Always Re-Fix A Meeting If You Cancelled It

This week I had an amazing e-mail, amazing in the fact that it was unbelievable! I met a woman at a networking event – a partner in a firm of accountants – and arranged to meet her for coffee.

Firstly let me reiterate my ‘coffee’ ethos. I never have ‘meetings’, I always arrange coffee – less threatening and less of a sell. It smacks of something less formal and, therefore, tends to be more convivial meaning you often get a better result. However, it is also a test on my part. When I suggest to someone that we meet for coffee it is also my way of testing them to see if they follow up after the networking event and fix the suggested drink; it becomes a measure of the person’s networking skills and of their personality. Anyway, back to the story. Post event, I sent this lady an e-mail suggesting we meet. She said her firm often asked industry experts to speak to client groups, so I saw this as a possible opportunity to raise my company’s profile at one of her events. The date was fixed and we agreed to meet at my offices. At no point in the conversation did I mention that I was also looking to place a piece of accountancy business. I wanted the measure of the woman first….would she follow through. Seven working days later she cancelled with the following e-mail: “Sorry to be a pain, but I am afraid that I am going to have to cancel our meeting on Friday. I have bitten off far more than I can chew this week and something unfortunately had to give………I hope to be able to catch up with you again soon.” ……..and there begins my beef. She cancelled but nowhere in the e-mail did she offer to re-fix or suggest new dates. First mistake. I purposely did not respond to the e-mail, deciding to wait instead to see if she would get in touch to re-fix. I put a note in my diary 10 working days hence. She had not made contact by then so I sent here the following e-mail: “Sorry you were unable to re-fix our coffee. Unfortunately I have had to place the accounting business I had hoped to discuss with you because of time constraints. Hope to catch up with you in the future when you’ve got a bit more time. Hope all’s well”. Purposely polite. Never burn your bridges. And her reply? “I do not know what business you are referring to, but have tried to contact you to reorganise. I’ll be in Leeds tomorrow if you want a coffee and a chat?”……………………Did she ever try to contact me? I don’t think so. But, if she did, how hard did she try? No one in the office knew of a call or an e-mail and nothing registered on my mobile. There is a salutary lesson here. Great networkers follow through every time. They call, they write, they e-mail……and they follow through without fail. If they cancel they re-fix. Never, ever, ever underestimate WHO you might be talking to. In this instance I DID place a piece of accountancy business with one of this lady’s key competitors and you can tell from her e-mail that she was totally surprised…..’what business?’. I have now arranged a coffee – at her request -but, sadly, she has missed the boat and is now three paces behind the start line because I view her as the woman who cancelled, didn’t re-fix and didn’t take me seriously. Here endeth the sermon!