Systemizing Your Business: Follow Up (or fall behind)

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Thoughts from your Systems Goddess, Sandye Linnetz, Process Prodigy

Follow-up: The act or an instance of reviewing an end or new developments. An activity that continues something already begun, exploits or builds on an earlier work, or reinforces, repeats, builds on, or evaluates a previous action.

No, my dear Prodigies, you don’t have to do follow-up. I mean, why waste your time repeating something that’s already been done? Why not just leave well enough alone? Isn’t it easier – and ever so much faster – to simply do it and forget it? Just do it or delegate it and move on to the next task… right? Hmmm How’s that workin’ for you?

My guess is… it’s not working very well at all. Without good follow-up there are no checks and balances in place and your good time dollars are falling through the cracks of life. I am a huge proponent of “better safe than sorry” and that’s where follow-up enters the picture. Every effective system has effective follow-up and every Outrageously Effective Systems MUST demand outrageously effective follow-up.

Would you ever just talk about winning the lottery without buying a ticket? Is it a good idea to leave home for a week without checking to make sure that your front is locked or that your mail will be collected and held? Does it make sense to get a haircut without looking in a mirror before you leave the salon? Seriously, would you ask a neighbor to watch your children without checking in and leave the result to chance? With that same logic in mind: It is not enough to simply send out mailers to potential clients and wait for orders to come pouring into your company. You know you can’t depend on leaving messages with the grand assumption that you’ll get call backs. And, if you think that your clients will send in payments without you sending an invoice and without you checking to see that all accounts are up to date, you are on a collision course with financial ruin.

“Build it and they will come” may work in the movies – and occasionally in real life – but I wouldn’t want to stake my success on that formula!

So, what’s involved in Outrageously Effective follow-up?

• Keep logs and records of all pertinent phone calls and e-mails (sent and received); complete with dates, names and numbers and notes.
• Return all calls, emails, etc. in a timely manner (and record).
• Left a message? Call again. And again, if appropriate…
• Placed an order? Check to see that it arrived – when and as expected.
• Delegated a task? Find out if it was done.
• Sent out a flyer or started a new promotion? Wait an appropriate length of time and then make contact.
• Collected business cards from potentials? Great… now make the contacts.
• Did the work? Send a bill.
• Sent the bill? Make sure it got paid!

Without the follow-up systems in place and the data management under control we fall apart. Watch for more tips on keepin’ it all together with Outrageously Effective Follow-up.

© 2008 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc. Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

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