An Example of How Poor Communication is Destructive

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

The other day, a prospective client requested a discovery call with me.

She wanted to meet the next day, so I cleared my schedule to be able to meet with her so soon.

She told me she would send me the meeting link tomorrow and was looking forward to the meeting. And so was I...

I prepared for the meeting, spending an hour learning more about the company. I spent time learning about their product and target audience. I also evaluated the existing copy and social media posts they had. I took notes on the product and how they were marketing it. And I prepared a list of things that I could improve for them.

I was excited to meet the prospect.

But do you want to know what happened next?

The day of the call

She never sent the meeting link to me!

A couple of minutes before our discovery call was supposed to occur, I sent her a DM reminding her to send me the meeting link.

A few minutes roll by... No answer. 

But there was a read receipt, so I knew she read the message.

I figured she was trying to find the meeting link and send it to me. No worries. This happens to all of us sometimes. 

But after a few more minutes passed by, I was starting to get worried...

About midway through when our discovery call was supposed to be happening, I sent her another message.

This time I asked her if she'd like to reschedule the meeting. I asked politely, assuming something must've unexpectedly popped up that she needed to attend to.

No reply... But she read the message just 2 minutes after I sent it!

This left me confused and frustrated.

A disappointing situation

I had spent my precious time researching her company and writing notes. I had rearranged my schedule to be able to meet with her. And I knew I could help her promote her product better.

But she decided to be a no-show. And I had wasted my time and energy on her.

The sudden change in communication from the day before to the day of the discovery call was confusing.

Why did she stop communicating with me but was still reading my messages?

What was strange about this situation was how she was reading my messages in real time as the discovery call was supposed to be occurring. Yet, she wasn't responding to me.

What was even stranger was the fact that she was a marketing director... Someone who specializes in COMMUNICATION.

Maybe she was busy and had her hands tied. But why would she have time to read my messages?

She didn't reach out after the situation to explain what happened. I never got a resolution to the situation. And I still haven’t received one to this day.

How did I respond to this situation?

After not getting any response from her, I realized I was only wasting my time waiting for her to begin the meeting. So, I decided to move on.

I'm glad I didn't let my frustration take over during this situation. Two messages asking for the meeting link and a potential reschedule were all that was necessary. She didn’t respond to either message, so there was nothing else I could do to remedy the situation.

But man was this disappointing. I was excited to write copy for her product.

I don't know why she stood me up that day, but it taught me a few valuable lessons...

What can you learn from this?

-Don't waste other people's time. You wouldn’t like it if someone wasted your time. So don’t waste theirs. 

-Honor your commitments. Stay true to your word.

-Communication is necessary when dealing with people.

-Know when to move on… Don’t waste your time any further.

-On to the next one. There's always another opportunity waiting around the corner for you to discover.

Frustrating situations like this one provide a valuable learning experience. Even if you don’t get the desired outcome (in this case a discovery call and potential work), you can still learn insightful life lessons. These lessons can be applied to situations you encounter later, helping you communicate and handle situations in a better way.

Are there any other lessons you can take away from this situation? If so, let me know in the comments below. 

Thank you for reading.