What are your perceptions of a follow up? Do you prioritise them? Do you value them? If the initial action is talking the talk, then following up is walking the walk. Say what you are going to do, do it, and then follow up to confirm it was done to the expected level.

I am a salesperson and to me follow ups are one of the most important things that I can do. Let’s say I send a quote and don’t follow it up; I don’t make sure it arrived and I don’t try to point out the benefits of my quote. What’s the point of investing the time into the quote if you aren’t go to make sure it gets there? Most clients won’t give you a second chance if you fail the first. Following up ensures that you give yourself every opportunity to provide the best customer service possible and helps you control the outcome.

What if a builder finishes a small installation and doesn’t confirm with the client that they are happy with everything? What if something went wrong and the builder wasn’t aware of it. In this circumstance the builder may have a toxic client out there spreading the bad word, one that could have been remedied with a phone call. If the sales call helps you get the initial sale, then the follow up call helps you get the next.

A follow up is your way of caring about the outcome – whether it is beneficial to yourself or to someone else a follow up should always be regarded as a stake in the outcome. Consider this next time you are being followed up, or following someone else up, don’t see it as being negative or something that you have to get out of the way. See it as a genuine concern for the result. Once you achieve this, you will come across more confident in your delivery of the follow up and respond better to receiving one.

Next week part two will cover preparing to give a follow up.