What are people really trying to say when they say "thank you for your time"?

Beside the particular details of the meeting, what is exactly you are giving thanks for?

In the business world people use cliches so much, that they forget what they really meant. Is not by chance it ends up feeling shallow.

Give it a thought: why say thank you for you time? Is it like time is money and people was giving you some?

Time isn't money. Banks and financial institutions created that illusion confusing everybody. Time looks like if it were money sometimes and under some economic models but truth is that time is not money and more importantly:

You don't want people's time.

What you want is not time is care. You want people caring about who you are and what you do. And this is key:

Is not about you in the end. Inflating your sense of your importance can screw it all. The thing that matters here is the benefits of your success. The ones that affects them.

Think of our conversation here. If you are you and I'm one of your contacts talking with you, is only when you stand for something valuable that I have an excuse to care about you. Is only in those situations when I have an excuse to care about the way you change things for the better with your job. If you give me those excuses I may feel good having you among my contacts and I may talk with my contacts about the benefits of your job.

Caring works way better than time because caring is their time plus thinking well about you. That's key for deactivating the resistance to your goals.

Next time you find yourself about saying "thank you for your time" try not saying it. Try instead doing your homework so you can communicate your appreciation about the right thing they're giving you.