Don't write off your contacts so quickly

"The marketing director I met at last week's networking event never responded to my email follow up."

I hear this a lot from clients -- usually just a day or two after they've followed up -- and I always say the same thing: "Take the word "never" out of your sentence and add the word "yet."

In other words, when you say (or think), "She never called me back," you've essentially written that person off. You've probably assumed they have done the same to you. But you really have no idea. She may be out of town, or overwhelmed with email. And no, you are not her priority. That's life.

You'll have a much more successful business if you keep your mind (and your options) open when staying in touch with people. Give her the benefit of the doubt. Give her some time. And if you really want to connect, reach out again. Remember, 2 is the new 1.

P.S. If you're one of the people who hasn't responded yet to someone you met recently, take a few minutes to go through your messages and send a quick reply.

Comments

[Nicole Bandes]

And isn't it true that email, even from what you consider a safe source, sometimes ends up in the spam folder?

This is a great post and a nice reminder that sometimes we need to continue following up until we finally get through.

[kendra]

Thanks for the reminder. I'm going to go send off a note to that one marketing director I met with *gasp* last summer and since wrote off.

[Lucia @ D*lsh Design]

This thinking helps a lot. But I have one concern. I have one client that I've been trying to contact. He told me he was going to send me images to start designing his catalog, but he never did. Called him, and he said he will send it - he's been busy. Never got anything. Called again, left a message. A few days later, called again, left no message. Should I call again? When does it become too much?! I hope you can help me out. Thanks!

[Ilise Benun]

Lucia, I know it can be frustrating. And your question reminds me of a question someone asked me the other day, "How can I be in their face without being on their nerves?"
(I think I'll write a blog post on that.)

The short answer in this situation is: He's the only who can tell you when it's too much. So I suggest you ask him. That might get him to respond.

Write or leave a message along the lines of: "I imagine you got busy but I know you want to do this project. So unless I hear otherwise, I'll just keep reaching out to you about this until you're ready to get started."

What do you think? And if you do something like this, let me know how it goes.

[MrPositioning.com (Stanley Bronstein)]

I can't tell you how many times I've had somebody call me back not days, not weeks but months later when I thought I would never hear from them again.

As you were told as a child, DON'T BURN BRIDGES . . . Keep opportunities open.

People have a way of coming back around and you will hear from them sooner or later.

Take care.

Mr Positioning
Stanley F. Bronstein
Attorney, CPA, Author & Professional Motivational Speaker