The Rule of Follow Up
Every day your schedule is torn between: With the rising of social media, handling your plans, attending networking events, and finding new ways to bring your entrepreneurial dreams to life. We are so busy that we often forget the need to follow up with the new relationships we created, and the old ones!
We have to be honest with ourselves; there is no time out of our busy schedule to touch base or check in with old friends or new networking relationships. So how do we ensure that we stay connected? The truth is we have to make time. We have to set priorities when creating our schedules were we allocated time to Nourishing your relationships, and following up on your inbox and all our social media platforms.
Following up is completely necessary when trying to build relationships, and or putting your career plans in motion. Following up could be as simple as sending a “Thank you” email after a lunch meeting. I like to go the extra mile, and sometimes mail handwritten notes and send flowers or cupcakes. By doing so, I can follow up and show that I appreciated their time. Plus it has an excellent long-lasting impression.
All follow-ups are different, therefore there are some fundamental rules you can follow:
Remember to be genuine and unique!
The “dating” rule
The little things go a long way
Remember to be genuine and unique
The key to having a successful follow up is to carry out the gesture in a notion that is genuine, and unique! The person whom you’re trying to stay connected with must never feel that your intentions are phony. I personally handle following up differently depending on the person and situation. When landing a new partnership, my goal is to show my enthusiasm about our potential business endeavors, while remaining genuine. In this situation, I want to do something nice without my new partnership feeling that I am only doing this kind of gesture because I want to close the deal. Once your motives appear to lack sincerity, you’re follow up automatically becomes meaningless.
At the same time, you want your follow-ups to be unique! You have to remember that you are not the only person wishing to build a rapport with that person. Their schedule is as busy as yours. With this in mind, when creating a follow-up, be short and straightforward no one can’t read a love letter on their busy day. By making the follow up precise your email is no longer at the bottom of the pile.
The “dating” rule
In order to know the “right” amount of follow up, I created the “dating” rule! To judge how much is too much, and how often is not often enough. You must treat the follow up as a dating relationship. When you’re starting a new relationship you want the guy to text you first, right? And you want him to show genuine interest without being clingy, right? And above all else you want that relationship to last!
So in order to always know when and when not to follow up, follow these simple rules. Always make sure that you follow up first with a simple “thank you” email letting them know you enjoyed the meeting, business brunch, etc. Now, if the turnover time to discuss further the contents of that meeting or brunch is dragging out, that means it is time to be proactive. This is the phase in the relationship when a person begins to lose interest. To fix that simply, send a follow-up email stating that you’re still interested in working together. More often than not, their busy schedules got the best of them, and your email re-sparked their interest. Now you became a priority within their schedules!
The little things go a long way
I remember at the start of my career I finished a meeting with young women about future career goals and plans. A few days after our meeting, a handwritten thank you note showed at my mailbox. In the note, she only stated her thanks for being able to meet with me and her enthusiasm about our future business careers. I was delighted by her style of mannerism and could only help but think a simple gesture could not be learned in a classroom. From her note, she inspired me to upgrade the way I do business. I know to make it my priority to always showing my appreciation through thank you note, gift baskets, or even cupcake and flowers. Here at ModaBox, we send a surprise and delight gift with a handwritten thank you notes to our members. The little things go a long way, and those few things will always make you stand out!
