You can't meet everybody. But how to tell them?

Is your e-mail full of requests from old colleagues, acquaintances or completely unknown people who would like to invite you for a coffee or schedule a personal phone call to talk with you about your work and your industry or introduce you to their services? If you are just starting your career, you are probably glad and open to meeting with everybody. The flow of similar invitations will, however, grow with the years of your experience and successes and if you should meet everybody, you would do nothing else. So let's look at how to assess whether you should meet someone or not and how to say no appropriately.

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With close friends there is not too much to think about; the same goes for people you have never heard of or had a bad experience with. Most requests for a meeting, however, come from people you are not thrilled about seeing but do not want to reject outright. Then try the following recommendations published on the Harvard Business Review website.

Ask for more information

Want to know why specifically people wish to meet you. If somebody can't explain precisely, don't waste your time. Just mail a brief answer stating how you personally may be able to help. Some people will not contact you again; others can be referred elsewhere.

Recommend another source of information

If you have written an article or a book on the topic, published some posts on your blog or recorded videos, refer the people wanting to meet you to these materials. Write that if they have any further questions, they can contact you. Only the most persistent ones will respond.

Gather at a social event

If you do not have time for personal one-on-ones, meet with more people at once. You can either organise your own event or get together at an event organised by someone else which you are planning to attend.

Ask for a deferral or reject directly

Ask if it is possible to postpone the meeting for a few months, say, giving yourself more time to focus on the issue. However, do not say this only to refuse the person again after the end of the period. If you do not want to meet a person for some reason, say so frankly and clearly. Thank the person for their interest and excuse yourself.

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Article source Harvard Business Review - flagship magazine of Harvard Business School
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