The Fortune Is In The Follow-Up

In the course of everyday life, we are constantly meeting people that we can connect to each other.  Perhaps a girlfriend you had lunch with last week is looking for a new gardener.  Or one of your Virtual Assistant colleagues is in need of a recommendation for a Graphic Designer to build her new website.  Or, you meet a prospective client who seems to be ideal for you and is interested in learning more about your services.

How good are your follow-up skills?  Do you make the connections you promise to make?  Do you get back in touch with folks when you say you’re going to?  And most importantly, do you have a system to make sure that all of your necessary follow-ups get handled in a timely manner?

If not, it’s OK.  This is an easy problem to fix and the benefits are priceless.  It is really great for you to be known in your online and offline communities as a connector.  Connectors become the “go to” solutions for all sorts of problems and you’ll find that you get to meet lots of interesting people along the way.  While you personally won’t have the answer to each person’s problem, having a wide network of resources to refer to positions you as a generous, valuable resource in the eyes of everyone you meet.  And you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the amount of referrals that come back to you, because you are constantly referring to others.

So the next time you attend a networking event and collect business cards of people you want to stay in touch with, promise to connect a friend to a resource or meet a prospective client who is perfect for you, commit to follow-up with those individuals within 24 hours.  Keep a stack of simple, high-quality note cards with you so that you can follow-up with folks via good old fashioned snail mail.  Or send a quick email to introduce the two people you want to connect.  You can also follow-up with a quick phone call.  Whichever method works best for you is fine, but be sure to schedule a few minutes out of your day to keep your promise in this regard.  

I’d love to hear your favorite follow-up tips!  Do tell by leaving a comment below!

Comments

[Rob Neilly]

Sydni,

Good, sensible post! Not only do we let untold opportunities go by when we don't follow-up; in some cases we're letting others down--who might have, rightly, expected we'd do so. We're also letting go of some of our own integrity.

Rob