The Importance of Following Up

How humorous, dear readers, it is for me to write you a memo on the IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING UP when I, Arthur T. Peterson, the man, the plan, the canal himself, have failed to FOLLOW UP with you for two full months! Please don’t think I’m neglecting you. I care more than ever about providing you with a VALUABLE RESOURCE for INSIDER TIPS. After all, my absence was not due to any IDLENESS or LOAFING on my part, but rather due to approaching deadlines for the manuscript of my next book, Even Your Grandmother is a Networking Opportunity. Stay tuned for updates on its upcoming publication, and in the meantime pick up my current manual for success, Always Go to Sleep Fully Dressed!

Today, I must emphasize for you all this nugget of streetwise smarts: always follow up. This simple activity is guaranteed to double, maybe triple, possibly quadruple, and wait a minute, is that a QUINTUPLE I see off there in the distant sun?, the efficaciousness of your BUSINESS strategy. Think about it: If you ask someone to do something, will he do it? Could be. Depends on how hot and smooth you are in your selling tactic. And now, get this, imagine if you ask him TWICE. Now we’re getting somewhere! You have at least DOUBLED the odds that he’s going to do it. Possibly more than doubled, because in addition to the question’s double reinforcement, the recipient’s dread of hearing the question asked a THIRD time could additionally increase your chances. Now if you haven’t heard that beautiful Y-word yet, imagine if BLAMMO! You ask him to do it a third time, just as he feared! By now the odds are DEFINITELY in your favor that it’ll be done for you. Now no matter how thoroughly opposed the person may be to doing what you want him to do, his terror of being asked a fourth time by far outweighs his opposition. And there you go! That person will nail his daughter’s horse into the floor of your conference room and spray-paint it gold to give you the living statue you always wanted. Following up will expand business productivity in one simple step!

Following up can help you in all aspects of your day-to-day activities. For instance, once, at the beginning of a week, my wife told me that we’d be having corn with dinner on Thursday. “Corn?” I said. “Do we have any corn in the house?” No, she told me. We were all out. “Well,” I told her, “if you’re planning to serve corn with dinner in just four days, and we’re all out of it, you’d better be sure to order more from your vendor, and get a rush delivery!” She would pick some up at the supermarket that week, she told me. “My good woman,” I replied, “How can you be sure that this ‘supermarket’ is currently stocking corn, and how do you know that they have enough for your needs?” So you know what I asked her to do? I asked her to FOLLOW UP, to call this supermarket place and ask them how much corn they currently carry, and to put at least two cans of it on reserve for her purchase that week. She sort of just walked away after I asked her, so I didn’t get a very solid confirmation that she would do this. Know what I did next? In the office the next day, I FOLLOWED UP with HER. I dropped her a quick email, flagged urgent, and wrote,

Mrs. Peterson,
Good morning, I do hope you are well. This is your husband from the head office. I’m writing to follow up with you on our discussion last night about corn. I just wanted to check and see if you’ve spoken with your vendor yet about the number of cans that they have in stock. And do remember to have them put at least full two cans of corn on hold for your purchase. If you already have an account with their company, see if they can invoice you; it may streamline the process. I’d recommend picking up those cans a day in advance, on Wednesday morning, so that if there is a problem with the order you’ll have twenty-four hours to fix it. Write me back or leave a message with my assistant as soon as you have an update on the situation.
Please advise,
Arthur T.

In the early afternoon, when I returned from a meeting with the regional marketing director, my assistant relayed to me a message from my wife, the gist of which was that yes, she had contacted the supermarket that morning and they assured her that there was plenty of corn on hand.

Now, readers, a novice might rest after hearing this update, but a man with PROVEN KNOW-HOW will say to himself, “She tells me they have corn, but she DIDN’T tell me that she had two cans held, nor did she tell me whether they will be able to invoice her!” So you know what I did? I FOLLOWED UP again:

Mrs. Peterson,
Thank you for your prompt reply. Please advise: has the vendor held any cans for you? Have you set up an appointment to pick up the supply? Also, I’d like an update on the invoice situation by close of business today.
Thanks,
Arthur T.

After a couple of dynamic follow-up emails like those, you’d better believe our family had corn on the table that Thursday night. And I’ll tell you, it was a satisfying meal.

I hope this story has proven helpful to you in your BUSINESS endeavors as well as in your everyday life. Take my INSIDER TIPS to heart, and make sure you Always Go to Sleep Fully Dressed!