Why don’t people follow up or get back to you???

I have one methodology which I use in my business which combines networking, meetings and LinkedIn and the glue that holds it together is the Follow-Up. Nothing special here I hear you say, and I would agree but some people just do not carry this out!!

I am known for following up but to me, this is just common sense, not a special business tool. In fact, let us go back a step further and that is that I also plan, another thing that is lacking in many businesses.

My plan is to go networking, have 3 serious discussions which can be taken to a constructive next stage whether that is a face to face meeting, a video call or a phone call. What I do not do when I go networking is to collect cards and arrange social meetings, because I value my time, so I am not going to waste it, nor other peoples.

This may sound a bit calculating but this is my business and therefore I need to always be looking to progress things so after the plan must come the follow-up. I often see and hear people use the old saying that knowledge is power, or it is who you know or what you know, well yes, it is but the missing bit is to take action. The power is in the action you take with who or what you know, it is the follow up you do with this information.

You have gone to the bother of learning or meeting somebody new then just sit on the information, WHY? In this digital world where everybody is time-poor and have short attention spans it is imperative you take action, or you lose the advantage.

I will always get back to someone in 24 hours even if I had not sorted out what I had promised them and just give them an update, but lots of people don’t.

I teach Linkedin skills and one question that crops up is that people want to go premium so they can see more than 6 people that have viewed their profile. My reply is to spend 5 minutes a day looking at those 6 people because once the view gets over 24 hours old you have lost the moment.

I connect with and get requests on a steady basis on LinkedIn, but I now keep it to 2500 by having at least 1 cull a month. The really annoying thing and the main reason for this article are that I am so frustrated with people who do not engage after connecting. I make it clear why I would like to connect or accept their request and within 24 hours I will send them a message asking how I can help them. I very often do not get a reply and because of the time-poor nature I let it roll but will again reach out about a month later again asking how I could be of assistance to them. A month later and no reply/follow up on their behalf and it is highly likely I will delete them. What a waste a simple one-sentence reply would have been great.

It is tough out there so why lose momentum by not following up?

A simple call to action is DON’T WAIT TAKE ACTION AND FOLLOW UP