Follow Up, Never Give Up!
Follow up is key! The fortune is in the follow-up they say. Even at a drive-through burger joint, they ask, “Would you like fries with that?”
Talk about follow-up! No one wants you leaving without fries, right?
And you never want to leave a situation without following up and getting what you want, whether it’s the proverbial main course or an add-on.
Even if you’re not looking for “a fortune” in terms of money, just consider that “fortune” can include “good fortune” or luck for the non-financial (and perhaps even spiritual) goals you’ve set for yourself in the name of your WHY. It’s all good.
Still, if you don’t follow up on leads OR you don’t keep tending seeds that you’ve planted in the garden of your life OR you don’t keep on tweaking and moving forward on goals that you’ve already set, you’re wasting your time, money and energy.
Successful interactions in life—personal or professional—are all about relationships. Successful people don’t just build relationships with others; they build trust. Relationships built on trust equal success—for everyone involved, whether they’re on your Dream Team or not. There’s no I in “team” and success is always about “We” and not “Me.” Ultimately, people work with and cheer for the people they know, like and trust…and relationships that lend themselves to that take time. And they also involve following up on things that benefit you as well as them.
You must follow up and stay in touch with people in order to be responsible and diligent. You appear to be more knowledgeable, respectful, helpful and fun when you do so. If you deal with a person just once, they’re likely to forget about you and anything you want or need. After all, you’ve hardly cornered the market on having a busy life.
So the fortune is in the relationship building and the follow-up. Successful people always follow up; others drop the ball but successful people never do.
Most people you’ll come into contact with concerning your WHY and the S.M.A.A.R.T. goals related to it won’t automatically follow up with you and/or otherwise deliver what you needed after the first contact. You have to follow up with them and when you do, you should be the kind of person they want to have/keep a relationship with—i.e., knowledgeable, respectful, helpful and positive/cheerful.
You also have to be patient and stay the course if things don’t work out on the “sooner” end of the “sooner or later” time spectrum. This can be hard to do, of course. Your inner critic will tell you that so-and-so isn’t calling you back or delivering on their end of a bargain because you’re a yutz who doesn’t deserve it. Psyche her out–she stinks!
Meanwhile, statistically speaking, 80% of successful outcomes occur somewhere between the 5th and 12th contact with a person.
Remind yourself of this fact the next time you’ve contacted someone once or twice about something you wanted or needed and didn’t get it. Remember…you just didn’t get it yet. Keep at it and follow up until you get a response. If you’re persistent but polite and upbeat as you do so, you’ll get what you want, no matter how busy someone is. It’s likely not that they didn’t want to help…they were probably busy and you have to keep on them, that’s all. Don’t play head games with yourself. Just follow up and follow through.
Want to get better with follow up skills (even if you’re not in sales)? Try the book, Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar, available on Amazon.
