“Acknowledge me…at least?”

It’s coming up to 5:15 am and I’m awake, actually I’ve been up for the last hour or so and there’s something that’s been bugging me a bit. And coming to think of it, it’s probably something that bugs a lot of us from time to time, especially those of us who are on this ‘entrepreneurial’ journey. Full of passion, enthusiasm and determined to do whatever it takes to make our dreams come true and ultimately achieve success!

It’s an interesting journey to say the least, full of ups and downs and one has to be ready to buckle up your seat belt, strap in and enjoy the ride which can be full of high speeds, sharp bends, down-hills, up-hills, slow speeds and some lovely open straights to really floor it and ‘pedal to the metal’.

The fact remains, that whatever your situation, whether you are employed or self-employed, we are all (and I hope I am correct in assuming this by the way) on a mission to understand what our purpose truly is and how we can make a positive impact to our work colleagues, business partners, clients and indeed anyone we come into contact with on this ‘journey’ and to be honest that doesn’t really change whether you are happily employed or willing to take the opportunity to make it for yourself.

So, I am sitting here (It’s now about 5:45 am), thinking about some things that I presume most of us have in common. Perhaps the Sales, Commercial, Marketing, Business Development, Operations guys will see what I’m driving at here. We are full of passion, motivated to succeed, with a compelling desire to help our clients (internal or external stakeholders) with solutions that we believe are truly the best for them and most often we are willing to go to whatever lengths to ensure that this materializes.

However, we all get to that point especially if it is a new client or contact, or the first time an introduction is being made where we might send that initial email, or reach out on LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Phone Call or other channel to connect where there is that ‘radio silence’ period. Now, I do not know about you, but it used to drive me up the wall (crazy) wondering why it would take so long for the person/client to revert or even “acknowledge me…at least?”

I would think about it for days…weeks and even months in some cases wondering if it was maybe my email/message/phone call tone perhaps? Maybe I was too direct, too excited, a bit too pushy, not enthusiastic enough potentially? Assuming, surely, they should accept my proposal, I mean after all why wouldn’t they?

Although, over the years and with experience in different scenarios, situations across 4 continents and counting, dealing with different people of all races, religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds, differing walks of life, varying cultures, convictions, I have learned to appreciate that there are always new ways to look at things and from different perspectives, reposition yourself and indeed your approach. Assuming or making assumptions without having all the facts can prove extremely misleading and indeed embarrassing.

There is more than one way to skin a cat…right?

Sometimes it is simply a case of wrong place wrong time, in other words “thanks for the reaching out but I/We are not ready for what you’re offering right now, perhaps in the future we will get back to you if there is a need.” Or it could just be a very busy time for the client you are reaching out to and they will get back to you at the right time. Then the next question comes: Ok, how do I know when to reach out again after say 2 or 3 months or sooner/later without coming across as being too keen/eager or not serious?

In the words of the Abraham Lincoln: “You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.

Once you are able to accept this, you will be fine because after all it really is about the right time and right season for everything whether in personal or business affairs.

Wherever possible, and I appreciate that sometimes we are simply too busy to respond to every single communication, however, if we reach out to one another can we at least find the time to acknowledge each other, even if it is not the right time or you are not interested in what someone has to offer you. For the couple of seconds/minutes it might take, believe me it will go a long way and make a huge difference.

Now it’s 7:45am (time to grab that coffee and get set for a powerful day ahead ??). How about you? All set too?