The Price of Ignoring Someone

By Michael Roderick  -  On 14 Oct, 2013 -  0 comments

Every one of us comes to a time in our career or business when we get really, really busy. Sometimes we have a deadline to hit, other times a large number of clients present us with demands all at once, and sometimes we step away from our business for any number of family or personal obligations only to return to a massive inbox and plenty more to do.

Something happens during this busy time that can be detrimental to building solid relationships and connecting with great people.

When dealing with overwhelming tasks we can fall victim to the one thing we should never do: ignore someone.

Think of a time in your life when you sent a letter and never got a reply.  Maybe you tweeted at someone you admire and they failed to write back.  How did you feel?  I’m sure you didn’t go this far, but I imagine you felt pretty bad.

Now think of how the person who sent an email you never responded to must feel.

At least once a month, I take a few hours to comb back through my intros, emails, tweets, facebook messages, etc. to see if I missed anyone.  There may be some people with whom I can’t follow up right away but I always find some time to get back to them even if it is only a few quick lines. Why do I do this?

Because no one likes to be ignored.

If you ignore someone now, it can mean a lot of trouble later on down the road.  There is a reason that people use the phrase “Follow up or Fail.”

So take some time today to see if you may have unintentionally ignored someone and be sure to reach out to them.  You may be surprised at the opportunities you are currently missing.

Excelsior!