Business: Do you follow up?

The all important FOLLOW UP.

Throughout my career I have seen many missed opportunities and lost relationships by not initiating a follow up email or call/text.  On the other hand, I have landed sales, clients, and job opportunities by taking the initiative and following up.  If you think about it, it is such an easy thing to do yet many of us do not take the time to follow up with a potential client, sale, or job opportunity.  We usually will make excuses, like we're too busy or it is the other person's responsibility to take action, after all we did our job, right?  Well, I'm here to tell you to take the initiative and be the one to follow up, you won't be disappointed, as many times that client, associate, hiring manager, etc., is thinking the same thing, and is awaiting your follow up note or phone call.

To me following up is one of the most important business and life decisions one can make.  If you're a salesmen or entrepreneur or anyone for that matter, you must be proactive in all that you do, and be ready at all times to take advantage of opportunities as they come, because you never know when the next one will arise.  This is especially important in today's fast-paced modern world, where we are all connected every hour of the day, following up can make or break that sale or business opportunity.

I have been on both ends of this, as I have been a hiring manager, and have hired people based on the fact that the candidate took the initiative and sent a brief, thoughtful follow up email, stating there interest and thanking me for taking the time out of my busy day to meet with them.  I was more than likely contemplating hiring them anyway, but had gotten busy and put it off.  Further, I have been on the other side as a salesmen, entrepreneur, and independent business and marketing consultant, where I've met with potential clients where everything seemed to have gone well; they liked me and the service/product I was offering, but then a week goes by, and then another, and heard nothing back.  I would then fire a brief follow up note, text, or phone call only to find out the potential sale or client had gotten busy and forgot to schedule another meeting or purchase the product/service, but was still very interested.  That said, I have also followed up a week or two later only to find out they purchased the product/service from another company or went with someone else's services.  Could I have landed the sale/job?  Maybe, if I was proactive and followed up sooner and shown my interest in working with them.  Who knows, that other company or person might have done so in a timely manner and happened to be in the right place at the right time - after all, out of sight out of mind.  Granted, maybe the other company/person might have had a product/service that more matched the clients needs, and I wouldn't have made the sale anyway, these things do happen.

All of the above scenarios could possibly be true, but the moral of the story is, it doesn't hurt to follow up in a timely and thoughtful manner, regardless of the outcome.  After all, it is just good practice to take the initiative and be proactive in all that you do, as you never know what the other person/client is up to or thinking.  I coach all of my clients, personnel, business associates, family and friends to make sure they follow up.  You always want to leave a positive impression with all people that you meet, whether it is personally and professionally.  In today's world, everybody is busy, and even though a follow up takes only minutes, most people won't do it or forget to, and by you taking the initiative you will standout amongst the others, and who knows, land that client/job, or at the very least expand your network and something may come up down the road.  Do yourself and business a favor, and always follow up!

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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