When in a meeting or having lunch with someone that you are interested in talking to, you should turn off the ringer on your phone. The other day, I was having lunch with a gentlemen who was helping me with some information gathering. He was in essence doing a favor for me. I received multiple calls while talking to him, and each time I looked down at my phone, and then ignored the call. The third or fourth time it happened, he said to me “if you are going to keep doing that, then I’m going to do it too, and this will go nowhere. I’ve got more emails and voice mails than you do [which I’m sure is true], so let’s both stop it now or forget it”.
He was right. I turned the ringer completely off – not even on vibrate. Since then, I’ve been very cognizant to make sure that during important meetings and appointments that require my full attention, I turn my ringer completely off so I can focus and be productive with whoever I am with.