2024 marks my quarter-century anniversary of working in networking and professional relationships. I plan to mark the landmark by sharing, over the course of the year, 25 lessons from those 25 years.

However important a particular conversation might be to you, it might not rank as highly with the person to whom you want to speak. So many times over the years I’ve seen calls, emails and messages go unanswered, and I know that many of my clients have suffered similar frustration.

It can be so tempting to take it personally when this happens, particularly when your constant attempts to get in touch fail to ignite a response. Just one simple piece of advice: don’t.

People have a life beyond the life they have with you. In the modern world, many people are under constant pressure and demand in their role. As a result, important but not urgent conversations get put to one side. Ideally they wouldn’t, but it happens.

Don’t take it personally when people don’t respond immediately. Stick in there, be politely persistent but remain patient. As long as you stay in people’s minds, when the time is right they will be in touch.