NOTE: This post was not actually written by me. Credit should go to Joseph P. Cangemi, Western Kentucky University, writing in Psychology, SUNY, Morrisville, NY13408.

I found a piece of paper with these points my Dad gave me when I was in high school.

GETTING ALONG WITH PEOPLE

To get along with others:

1. Don’t say everything you think. And watch your body language. It may say more than you intend or want to say.
2. Make few promises, but keep the ones you make if you want to be trusted.
3. Learn to praise good work, no matter who did it – including your enemies.
4. Have empathy. Make merry with those who rejoice, mourn with those who suffer.
5. Keep an open mind. If you are the only one coming up with the right answers, something is wrong. Discuss, don’t argue.
6. Let your merits speak for themselves but be ready to discuss them when asked. Do not talk about others weaknesses unless necessary.
7. Treat everybody with importance.

Follow up is one of the most important skills to use in your career. People that follow up are more successful, I see this every day! I will tell you why I think that way.

First, I believe it is most important to follow up in these situations:

1. The Job Hunt
2. The Sales Process
3. Working with or on a team

FOLLOW UP TELLS THE COMPANY YOU REALLY WANT THE JOB

You need to find the job, the job will rarely ever find you. Sending in your resume does not mean you are looking for a job. It means you are sending out your resume hopefully waiting for someone to call you. They will never call you. The only way someone will call when you send your resume is by luck and luck happens in one of two ways. One your resume matches exactly what the job description is asking for and other candidates have not come close to meeting the requirements and two your resume was personally handed to someone in charge and it matches exactly what they are looking for to fill the position.

All of you in the job search know and have experienced that just the ACT of sending your resume does not get you the interview. During a successful job hunt you need to follow up. First, state the day you will follow up in your cover letter and/or email you send and then make sure to do it! Make this commitment and follow through. Getting an interview still doesn’t guarantee you will get the job, you still need to follow up. The job I am in now my resume was walked into the VP and I still had to follow up for two months after the interview before I was offered the job. Remember you still have to be cordial and understanding to the company’s situation. If you are lucky enough to get to the interview always ask about following up on next steps, ask, “Can I call you and follow up with you next Tuesday?” They might say yes, call me or yes email me or no HR will get back to you.

In addition to the interview follow up you always MUST send a thank you card to everyone you met, following up and telling them why you are the best candidate. This is a soft follow up, a simple reminder of your cordial and respectful business skills. Then follow up with the decision maker in the way they instructed you to, either with them directly or HR. Also one of my first jobs out of school I got ONLY because I followed up. They weren’t going to call me back because they didn’t think I was going to take the job because the pay was so little, $11 an hour, yes at 22 that is what I made! I called and asked them if they had more questions that I could answer and that’s when HR brought up the money issue. At that point I really liked the company and could have taken jobs elsewhere but it felt right. That job is also where I learned I wanted to be a writer, almost ten years ago!

FOLLOW UP IS WHAT MAKES A TEAM WORK  

Sometimes I feel like I spend 90% of my time following up. In my job I have to rely on so many other people to get a project completed. I can’t be an IT guru, a designer, an accountant, etc all in one. So I have to delegate responsibility and just because someone is supposed to do something for you does not mean you are their priority. You have to make them your priority by telling them you will follow up to check status and keep following up until you get what you need.

Most people will drop the ball because they’ll forget what they are supposed to do for you because they themselves are also probably following up on what they need to get done. People don’t mind if you follow up with them so don’t worry if you do it too much or too often. Hopefully they’ll get so used to you following up that over time you won’t have to do it anymore because they’ll already know what you expect out of them. If you didn’t follow up with anyone no work would get done!

Bosses especially love it when you follow up! It shows them you are organized and on top of things. If you can manage yourself and your projects who do you think they’re going to go to with the big projects or clients? You! They know you’ll follow up with whomever and get the job done.

MAKE MORE SALES BY FOLLOWING UP UNTIL THEY SAY YES  

Over the past seven years I have worked in a sales/marketing role. Between 5 and seven years ago I specifically worked with sales professionals writing proposals and presentations to get new clients and sell the company on why we were the best provider, whether it was a real estate broker, accountant or consultant. The sales process can last months and even years! The only way to keep the pursuit process moving forward is through follow up. If a company is going to spend a lot of money on your product or service they are going to take the time to compare you to the competition. How are you going to know what they want unless you follow up? Companies needs change over time as well as the decision makers. It is imperative you maintain a follow up relationship with all the clients you are pursuing. Even simple things like sharing an article you read regarding their industry will help maintain the relationship.

If a client you are pursuing says nothing, they haven’t said no yet so you need to understand what will make them say yes. Make in person follow up meetings, nothing says they are important more than a face to face conversation. The face to face follow up at a client’s office is key because you can learn more about a company’s culture in a two hour meeting than a once a week conversation over an entire year. Clients will appreciate you more than the competition because you are taking the extra step to build a relationship. After the face to face meeting invite your clients to your office so they can understand you and your company’s culture. Then introduce them to everyone that makes the company run, from your call center, to your C-Suite to your receptionists. Make them an important part of your company’s growth. You can only do this through follow up.

What if clients say no to your service, product and company or worse they no longer want to be your client and they leave? The follow up does not and should not stop. First follow up and ask the frank question, why? What could we do better? If we fix this, can we come back to you and see if we could start a relationship in the future? Or can we fix our relationship if we make this better? More often than not in my past work experience the reason clients leave a company is because they don’t feel important or listened to. It might not mean your competition is better it just meant they were better at the pursuit, the follow up! Don’t forget just because you win new client’s doesn’t mean you won’t lose them. Clients leave when they don’t feel important, and they’re probably not making money for you because you are not paying attention to them. Relationships grow over time as they do in business, in order to keep developing relationships you always need to follow up.