Timing is everything

I buy and return many audiobooks on Audible. Each time I return books, I'd contact the customer support via Audible's chat platform. After I’d been helped and just before ending our chat, I’d be asked if I could fill up a simple customer feedback survey form. I’d always say yes but don’t always fill it up. In fact, out of 20 times I contact customer support in a year, I have only filled up the survey form twice. Why is that? Because I’m not always in the mood to fill up a survey form. I just want to get on with my day. But sometimes, I might have received kindness from someone else earlier in the day and I want to pass that kindness on so I would fill up the survey form. Or something might have happened to put me in a good mood which in turn, made me generous with my time.

The thing is, you never know if you’re getting someone at the right time. No now doesn’t mean no forever. It just means not right now. Timing is everything, and somebody else’s timing is outside of our control - we don’t know the circumstances surrounding that person’s life that is dictating their decision to do or not do something.

So what is the key then? The key is to be consistent and diligent. 

This applies to all manner of sales and marketing including real estate direct mailing. I've heard this real life example many times now and I'm paraphrasing it here for illustration purpose: I could be sending a direct mail to the same home owner once, twice, four times, seven times, over a period of four years, and he was not ready to sell his property. One day, his wife died, his children invited him to move out of California to live with them in Arizona, and he’s now ready to sell his property. Because I’ve been reaching out to him consistently twice a year for the past four years, and he happened to see my letter when he ended the call with his children asking him to move out to Arizona, he called me to arrange to sell his property.

If you’re always there and always asking, someday the person you’re reaching will be in the right frame of mind to say yes.

I captured this shot in Yosemite National Park in January 2012. This is the world famous Ansel Adams tunnel view. Who is Ansel Adams? He is a legendary American photographer whose most famous works include hundreds of black and white photographs he took in Yosemite between 1930s and 1940s. What is the tunnel view? It is a tunnel dug through the western end of Yosemite Valley which upon coming out of it, presents you with this incredible view of Yosemite's granite, lush green and waterfall. Timing is very important to photography as it is in all manner of life. With the right timing, season, lighting and circumstance, you can capture either a gripping or gnarly shot.