Image by plenty.r. via Flickr
This is a little off the financial planning rails today, but it’s a rant about something that certainly can have long term financial effects: the art of the callback. I’m hoping someone can clue me in on a phenomenon I’m seeing lately.
I go to more networking events than my diet can really handle, and I’m a little embarrassed to say I enjoy them. Woohoo I get to get away from the giant computer screen, the blizzard of paperwork, the dog that has to go out every time the phone rings, and the cat that just recently dropped a dead mouse on my foot while I was talking to a client. I have an excuse to cut the tags off the good clothes. I talk to adults without having to pull out a calculator. There’s good martinis. I enthusiastically collect cards of people who sound like they might offer some service that would benefit my clients.
I call them. Lately, I don’t hear back from a significant portion of them. Why? Well, maybe they don’t need business—but then why are they going to networking events? They don’t like me? Generally, I haven’t talked to them long enough for them to know anything about me or much about my business. I smell weird and my mom dresses me funny? Don’t think so, and mom is long gone. They’re lazy, neglectful and disorganized? Um…
If you’re in business, you know how people hound the media to get press attention? Well, I left a message for one guy with an offer to quote him in a national magazine article I was writing. Never heard back. When I saw him again, I asked. Answer: Um, I was a little busy that day. Yeah, well what about THAT WEEK? Bet not. Another example: called a mortgage lender who was fawning over a stock broker at the meeting we both attended. Good luck on that one, as that brokerage house has its own mortgage division. I had a quick question for an extremely well qualified client, the kind that supposedly they can’t find any more. Never heard back. Guess where that biz card is?
It’s a pretty good rule that if you’re leading off with “Um…”, you’ve probably just lost some business. So, my great insight here is one I’ve been pounding into my daughter for years—a lot of success in life is just showing up. And trying to treat people as you would like to be treated. There’s a new concept, no?
If you ever call or email and don’t hear back from me in 24 hours, you’ll know I’m in the hospital, dead, or out of the country (in which case my message will say so). Really, most of us are on the internet all day long. Tear yourself away from Facebook for 2 minutes and call back!
