The art of the follow up

I learned a lot from my colleagues in sales and wanted to apply that when I worked in sales a couple of years ago. It was the time in my life when I was meeting so many new people on a regular basis. I kept finding myself in need of a workflow. Needing a repeatable method to ensure the time I spent with a someone was not wasted. Here is the simple but effective process I devised:

1. Take notes. (immediately after) I would try and talk face to face, now on zoom it is not as good but it is better than nothing. I would try and remember key facts as much as I can about them. People are so forgiving about the facts if you remember the person, their family and the things they love. The minute I can get some privacy I would write the important facts on their business card or in a note system app. Or on the back of their business card if you need to. Write anything from their Spouse’s name, their kids college to a fave food.
2. Immediate contact. (2 day follow up) I add a reminder to my calendar as soon as I can try and make sure to reach out a day or two after my initial meeting. I would comment that I enjoyed meeting/discussion. I try to reflect back on a point or topic from the conversation something that personal.
3. Keep in touch. (30-90 days) I am still working on this one, its a work in progress. I read in “Book Yourself Solid,” by Michael Port. He talks about having a strategy for managing potential contacts. He says it’s his “most important marketing strategy”. The system I have is using a note system app like Notion. I assign a slot to call the person again, to keep notes on the conversations and build on the calls.

I was hesitant when sharing this method on here. The concern was my follow up approach may make my interactions seem forced or ingenuous. But caring enough about an interaction to create a system shows deliberate care and attention, so I braved it.

I hope you enjoyed this post and are enjoying the daily blog, I am enjoying writing it. I do care that you find it useful, I do care that you find it’s interesting. I am not too concerned about counting blog views, this blog for me is about hearts and minds not eyeballs.