EFFECTIVE FOLLOW UP

I understand the fear. No one wants to be annoying or bothersome to a professional contact, especially when you want a job, meeting, sales, sponsorship or something else very important from that person. If you don’t get a response right away, it doesn’t mean that person’s arrogantly ignoring you—it just may mean that he or she is too busy. 

So, to the question: Should you follow up? Absolutely. In fact, it’s your job. And how often should you do so?  As many times as it takes. The important thing is to do it the right way.

Here are a few tips to aid you with effective follow up : 

1. All follow-ups are not equal

A follow up for unsettled payment, is different from a follow up asking for an appointment. As obvious as they both seem, it can be very easy to confuse the same follow up method for both.

2.Be clear about what you want

To effectively do this you need to ask yourself these questions first : Why do you want to meet Mr Boss? What upshots from the meeting will make you say the meeting was successful? 

Sometimes all you want him/her to do is to open an in-house door with the right person, or simply want him/her to know what you have to offer.

Think about 'what is in it for him? Why should he agree to meet you?' If you were in his position, what would make you say yes?'  Being able to answer these questions before the meeting and explaining it competently to them would go a long way in ensuring you get the deal.

3.Be overly polite and nice; always. (assume the other person is nice too!)

Make this your default countenance and language tone, add patience with some optimism to it and watch your chances of getting things done go up 50%. However, sometimes we tend to forget this. We get irritated at the security or at the reception or sometimes even with the secretary which is normal because we are only human, but it is salient to ensure that nothing serves as a cessation between you and your goal.

4.Different strokes for different folks

Different folks react  distinctively to different media. Some people don't read mail. Some never open attachments. Some don't like phone calls. Some like SMS messages. Some prefer WhatsApp. Challenge yourself to discover what media's best for the other party. As for emails use catchy subject lines and shorter e-mails, which the person can read without scrolling down. 

5.Persistent Doesn’t Mean Every Day

Sending a follow-up email every day doesn’t show you have gumption or passion, it shows you don’t respect a person’s time. The general rule of thumb is to give at least a week before following up. Any sooner, and it might come off as pushy; let too much time pass, and you risk the other person not having any clue who you are.

6.Change it Up

If you’re not connecting with someone, try changing it up. In other words, don’t send the exact same email at the same time of day on the same day of week. Getting people to respond can sometimes just come down to catching them at the right time. If you always follow up in the morning, maybe try later in the day a few times. 

7.Directly Ask if You Should Stop Reaching Out

If you’ve followed up a few times and still haven’t heard back, it’s worth directly asking if you should stop following up. After all, you don’t want to waste your time, either. You could say, “I know how busy you are and completely understand if you just haven’t had the time to reach back out. But I don’t want to bombard you with emails if you’re not interested. Just let me know if you’d prefer I stop following up.”   Most people respect honesty and don’t want to waste someone’s time, and they’ll at least let you know one way or another.

8.Be patient, enjoy the process

The better the quality of your follow up the better the results. You could use this as a frequency for your follow up: Hot leads (once a week). New Leads (once 15 days). Payment follow up (once in a week) etc. Giving up on follow up is not an option! 

Remember: No Follow up, No Business

 

YOU ARE A LEADER!!!