"If you snooze you lose" is slang in American English. I am not sure if it is also used in British English.
It means if you take too long to take advantage of an opportunity or make a decision, you will miss out on something..
You can use it with friends or with colleagues in very informal situations. For instance, if you are watching something on eBay, and you cannot decide if you want to bid, so you wait. Unfortunately, when you go back to bid, someone has purchased the item with "Buy it Now". In this case, "You snooze you lose"