THE PROPER WAY TO FOLLOW-UP

13 January 2022

I love this topic and think I’ve perfected the way to get people to reply to me after a phone call…but most importantly, get them to say yes to what I’m proposing.

This area of interest to touch on stemmed from a conversation I had last week with a group of schools who were asking me to speak to their students in Dallas. Talking about money is never a comfortable thing for anyone, myself included, and to avoid talking directly about money while always getting the money you want I’ve tested out some sentences and ways to end a conversation so that I get that YES. You shouldn’t ever feel uncomfortable asking for what you want but I know that it’s easier said than done especially if you weren’t prepared to discuss money on the call. You can easily finalize a deal via email.

The main benefit to sending a follow-up email is you won’t be forgotten about. I know for a fact that people overlook sending a thank you or follow-up email because they think they’ll hear back in 3-4 days from this person or that they don’t want to be “annoying” which is silly! Unless you’re harassing someone every 20 minutes, you are not annoying. As someone who frequently follows up more than you could probably fathom doing (lol) I’ve never in my whole career been told I’m annoying. I’ve only ever been thanked for reminding this person that we spoke and etc.

It’s the opposite: you set yourself apart by reminding this person that you appreciate and value their time and look forward to continuing the conversation.

Here’s two examples of follow-up emails I’ve written in the past week.

For context: the first email was following a call with an investor for my app I had yesterday and I wrote the email this morning. At the end of the call, we set another call set for 2 weeks from now. I contemplated whether to send a thank you email but I decided to send the email in the case he got off of our call and had calls the rest of the day and forgot to look at the deck I sent him which is why sending a follow-up email is always a good idea. Not critical, but why not do this?

Think like the 1%. Do the opposite of what your friends and colleagues do unless they’re getting deals left and right.

The email below that was after a phone call with a group of schools in Dallas. I asked her on the phone if I should send a follow-up email with a recap…how I worded that on the phone was something like:

“Really appreciate you taking the time to chat – what would you suggest as next steps?”

She replied suggesting that she would bring this proposal to her team and would circle back with me. Because our call was on a Friday, I asked her

“Would you like a recap of what we discussed on our call via email?”

She said yes of course!

 

All of these “templates” and sentences I’m giving you are appealing to use in emails or on phone calls. I’d suggest you start implementing this method in your endeavors, even if you’re a college student, because it has worked very well for me and though I’m frequently still rejected, I get told yes more than no.

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