Is Patience Still A Virtue?

Is patience still a virtue?

Walking into Chipotle with an 18-year old, we thought we hit the jackpot because there was no one in line. This, on a night where we had already chosen to take a break from making dinner and cleaning up after. For a little context, there were five of us wanting five different things at the same time, now. My mom’s voice running through my head “just be patient.” Is that something people still say? Eating at home was probably a better option. In any case, two cars and three stops later, everyone got what they wanted.

But then it hit me, we’ve got to be living in the most immediate gratification period in human existence. What if the line is too long? We’ll order from the app. Yeah, how long is that going to take? Ugh!

Just be patient.

Everything in our world, even this post, is on the clock. Just give me a headline and a line or two. I’ll get the gist. Better yet, make it a video cause yeah, reading. An article or a book? No time for that.

Just be patient.

How about shopping. Get in the car and drive, find parking, and they won’t have it anyway. How about if we deliver it to you overnight? That would be awesome, but I’m really thinking about something sooner. How about in two hours? I mean I didn’t know anything about it ten minutes ago, but I’ve got to have it now.

Just be patient.

I really like that show, but I don’t want to watch it Tuesday night at 9. Okay, you can stream it anytime you want, on any device, wherever you are. Awesome, but can I watch every episode back-to-back-to-back? I’m not really into waiting.

Just be patient.

Nowness is everywhere. Shorter sporting events. Swiping for dates. Term papers in 5 minutes. And the same is true for marketing. The desire for action/reaction is acute. After all, I ran an ad. Shouldn’t I expect to see something in return? Truth is it’s not that simple. There are hundreds, if not thousands of you, running the same ad, expecting the same result.

The point is, even in this crazy environment, everything still works the same if we’re patient. We still get our Chipotle, and buy our new clothes, and eventually watch our shows. Marketing works just as well as it always has, just now, it’s almost never as fast as you’d like, unless of course you have Big Money. (We use to call it McDonald’s money). But even with this, you still have to have a value proposition that speaks to the heart and a message that can rise above the noise. And that’s what many marketers miss today. Or at least the ones too in a rush to notice.

It will all be fine. Just be patient.