The Perception of Time

There’s time and there’s the perception of time. Not long ago, I began swimming, making my way from the hot and comfy therapy pool to the less warm leisure pool to the lap pool where the serious swimmers hang out. During those first lap pool experiences, swimming with the big dogs, time stood still for me. Swimming laps at a decent pace for 30 minutes seemed like an eternity, giving meaning to the old idiom, “A watched pot never boils.”  But now, weeks later with more endurance and speed, the 30 minutes flies by in a flash.

The reverse of this is true for many of us when we first begin the pursuit of a new sales opportunity. Time seems to move slowly, as we launch our sales campaign. It’s easy to move at a casual or leisurely pace.  Perhaps the RFI has just emerged and down select is some ways off. But, while time seems to move at an incremental pace for us, it’s likely to be racing by for a competitor. The one that:

• Has been in the account for some time
• Brought thought leadership to structuring the requirements and a solution to advance a specific client corporate executive priority
• Has aligned with the client executive Power Base, sponsored by a Fox in the department that is responsible for operationally advancing the corporate executive priority
• Has also aligned with IT to enable the new initiative with technology
• Believes in “Winning the battle before it’s fought,” shaping the RFI, while hard at work developing nontraditional sources of competitive advantage that will continue to shape the trajectory of the compete curve.

So, during those early days of a new sales campaign when time is moving slowly, drive for speed, recognizing that speed is safety! Why? Because getting out ahead of the competition produces momentum, and momentum creates inertia, giving you the advantage, while helping to protect you against new competitive challenges and disruptive changes in the client environment. Changes that can derail a sales campaign!