I often ask salespeople: “What one thing would you change about your job if you could?” The answers tend to fall within two categories, internal and external. The internal changes tend to focus on one particular area—speed. “I need to get quotes faster. I need to get answers faster. I need to get my jobs through the system faster.”

I’m sympathetic to these complaints—to a point. And that’s the point where the customer’s expectations are met. I’ve observed, though, that many salespeople want quotes/answers/orders faster than their customers need them, which only serves to put unnecessary pressure on the entire system. I remember a conversation with a salesperson who put a three-day deadline on a complex project that the customer didn’t actually need for five days.

“We’ll probably be a day late,” he told me, “but I’ll still be a day early.”