d never be back. That is the moment when I was told the doctor was running late all day due to an early morning emergency. “Didn’t anyone tell you?” she asked. “No,” I replied, or "I’d not be walking out right now."
I informed the office that in addition to constant mis-diagnoses by the nurse practitioners and the long wait periods, I’d find another practice.
Indeed, that office has lost our business – two people, which ought to amount to enough to make a dent in their pocketbooks, but no one cares.
My time is valuable and so is yours
Communication and courtesy has been tossed out with the bathwater in today’s world. It seems to live on the same plane as use of turn signals and supermarket clerks who pay attention to their customers – gone and forgotten.
There is always another service person you can turn to. Your time is valuable. You shouldn’t be made to wait without a chance to decide for yourself whether you want to wait or re-schedule. Frankly, I do not understand that “walk-ins are welcome” and then put ahead of those who make an appointment. It sounds as if that policy encourages new customers, but in fact – just how many customers walk out just as I did yesterday?
In this day and age of multiple service businesses, tight purse strings and very busy lives – we have a choice to take our business elsewhere – to where our time and business is valued.
