Something I still need to work on is the etiquette of following up on calls and emails that haven’t been returned. I have a bad habit of believing that if I’ve 
contacted someone and they haven’t responded, it’s because they’re not interested and don’t want to. But that’s silly – how often does something on my desk go to the bottom of the pile when the next emergency shows up? More often that I’d care to admit. It’s not that I don’t want to respond to that email or return that phone call, it’s just that 20 other things show up in the meantime and I lose track. Why do I assume that anyone else’s desk is different?
Last fall, I met a gentleman who may be able to help me make some valuable contacts. He gave me a specific time period in which to contact him and I did. And I didn’t hear anything back from him.
Instead of following up with him, I let this possibility fall away because I didn’t want to be too pushy. I figured that if he wanted to contact me he would, so since he hadn’t he was no longer interested in helping. Sheesh. Not very smart, huh?
Well, long story short – I finally sent a follow up email last evening. And what do you know? Within 4 hours he had emailed me back and set up an appointment to talk.
Sometimes I insist on making things hard. Thankfully last night I took an action and it turned out to be easy. It’s a miracle and a lesson that I hope to remember. And if I don’t remember, please kick me in the butt and remind me, okay?!
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