Delays With Strategic Decisions are Costing You... More Than You Know...!

By Sid Chadwick, Chadwick Consulting, Inc. – 05/07/2026

Published in American Printer : “Leaders rarely see the real cost of delayed decisions. Sid’s article shows how hesitation can stall talent, slow revenue, and quietly chip away at your competitive edge. He highlights a case where 6 months of indecision nearly buried a high‑value win. What are delays costing your company?”

“I’ve always been attracted to the more revolutionary changes. I don’t know why. Because they’re harder. They’re much more stressful emotionally. And you usually go through a period where everybody tells you that you’ve completely failed.”……………..Steve Jobs

INTRODUCTION: 

I was told our revolutionary 15-Week Inside Sales Academy would not succeed… It:

1. Was not being sponsored by a national association.

2. Lasted too many weeks.

3. Required reading and study Assignments - between every weekly Class.

4. Took Students electronically into Central Libraries – for Introductions on how to use revolutionary Databases… allowing Reps to be proactively effective with new target Prospects – and – Customers – for the 1st time…..! (“Do people still use Libraries…?”)

Our track record shows that 5 Company Owners have placed more Students in succeeding Classes, with Class size limited to 9 Students.

However, all has not gone smoothly…!

True Story….!

One President hesitated to move his experienced CSR to the Inside Sales Position she had been trained to pursue in our Class.

After about 6 mos. of delays, I called him. We chatted.

He agreed to move her to a private office…to see what she could do without immediate supervision – so I asked for, and received permission, to check on her about once a week.

She made calls for 2 weeks to accounts that were listed as “No Sales Accounts” – for the last 2 years (the list was long)! Her 3rd week she quoted and sold jobs of $23K - $35K – and $20K – for a total of $78K – while reporting that those Customers were promising more work – if those 1st orders went well…!

She then put-up her Weekly Sales Chart on her wall, and asked her President if she could build her own Inside Sales Team – Reporting to her…!

SUMMARY:

Talent is important, for sure.

More than talent, are the qualities of Resiliency, Personal Care for Customers, a strong “Work Ethic”…and the willingness to learn new approaches – with new Resources!

Each of our four classes so far have had at least one experienced Outside Sales Rep Student – looking for inspiration…! (They’ve loved the Classes…and left – Inspired…!)

And there are probably experienced, ambitious (women) CSRs in your market – looking for an opportunity and offer – as an Inside Sales Rep….!

We look forward to our next Inside Sales Academy Class starting up – May 20^th…!