The Art of Follow Up
Everyone talks about the importance of “follow up”. But, what exactly is “follow up”? I went to Thesaurous.com and typed in “follow up” and this is what I found…
| Main Entry: | follow up |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make inquiries |
| Synonyms: | check out, find out about, investigate, look into, make sure, pursue |
| Antonyms: | avoid, dodge, forget |
Four words jumped out at me. I believe when you see, read, or learn something that really resonates with you, there is a reason for the experience. What resonated with me were these words:
make inquiries pursue forget
Now, apply that to what you know about your follow up skills. When you think about what follow up means to you, what comes to mind? Multiple phone calls, occasional drive-bys and dropping a casual email? How effective are those things? They can be if you remember the four words listed above: make inquiries pursue forget
Do you follow up with purpose? If you don’t, the word forget may be what your customers or potential customers are doing. So, how do you follow up with purpose? Here are some tips:
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Who?: Follow up with the right people. The people you should be targeting are the decision makers.
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When?: Set up a schedule based on your industry. What makes sense? Determine how often you should follow up with your contact once a week, once a month?
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How?: What will your contacts respond to most? E-newsletters, personal phone calls or visits?, direct mail? Don’t select a path that seems to be a popular vehicle because that means everyone else is doing it. You want to set yourself apart from everyone else – be unique and memorable…not forgettable!
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Make Inquiries: Don’t assume you know what your clients or perspective clients needs and wants are. Businesses are changing all the time, new tactics are being tested, agendas and goals change. Make sure you know what is important to your clients by inquiring
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Pursue your clients: After you know what their needs and wants are, market yourself to that end. Don’t follow up just for the sake of following up. Have a reason to follow up. In the spirit of pursuit, you need to make you and your services or products compelling. Make sure your contacts know about the ways you can help them and their business and change it up! Don’t use the same approach every time.
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Personality & FUN!: Isn’t it refreshing to come in contact with someone who has a great personality, enjoys what they are doing and has a blast? You love those people, you want to be around them and they are memorable. When they stop by, call, or email you, you look forward to hearing what they have to say. So be creative, put your own personality stamp on your follow up tactic and have fun with your contacts.
