Do You Know How You Come Across On A Date?
- Dating, What You May Be Doing Wrong
Evan,
I just read “Why He Didn’t Call You Back”. I picked it up after reading your recommendation. It’s rare that I go on a date and not get a call for a second date. So I don’t have that problem, but I rarely want to go on the second date. My friends often tell me one date is not enough, so I thought the book might give me some insight into myself; perhaps I am being too critical when on dates. But I also thought it would help me understand other things I might be doing “wrong” in the early stages of a relationship.
From reading the book, I see that I am a little bit of The Boss Lady, The Closer, and Sadie Hawkins. I am sure I am too hasty and critical because, like The Closer, I am 43 and I feel I don’t have to waste anymore, so let’s cut to the chase, get these questions answered and see if there is any chance. Why waste 4 or 5 dates, to learn about someone when you can do it all in one night? Well, that has been my thinking, but I can see now how un-romantic that is! There is something to be said about leaving some mystery and intrigue. Turning around Sadie Hawkins will be hard. I have a friend that has told me that several times. You have to let the man lead; they like the chase. Well, I like the chase too! It is frustrating to me that I can’t do some chasing! I am not good at sitting around waiting for a guy to call!
Thanks for the book recommendation! And for your advice!
Take care,
Sue G
Kudos to Sue for picking up “Why He Didn’t Call You Back”. It takes an amazing woman to learn something from a book that she didn’t think applied to her.
As a dating coach, the biggest problem I see is that men and women don’t have FEEDBACK to learn from their dating experiences. What Rachel Greenwald created in researching her book was a true feedback loop – so women could FINALLY learned the REAL reasons he just disappeared into thin air.
She did this from a process she calls “Exit Interviews” – following up a week or two after the failed date to find out what, if anything, there is to learn.
As Greenwald states on her website:
“Please believe me when I tell you that Exit Interviews are more empowering than embarrassing. It’s proactive, not desperate, to get answers and make improvements–as you probably do everyday in your job. And in the dating world, I’m not suggesting you make the calls yourself: you need a third party to get the feedback for you. Of course no one ever enjoys having an ex-date called on her behalf, but it is a means to an end.
If you truly want to find the right mate, it can be extremely helpful to bite the bullet and find out what’s really going on during and after your dates. Uncovering the gap between your perceptions and his perceptions will enable you to find your mate quickly and efficiently.
According to my research, 90% of women are wrong when they predict why he didn’t call back. You may have a recurring pattern of which you are completely unaware that is sabotaging your dates and potential relationships. Why wonder needlessly when you can just get the information you need, direct from the source?
Exit Interview Example
Sophie, one of my private clients in New York City several years ago, complained to me on the phone about James, a 27-year old investment banker. They had had a great first date, she said, but two weeks passed without a word from him. She said to me, “Rachel, why didn’t he call me back?” Well, I had absolutely no idea–how could I? I’m not a psychic and I hadn’t gone on the date with them. But I did have a radical thought: why not call James myself and ask him?
With Sophie’s permission, I called James. He was surprisingly willing to talk about their date. Sure, I had to use my charm to get past his initial “there was just no chemistry” answer, but he opened up after a few gentle, probing questions. I had expected that my phone-call attempt would simply become an unreturned voice message, but it actually turned into a thirty-minute discussion with this guy. I learned that while he thought Sophie was attractive and the date was fun, she had made several references to being deeply rooted in New York. This had concerned him. According to James, one of the things she said was: “I love New York– I’d never leave the city. My job and my whole family are here.” James was originally from the West Coast and hoped to move back there after working a few years on Wall Street. He concluded that Sophie was geographically inflexible and didn’t think it was worth pursuing a relationship with her. He admitted shyly that he used to enjoy dating a cute girl without thinking about the future, but he was ready to settle down soon and only wanted to date women with long-term potential.
When I relayed this feedback to Sophie, at first she was surprised–then even a little angry at the wasted opportunity. She remarked, “Well, I do love New York, but for the right guy, and especially if we were married, I might be willing to move.” But of course that’s not what she had conveyed to him. And because they’d only known each other for an hour, he never probed further about her long-term geographic intentions. She didn’t have the option to find out if James could have been her “right guy.” She made The Never-Ever mistake on the first date. {The Never-Ever mistake is discussed in Chapter 3 of Why He Didn’t Call You Back}
This is an obvious idea – but one that is rarely employed in dating and relationships. Companies do exit interviews all the time with employees leaving the organization. Websites do it with buyers who have purchased their products. The only way anyone can learn about what’s broken is to ASK FOR FEEDBACK.
But we don’t do this in dating. As a result, we never learn what people TRULY think about us – and are doomed to repeat our mistakes OVER and OVER again.
Imagine if all the bad dates YOU’VE ever been on had asked for feedback. Couldn’t you have saved the pain of HUNDREDS of people after you? I’ll bet you could. What you might not realize is that you’re somebody ELSE’s bad date – and that, unwittingly, you’re shooting yourself in the foot with people you really DO like.
You know how I know this? Because I’M dozens of people’s bad dates! That’s right. If I went out with 300 people in ten years – there’s probably a good fifty of them who could tell you exactly how much I sucked.
And if all 50 of them said, “He asked me to split the check,” or “He didn’t ask me questions about myself,” or “He wanted to get physical too quickly,” I would be ignorant if I ignored all of the feedback.
The thing is you generally don’t GET this feedback from your dates. All you get is SILENCE as you’re being blown off. As a result, you can never LEARN anything or improve your odds of making a love connection.
Until now.
Inspired by Rachel’s book, I’m offering Exit Interviews to you. Now, once and for all, you can gain full understanding of your role in the dating process. By clicking below, I – or someone on my team – will directly call three of your past dates, learn what they REALLY thought and give you the crucial feedback you need.
Soon ALL of your future dates will ALWAYS want to come back for more.
This is a unique service that isn’t being offered ANYWHERE else, so take advantage of it now.
I can’t wait for you to get rid of that blind spot and become a more confident, attractive dater INSTANTLY.
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