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The Need for Speed
How long do you wait for a haircut? For a table at a restaurant? For your car to be repaired?
How long does it take before you get irritated?
How do you feel when you receive instant service?
"You want your kitchen remodeled? We can finish by next week."
"Hello! You don't have time to sit as the doctor is ready to see you now."
"You need a new driver's license? Okay. Stand here for your photo. Here's your license. Have a nice day!"
One of the worst things you can do to people is make them wait. After five minutes they become uncomfortable. In ten minutes they are unhappy. In fifteen they are irritable. After twenty, they decide to leave.
There is no benefit in making people wait. They do not think, "Boy, Robbie is really important, really busy, really in demand!" Instead, they think, "Robbie isn't very organized. Or maybe Robbie doesn't think I'm very important."
"To prosper, service must be as close to instant as possible."
"Anything which stops or delays the flows of a business or delays or puts a customer or product on WAIT is an enemy of that business." -- L. Ron Hubbard
Any business that delivers fast service, or can quickly make products, takes over the industry. For example, McDonalds gives you hot food in one minute, Jiffy Lube changes your car oil in ten minutes and Lenscrafters makes your glasses in an hour. All three companies have made their owners and executives wealthy because they give fast service.
The same principle works for you. Whenever you make a customer wait, your boss wait or even a coworker wait, you are hurting your income.
For example, a lazy waiter makes a hungry customer wait for ten minutes before taking his order and gets a $1 tip. The same customer gives a $5 tip to a waitress who takes his order within thirty seconds. With 40 customers per day, the fast waitress earns $800 more in tips each week because she gives very fast service. The restaurant also makes more money as customers use a table for 45 minutes instead of 60 minutes meaning more customers can be served each week.
You open a small print shop, but cannot get enough work to pay your bills. So you use this principle about speed and advertise, "We will finish any print job in 24 hours." Within a week, you have ten new jobs. Even though you work all night, you steal the competitor's business and take over the field. You can soon charge extra fees for your 24-hour service.
Your boss asks you and two of your coworkers to gather your statistics for the past six months. You bring it to your boss in an hour. One of your coworkers brings it by the end of the week and the other coworker forgets about it. If you are consistently fast, who will the boss want to give more responsibility and pay? Who might get laid off?
If you wish to succeed and prosper, you must be fast!
Five Planning Steps
Ask yourself these questions to create your plan of action.
1. Exactly what do you do or produce to earn money? If you run a business, how does the business make its money?
2. List every step of the process you use. Look for every delay. Where does the flow slow down?
3. How can you speed up these points? How can you achieve nearly instant service or delivery?
4. Who is waiting for you? Of these people, who has any influence over your success?
5. How can you break all speed records and give these people what they need instantly?
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