There Will Never Be Another Now

I emailed a GM at a large, prestigious club who was a moderately warm prospect. He's someone I have a lot of admiration for - he's had an impressive career. We exchanged messages a few times before, and he had a strong referral from one of our current clients he respects. But this time, he replied with a familiar phrase: "We have other items in the fire, and this hasn't risen to be on the front burner."

That struck me as odd, because right below that, in his email signature, were the words: "There will never be another Now."

I had to smile. The irony was too perfect.

We all have a front burner. It's where the fires are - projects that are hot, urgent, and impossible to ignore. Things that threaten deadlines or member expectations if we don't act fast.

But what makes something earn that spot? Sometimes it's true urgency. Sometimes it's just volume - the loudest voice in the room wins. And sometimes, it's habit. We get so used to fighting fires that we start believing only the things on fire matter.

The problem is, that mindset leaves a lot of quiet opportunities simmering on the back burners indefinitely.

I've caught myself doing it too. There's always something that "can wait until later." A small system update. A new idea for outreach. A conversation that could unlock something bigger. We tell ourselves we'll get to it "when things calm down." But things rarely do.

I started thinking about what actually moves something from the back burner to the front. For me, it's not urgency - it's clarity. When I finally understand how small the effort is compared to the impact, that's when it jumps to the front.

And that's where I think many clubs get stuck. The idea of new technology automatically feels like a big project. Staff assume it will require training, coordination, and disruption. So it stays on the back burner, even if it could save time tomorrow.

But not all technology works that way.

Here's the truth: some things deserve to be on the front burner precisely because they don't create more work.

When you evaluate software, it's easy to focus on what it is - features, integrations, reporting - but the more important question is how it fits into daily life. How hard is it to start? How quickly does it return value? And how much time does it give back to the people who use it?

If the answers are "simple," "immediately," and "a lot," then it shouldn't wait.

That's the space where GroupValet lives.

GroupValet doesn't require a committee, rollout plan, or downtime. It doesn't replace your systems - it connects with them. Staff don't need to push members to use it, members use it because it helps them organize what they already love doing.

That's why clubs like Desert Mountain, Addison Reserve, and Mirasol use it. They didn't add "one more system to manage." They removed friction from their members' lives and freed their staff to focus on experience instead of logistics.

Implementation takes minutes, not months.
Value shows up immediately.
And no one has to add another project to the to-do list.

That's not a front burner fire. That's a front burner opportunity.

So when I read that GM's quote again - "There will never be another Now" - I realized he's absolutely right.

There really won't.

But that truth only matters if we act on it.

Some of the most valuable improvements don't start with urgency. They start with recognition - that this "later" thing could quietly make everything else easier. And sometimes, the only thing keeping it from boiling is where you've decided to put the pot.

My stovetop has 4 burners. The hottest of the 4 is the back right burner. It's ironic that on my stove, things on the back burner actually finish first.

So maybe the next time you think something "isn't on the front burner," ask yourself why.

Because "later" is rarely easier.
And there will never be another Now.