6 reasons to rethink “I’m too busy to meet you for coffee”

Published in

Marketing And Growth Hacking

5 min readAug 28, 2017

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

There’s a cycle in business articles of people raggin’ on the networking coffee. I can understand the argument against the idea of meeting someone for coffee. We’re all busy. Interrupting our day to drive across town or walk to a coffee shop and meet someone new can be disruptive to our productivity. But I can’t help wonder when, in the course of business, we lost our humanity?

One argument against meeting is there are too many other opportunities in front of you. How does one choose this over that?

Another argument is that most “let’s get coffee” emails have ulterior motives. The sender wants something from you. You don’t say?!

Have you ever asked for an intro, sale or gotten a boost in your career from someone in your network? If you haven’t, then go on rejecting invites. If you have, here are 6 reasons to consider rethinking “I’m too busy for coffee.”

1.) We owe it to those who met us along our journey.

No matter our stage in our career, we’ve gotten there, in part, because of the relationships built over time.

Keith Ferrazzi writes in Never Eat Alone, “ I would argue that your relationships with others are your finest, most credible expression of who you are and what you have to offer. Nothing else compares.”

Those relationships have to start somewhere, an introduction — a cold call — a coffee.

The historian George Burton Adams puts it best:

There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man (or woman). We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the makeup of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.

As we make our way through our career, it behooves us to pay it forward.

2.) Get up and move. Get some air.

Breaking up the work week a few times to get out and meet someone that’s not someone you see every day is a good thing!

Whether it’s walking across the street to the coffee shop or sitting on the patio during your chat — the change of scenery can inspire your day.

3.) It’s good karma.

From time to time I rely on meeting new people over coffee too — I would like the favor returned.

4.) Diversity is the spice of life.

Like breaking up the day to get outside is good for you, so too is meeting someone you don’t see every day. Getting new perspectives, new ideas can change the way you’re thinking about challenges in your own business.

5.) Don’t be a knowledge hoarder.

If someone wants to connect and I can help them some how — great. Hoarding my experiences, knowledge and connections does no one any good. We should want to help and advise if we can.

6.) Growth comes from relationships

I’m about to kick off the fourth year of Lake One, my marketing, and growth firm. More than 90% of its growth can be attributed to relationships (thank you!). People I’ve met over coffee. Some I requested — some they requested. None of which (at least on my end) was regretted.

We’re all busy. I get it. We live in a hectic world with schedules that are packed ever fuller and fuller. But being over-scheduled isn’t something to strive for and I’m not advocating taking all meetings that comes across your desk. I am saying let’s be human.

Let’s not outright reject people who are trying to connect, because at the end of the day we all need each other.

Purposeful networking

Over the last year and a half, I’ve been purposefully making the time to keep in touch with family, friends and my network. In addition, I follow the advice of Mike Vardy and time chunk, including a spot on my calendar to continue expanding that network.

You’re still in control of your time.

Tools like Calendly help time chunk and take control of your calendar

Using tools like Calendly, I make it clear what days I’m available for meetings and when I’m not. That way I’m not interrupting business productivity by breaking up work days with meetings and conversely I can commit my attention to the person I’m sharing my time with.

We’re all busy, but let’s try to take time for others when we can. You might end up surprised and walking away from the meeting with more than expected.