The Art of the Follow-Up
How to be "pleasantly persistent" and get sh*t done!!!
Yesterday, I called Chase to request a credit limit increase on one of our business credit cards (which I recommend doing every ~2 years for each of your personal and business credit cards, if for no reason other than to access greater pools of credit whenever you need it.)
I asked for a 250% increase, to which I got…
…well, I was given a 25% increase initially, which is good (but not what I wanted).
Undeterred, I called back into Chase’s lending department, asked them to reconsider my request, and a few minutes later we received approval on my initial request.
Like, was that so difficult?
A little “pleasant persistence” helped me get the increased credit line I was looking for, whereas had I NOT pushed back…
…perhaps I wouldn’t have increased my credit limit to the new amount until 2022, 2023, or 2024. A few minutes and some follow-up gusto saved me YEARS of time.
What NOT To Do :/
On the flip-side, exactly one week ago I caught up with someone I’ve collaborated with in the past to discuss working together again.
I told him exactly what help we’d be looking for, what my budget would be, what we’d consider a “trial run” for this project, and what the long-term possibilities could look like for employing their services.
I basically gave him the playbook to turn around and sell me on a $6,000+ per year freelance services contract, and yet…
I haven’t heard back from him!!! Crickets.
I’ll likely give him the benefit of the doubt, but if this were someone I’d be interviewing to come work at Meeting of the Minds full-time, or someone rather new to my network, then that’d raise some red flags for me. 🚩🚩🚩
Following Up With A Potential Client? Try This…
Some of our best clients have worked with us as a result of months and/or years of consistent follow-up.
True story.
If you’re in the middle of the sales funnel with someone, and they’ve expressed interest in working with you, then you can try the following:
Follow-up 2-3 days after your last Call-to-Action, and then 7 days later.
This also works if you’re reaching out to a prospect.
So, if you send an email to someone on Monday, but don’t hear back, then email them again on Wednesday or Thursday. If you still don’t hear back, try one more time the following Monday, which is 7 days after your first interaction.
The same works if you left a positive impression on a sales call, and gave your prospect the option of working with you. Follow up 2-3 days after your chat to see if they’re ready to seal the deal and make it real, and check back one more time before giving them more space.
Of course, keep in touch with people who don’t respond immediately by checking in every few months, having someone on your email list for more passive communications, etc. You never know when someone could be ready to work with you in 6, 12, 18, or 24+ months after your initial interactions.
You can also try this…
Change up the medium in which you’re following up with your prospects.
If you email and don’t hear back (use MixMax to see if and when people open your messages), then perhaps try sending a DM on Instagram or private message on LinkedIn.
You can also call (shocker!) or text.
The point is that someone may be bad at communicating in one medium but may check another more frequently and/or prefer interacting through a different platform. Go to your prospects and clients - don’t wait for them!
Add some fun to your follow-up.
I *love* using GIFs and memes in follow-ups.
Type “following up GIF” into Google Search, go to Images, and then you can copy/paste your faves into emails to reconnect with someone in a way that stands out in the sea of unopened, uninspiring emails in their inbox.
Imagine getting an email from me that simply has…
Or maybe…
If you really, really, REALLY need that prospect to sign your contract, then the only acceptable GIF (despite the aggressive undertones) may be Shia Lebouf.
The options are limitless.
Cuddly Puppies, Bitcoin, and Your Grandma
Please, for the love of cuddly puppies around the world…
…internet memes about Tesla stocks or bitcoin…
…and your soon-to-be-vaccinated grandmas…
FOLLOW UP!!!
That’s the email.
(I’ll be back Thursday with our interview this week, featuring former Deloitte consultant and yoga studio owner turned digital media agency founder Genevieve Kim!)
Thanks,
-Jared
Jared Kleinert is the founder of Meeting of the Minds (motm.co), as well as a TED speaker, 2x award-winning author, and USA Today's "Most Connected Millennial".
Meeting of the Minds curates "super-connectors" and subject matter experts as invite-only attendees to 3 day summits in places like Napa Valley, Bermuda, and elsewhere, as well as “deep dives” such as this Marketing and Biz Dev strategy & implementation workshop. Members of the MOTM network include CEOs of 7, 8, and 9-figure businesses, creators of globally-recognized brands and social movements, New York Times bestselling authors, founders of pre-IPO tech unicorns, c-suite execs from Fortune 500 companies, and others.
Jared's career began at 15 years old when he started his first company, and took off at 16 while working as the first intern, and then one of the first 10 employees, for an enterprise SaaS company called 15Five, which today has raised over $40M and has almost 2000 forward-thinking companies as monthly recurring clients.
Later, Jared would become a delegate to President Obama's 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Malaysia, write multiple books including the "#1 Entrepreneurship Book of 2015", and speak at TED@IBM the day before he turned 20.
As a highly-sought after keynote speaker and consultant, Jared’s clients range from organizations like Facebook, Samsung, Bacardi, Estee Lauder, IBM, Cornell, Berkeley, AdAge, and the National Speakers Association. His insights on entrepreneurship, networking, marketing, and business development have been featured in Forbes, TIME, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, NPR, Entrepreneur, Mashable, Fox Business and more.
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