Today in the first of 2 articles on this topic we'll be discussing the 3 types of follow-up activities that every artist, entrepreneur or business owner should employ. Part 2 will be published on Nov 13th.
Some of our loyal readers may recall that we created a few videos on the Brummet Media Channel (YouTube) to help show others the value of taking the time to follow up. Now, keep in mind that the type of follow up you are taking on will depend entirely on what you are managing that month or that year. Perhaps that month you were reaching out to current and potential suppliers. The next month you might be doing a campaign to build on current connections. As such this article is to be used as a guide to help you develop the follow-up policy for your current situation.
Generally speaking, there are 3 types of follow-up:
• Weekly
• Monthly
• Yearly
The main rule here is to have a reason to reach out to your contacts without appearing as "spam" or annoying them.
The main goal is to fully utilize that contact, that event, or that project in order to manifest the best return on investment.
A follow-up communication keeps your contacts informed about your projects, entices them to work with you in the future and really just strengthens those relationships.
Your follow-up letter will focus on strengthening the relationship but will also have a goal in mind, a call to action. There are many ways of reaching out with a purpose without becoming a pest.
A communication's goal might be:
- To thank them for working with you in the past.
- To share experiences you had as a result of networking with them.
- To celebrate or congratulate them on their projects.
- To invite future networking (be specific about what kind of networking you are thinking of).
- To offer something that could help them.
- To introduce them to another connection.
- To share a helpful resource.
Lets take a brief look at what each of these follow-up plans might look like.
A weekly follow-up plan means that we take a look at last week's communications and projects, seeking any aspect of those communications that is not yet complete, and then schedule time in over the next few days so that we can complete those projects.
Monthly follow up plans are similar in that a business owner is evaluating last month's activities and communications to see what has been done and what needs some work yet. We are looking for impending deadlines, lead-times or upcoming events that we need to address.
The first thing that is crossing your mind right now is probably:
"Just how much time is this going to take?"
Honestly, the weekly follow-up takes no more than a half hour, followed by scheduling in the unfinished tasks that were discovered. A monthly follow up will likely require about 40 - 60 minutes, and then responding to any incoming communications or scheduling in those unfinished tasks.
Yearly follow up plans - are quite different because it is treated as a year-end chore that is much more involved, however this task can be portioned out in the schedule over a couple of weeks. I tend to schedule this activity either in late-January/early February, or I will wait until April, after income taxes are usually filed. I find this is takes advantage of the lull between major events (the holidays and the income tax season) when people are more distracted, exhausted and therefore less receptive to communications.
Because business owners are doing annual follow-up tasks in-between other regular business activities, I recommend to allot a 1-3 hours a day until this annual task is done.
"Just how much time is THIS going to take?"
The time consumed by the annual follow-up will vary from year to year. I'll give you an example of what I experienced in 2022. That year, I chose to start this project in mid-January, typically a slow time for our business. I had 700 connections to follow-up with, so I created several draft emails that I could easily tweak for each recipient. To send out communications and reply to incoming responses, I had to budget 1-3 hours each day for 17 days in a row. This is why I recommend doing the annual task during periods of slower business activity. I found that responses continued to arrive several months later, so expect a longer response time due to the recipient's schedule and availability.
When we follow-up, we are building up a reputation for being someone they can rely on, that is easy to work with and doesn't make them wait for long periods of time. We become a valuable resource for them, and they may even recommend us to others.
** Look for part 2 of this discussion on November 13th.
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