Chapter 24
Build Your Momentum and Credibility With a Follow-up
Staying on your new acquaintance’s radar is the priority after a first encounter, because time is never on your side. If there is something you want the other party to do—give you the name of someone influential, send you a key piece of information that you referenced during your initial encounter, or, most significantly, meet or talk with you again—you must remain fresh on that person’s mind. Even in the best of random encounters—those that involve a fun, exciting, interesting exchange that’s full of promise and potential—the impact will fade over time if you do not keep it alive. In addition, the anonymity that’s inherent in random interactions creates enthusiasm that is situational—and that can therefore dissipate rapidly if you don’t act right away. And the importance of following up quickly connects directly to the degree of prominence and influence the other person has. Senior executives have short access windows. As you go down the food chain or toward less influential people or lower yield opportunities, following up is still necessary but relatively less time critical.
Successful random connectors move rapidly to get back in touch with the new acquaintance; they’re aware that to wait is to allow them to either forget the encounter or to dismiss the interaction as fleeting and inconsequential. There’s also the question of credibility issue at play, as the other party may frequently wonder: Is this person legitimate or a flake? Was this person just caught up in the excitement of a random encounter, or does this person have something worthwhile to offer? Is this person who he or she says? If it takes this person this long to circle back with me, how important could our conversation really be to him or her? You don’t want your new association wondering about the legitimacy of your initial encounter and taking too much time to contact them allows those questions to trickle into their mind. The Latin phrase tempus fugit, which mean “time flies,” surely applies here—and it never works in favor of the random connector.
The good news is that following up and staying in touch has never been easier than it is today. You can send a short e-mail saying hello again and referencing the initial conversation or leave a voice mail with a similar message within hours or days after the first meeting. Approaching the situation in this way avoids putting your new connection on the spot, and these approaches are not overly ambitious. They simply are the difference between meeting someone standing in line at the supermarket but never getting a name and meeting someone at the supermarket who owns a company, getting contact info, and sending a follow-up e-mail that leads to a meeting with you the following week. Scenario 1 won’t mean much; scenario 2 could change your life.
There are questions or statements you can make at the end of a first encounter that will set the stage for following up and allow you to keep the connection going. Examples include:
- Can we exchange cards?
- What’s your e-mail address?
- May I give you a call when you’re back in your office and talk with you more?
- When is a good time to circle back with you?
- Are you available to get together for lunch in the next few weeks?
- Would it be all right if I send you an invitation to connect on LinkedIn?
- Can you give me the name and contact info (phone number, e-mail, etc.) of that person you mentioned, and is it all right if I use your name when I contact him (or her)? Or better yet: Can you give me an introduction?
- Would you be willing to take a look at a proposal for (whatever you were talking about)?
- Can I send you my resume?
- Can we get together again? When?
Depending on what you and your new connection discuss and agree to in your initial conversation, you will want to follow up appropriately. Sometimes it’s just to build the relationship and keep the communication alive; sometimes your goal is to advance the content of the conversation. Following up could be sending a short e-mail saying that you enjoyed meeting the person, or it might be sending correspondence with some information relevant to what you discussed, such as a link to a website or article. It could even be sending a more complete recap of your discussion that’s designed to set the stage for further contact and interaction focused on a specific outcome. Voice mail is also a great way to further personalize the follow-up, since your voice and personality can come through. In all cases, conform your follow-up to make it relevant to the conversation and designed to keep the opportunity alive.
Table 24.1 lists some things you can reference or say in your follow-up to the initial encounter that enable you to optimize and monetize your new connection.
Table 24.1 Match your follow-up to the person’s initial level of interest
| If the conversation was. . . | Your follow-up should be. . . |
| Unstructured without a specific focus or direction | Designed to build the relationship and provide the basis for staying in touch, with no particular outcome in mind other than that. Examples include simple phrases such as “Nice meeting you and enjoyed our conversation” and “It was great fun talking with you, and I look forward to more enjoyable conversations in the future.” |
| Focused and had a specific direction but didn’t end with a clear next step | Designed to build the relationship, cultivate the opportunity, and suggest a next step that will move you toward an outcome. After a sentence or two of polite reference to the meeting (see above), you would direct your comments toward the productive outcome by starting with a comment such as, “In our conversation we talked about (reference his or her areas of need) and how I might be able to assist. I am wondering if we could talk again, either via phone or in person, and explore the possibilities in more detail.” Or you could start with, “When we met, you shared some interesting thoughts about your goal to (reference specific goal). I thought you would enjoy the attached article about that very subject. Let me know what you think, and let me know if we can get together again to discuss it in more detail.” |
| Very focused with a specific direction and a clearly understood next step | Designed to keep the momentum moving toward that next step, while reinforcing your role and ability to deliver value. After a sentence or two of polite reference to the meeting (see first box above), you want to restate the key parts of his or her comments, explain specifically how you will make a difference, and then confirm the next step as you discussed it during your initial encounter. You want to use comments such as, “The position you are seeking to fill in your department will be critical in helping the company achieve its long-term growth goals. My experience and skills will enable me to hit the ground running and make an immediate impact. I will call you next Wednesday as agreed and will have the information you requested ready for you at that time.” |
The journey from initial encounter to monetized relationship requires that you focus, expend energy and time, and always have an outcome in mind. If there’s something you want at the end of that road, it’s your job to map the territory, check the route, and get there as quickly as possible.
Sometimes you will have made a friend from your initial encounter, in which case a cordial follow-up with will be highly appropriate. But if you’ve encountered an opportunity that can manifest in something of specific and measurable worth, you will want to keep the focus on whatever the goal is: a job interview, a chance to give an estimate on providing your services, an actual assignment, a sale, access to a third party who is of interest and value to you, or whatever the opportunity may be.
We all want friends, of course, and we all want to meet interesting people. But the ultimate purpose of a random connection is to monetize the encounter in some way. You deliver value in some way; your new association rewards you in return. Your ability to cultivate your new relationship will be the difference between expanding your business, your career, your checking account, and your life or just making a friend.