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Chief Executive Officer

The Hartwell Hotel

I hit reply.

Ms. Hartwell,

I’ll come to the Hartwell tomorrow at nine so we can discuss the service lane.

Regards,

Eric Voss

Chief Executive Officer

Voss Hotels

Her reply arrives three minutes later.

Mr. Voss,

I’m unavailable at nine.

Regards,

Rachel Hartwell

Chief Executive Officer

The Hartwell Hotel

She offers no alternative time. Fine. I check my calendar and suggest eleven thirty.

She’s unavailable.

I try two, then four thirty. Neither works. By the third refusal, it’s becoming clear that her schedule isn’t the problem.

I ask her to suggest a time that suits her. Her next reply confirms what I already suspect.

Mr. Voss,

To be clear, it isn’t the time that’s unavailable. I am.

The service lane isn’t open for negotiation, so there’s no reason for us to meet.

Regards,

Rachel Hartwell

Chief Executive Officer

The Hartwell Hotel

I stare at the screen. People clear their calendars when I ask for ten minutes. Rachel has rejected four meeting times in less than an hour, and I have a feeling she enjoyed every one of them.

She thinks she can out-negotiate me over email. It lets her control the pace, choose every word, and dismiss me without giving me the chance to change her mind.

Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Hartwell and speak to her in person. Today, I treated her like a business problem. This time, if money doesn’t work, I’ll try charm. It has opened almost as many doors for me as the Voss name.