It’s Okay To Be Late

I messed up.  I went to an event, made lots of connections and collected many business cards.  When I got home I divided the cards into two piles.  One large pile of people who would simply be added into my database and get an email that was already set up.  The second pile was smaller and was the people who I had connected with personally during the event and needed to follow up with either a phone call or other specific information.

Here’s what happened.  The large pile got into the database and everything went as planned (thankfully I had a system for that).  The smaller pile…well, this is where I messed up.  The pile was pushed to the side and I did not follow up or add them to my main database.  Two months later, the “high priority” people that I connected with had yet to hear from me.

Having spoken to hundreds of other business owners over the years, I know that what I did is not unusual.  Things fall through the cracks, you get distracted by other “important to-do’s”, you don’t really know what to say or how to follow up, or you don’t have systems in place.  Whatever…it really doesn’t matter why but what’s important to realize is that the people that YOU want to stay in touch with never entered your life.  End result…you don’t grow your connections, you feel guilty, you break your word, the people who need your help don’t get it and you don’t grow your business.

Here’s what I did.  I ‘fessed up.

Two months after the event I swallowed my pride, picked up the phone and called each of the people in that small pile.  I apologized for being out of touch and not getting back to them.  I brought them into my life.  It wasn’t fun confessing my own mistake, especially since one of the things I pride myself on (and teach my clients all the time) is to carry through, but you know what happened?  Each and every person I spoke with thanked me.  We laughed about how I messed up and not a single person chided me about it.  Some of the people in that small pile have become clients of mine, some of the others used the resources that I shared with them to move forward in other ways and all of them are now a part of my life and the CarrieThru community.  Some of those people are even reading this article right now.

There was one more thing that I gained from ‘fessing up…a sense of peace.  Before I picked up the phone that pile was nagging at me.  It was dragging me down.  I knew that I needed to make those calls and none of them were routine.  I love speaking to people, yet somehow there was a sense of dread associated with making these calls and it got worse as time lapsed.  Once I made those calls I felt whole with myself again.

Here’s my suggestion to you…

Gather up the names and phone numbers of all of the people that you’ve been meaning to call.  Select one person at random and pick up the phone.  You will both be glad you did.

I’d love to know how the call goes…won’t you share with me?