I've just finished listening to MarketingSherpa's "IT Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005-2006". It charts a number of trends in online marketing based on an extensive survey performed recently, and one of the most interesting is the rate at which new leads get cold. According to the survey, leaving a lead even a day drastically reduces the chances of a sale, whereas those companies that followup immediately reap the rewards of contacting a prospect while they are still thinking about the product, still in the "context", as Seth puts it. Certainly at Quirk we've noticed that following up a lead received through our site by an immediate phone call really creates a good impression.

In the broader context of everyday tasks, acting now is also important. Small inefficiencies often creep into regular activities, and are relegated to the "I'll fix that soon, I just don't have time right now" thought pattern. The problem with this is that even sooner, ignoring the problem becomes habit. Our brains are structured to make sense of things by association, and so repetition has a natural attraction that takes effort to overcome. I have had little tasks on hold for years in this way, although conciously, I know that sorting it out *now* will take *much* less time than ignoring it even a dozen times. Laziness is costly.