Ahem, the message on the voice mailbox of a marketing expert!
Not consistent with the branding image she portrays on her LinkedIn profile. Communication, right?
The “disconnect” buzzer goes off in my head: printed and real images not aligned. Cobbler’s children anyone? Kinda hard to do business if you can’t tell them why you called.
To her defense, she called me right back quizzically, “Did you call me?” she asked baldly. Remember Ernestine the telephone operator on Laugh-In: “Do I have the party to whom I am speaking?”
Which put the ball in my court to establish why I called her. I can handle it, but not enthusiastically. Not starting well.
I offered to set a date and time while we were on the phone with each other. She could not spend the time now.
“Rather, I’ll send you a link to schedule a calendar meeting with me,” she promised. Ball back in my court again. Inefficient for me, not for her, dare I say she seems a bit self-important? Marketing strike 2. OK I can see this is sinking fast.
It took a few hours to receive that email to establish an appointment..
This not-very-warm-not-terrifically-fuzzy new contact may never be a colleague, but I will try to resolve the initial missteps. Because I roll that way.
Academically it’s fascinating how people perceive themselves and how we perceive them back.
So I will give her one more strike, optimistically. Play ball.
We did eventually speak, and it was a good conversation, so time (sorta) well-spent. But it provided me yet another real-life moment of LinkedIn life:
Since you list your phone number in your Contact Info on LinkedIn, please check your voice mailbox free space now please.
Very important post, especially for those of us who offer both cell and office numbers, to persistently check the office messages. Your point about self-perception versus what others actually think of us is thought-provoking – thank you, Marc!