What to do When You Get Stood Up by a Business Contact

by Candis Hickman

It won’t be long before you experience what it’s like to be waiting for your coffee or Skype date and the person you’re meeting with chooses not to show up. It can be incredibly disheartening when you get stood up by a business contact, but it’s one of those things that seems to happen often even though it probably shouldn’t.

’m someone that thinks very highly of my word and has high expectations of the people I allow to be in my corner, so I’m always floored when this happens to me.

So here are my top tips for not getting frustrated when you get stood up by a business contact.

 

Give them the benefit of the doubt.

This one is hard for me to even write because I’m truthfully not very good at it, but the reality is that sometimes life just happens. You never know what’s going on in someone’s life that may cause them to not show up for a business date with you. If this is the first time you are meeting with the person then this can be incredibly hard to do because you sit there weighing up the likelihood that some emergency actually happened to make them no-show. But it’s helpful to believe in the best intentions of the person so you evaluate the situation from more level-headed place while awaiting their explanation.

 

Trust your gut.

I had a situation happen not too long ago where I was invited to interview to be on a popular podcast. Initially I was very excited about the opportunity and shared my good news with a few friends. But after a few emails back and forth something began to fill a little off. Sure enough at the time of our appointment I waited patiently for a call that didn’t come through. So I followed my own advice, gave them the benefit of the doubt and rescheduled the appointment for the following week. The next week arrived and they bailed again the morning of the meeting. Something in my spirit had been warning me early on that it wasn’t the right fit but I had charged on ignoring my gut feeling. I chose not to be frustrated because I had ignored my own intuition.

Release and let go.

Sometimes life happens and people disappoint you. It’s just the reality of life and business. The best thing you can do for yourself is choose to release and let go. In some cases you may release the disappointment and negative feelings and choose to stay connected with the person, while in other cases you may choose to discontinue your business relationship. Either decision is totally acceptable if you’ve taken the time to really evaluate how you feel. While I try to be very understanding I have a pretty strict code for who I allow to have influence and presence in my life. If I can’t count on the people in my network then I wish them well and move forward.

 

The journey of building your personal brand is very holistic because YOU are your brand. So it’s very important that you protect your energy. Whether you’re looking for collaborations, people to join your team, publicity opportunities or just a new friendship it’s so important that you stay aligned with positive energy, love and light. If the people that you allow to have influence in your life are triggers for frustration or disappointment then it may be time to re-evaluate their presence in your life. Surround yourself with wonderfully supportive and committed people so you can stay focused on the more important task of developing your brand!