Does Your Follow up Leave Something to Be Desired?
It’s no secret that a huge part of a networker’s success is tied to their effectiveness at one thing—following up with the contacts they make. Networking without following up is—to put it bluntly—nothing more than a waste of time.
So, it makes sense that one of the questions I’m most often asked is about follow up. No matter what part of the world I’m in, one of the first things people tend to ask is what I believe is the best way to follow up with new networking connections.
In this video, I share my answer to this question and if follow up is something you struggle with, I think you’ll find what I have to say quite reassuring because the most effective way of following up is much simpler than you might think.
Do you have a method of following up which has been particularly effective for you? If so, please share it in the comment forum below. Also, if you have an interesting story about how you followed up with someone and left a lasting impression on them or remarkable things happened as a result of your follow up, please share your story via www.SubmitYourNetworkingStory.com. When you submit your story, it will be considered for inclusion in an upcoming networking book I’m writing with Jack Canfield, and Gautam Ganglani. Thanks in advance for your participation!
I believe one of the best ways to follow up is to, Mention a subject that you were discussing with that person.
It could be private / work related. So the person remembers you. Then again, this is also as you mentioned, only if you can do it consistently
I think it’s also best to find something that you and the person shared uniquely at an event i.e. a joke and use that as the initial topic.
Unbelievable timing for watching this video as I just called to follow-up with a visitor I had attend our BNI luncheon yesterday. He was extremely please that I called to ask how he enjoyed the lunch and meeting some wonderful business people. He indicated he learned a lot; however, at this point in time he was unable to become a member. I told him that was perfectly fine, no pressure, just wanted to make sure he had enjoyed the experience. Also, as he had neglected to take with him the business cards of our chapter’s members, I told him for his Christmas present, I would personally mail him a complete set of our chapters’ business cards to add for his contacts. I also assured him that his business cards were passed around to our chapter members [dog groomer] as he was a visitor to our chapter. As I’m a true believer of “Giver’s Gain”, maybe 2014 will find him joining up with BNI – even if not our chapter. That’s what I call a win-win. Thank you Dr. Misner for sharing and I hope my comments [first time] are of benefit.