Follow-Through in All You Do

I’m a huge baseball fan. I follow my hometown Tampa Bay Rays. I love baseball because it’s a sport of nuances. An inch here or there can make the difference between winning and losing. And, when you’re learning to swing for the fences coaches always emphasize the importance of follow-through. It’s not just hitting the ball that matters, it’s how you continue your swing once contact is made.

The same idea applies when you’re talking about your business. Without purposeful follow-through on your actions and interactions with your prospects and ideal clients you won’t be able to build your dream.

So often we feel that we’ve done all we need to do because the pitch has been sent or the article has been posted. But we underestimate just how powerful it is to continue developing, relationships even after they’ve been set in place.

As freelancers we must take responsibility for our message being heard and our solutions being delivered. Now, you can’t make someone actually take the steps they need to. But you can continue to follow-through on giving them the steps and asking the right questions.

How to Follow Through

When we think of follow-through, we tend to think of taking creative action. But a large part of follow-through is about first figuring out how things will be done. This where you should always begin with the end in mind. Know exactly what outcome you want to achieve and then work backwards to define your goals and just how you’ll reach them.

What steps will be needed to accomplish them? Who’ll do which steps and when? What is the desired timeline? If a strategy does not address the how’s, it is almost certainly doomed to fail.

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It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action,

and discipline that enabled us to follow through. -Zig Zigler

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Organizing

A good organizational system will support follow-through more than almost anything. If you are among the organizationally challenged, you can try one of two things to help you become more organized:

1. Make a commitment, buy an organization book or two, reserve a weekend and just do it. Get organized once and for all. You’re not likely to follow through well, if at all, when the disorganization gremlin has hold of you. Getting organized is one of the biggest keys to success; not doing so is an extremely common and most unfortunate form of self-sabotage.

2. Hire someone to organize you and keep you that way. The investment will pay for itself when you begin following through more consistently.

If you’re working with a team, delegating should also be central part of an organizational system. Delegating is an efficient way to ensure that the greatest number of tasks, including follow-up tasks, get done in the shortest amount of time. If you want to be successful, don’t be afraid to dole out the workload to others. The key is to always think in terms of the big picture instead of focusing only on whatever task is in front of you at the moment.

Controlling the Controllable

Following through is about controlling the controllable. There are only two things you have control over and that’s your actions and your attitude.

• When you say you’ll do something, be diligent in meeting your commitment. If you can’t deliver it, don’t promise it.

• In networking, rapid follow-up can mean the difference between landing a new gig or losing out. Getting in contact with people soon after meeting them means they will remember you, increasing the likelihood they’ll eventually hire you.

• Be sure to send a thank you note after you get that stellar assignment. This will make you stand out from the others, allowing you to foster a better relationship with your client. Also, a short thank-you note gives you a great excuse to add anything you forgot to say in a meeting or consultation, or to highlight details you only glossed over.

• Lack of follow-through is the primary element missing when you’re not getting responses from your pitches. You may have sent hundreds of pitches all with a good chance of getting the gig. But unless you follow through and actively pursue these leads, they will not turn into new assignments.

Keep in mind though, there is a big difference between following-up and stalking. Once you’ve sent a pitch give it a reasonable amount of time before you follow-up. Then send a short email with a sentence or two about your pitch, a brief reminder of who you are, and a short call to action. For help in crafting a follow-up email you can download an example here.

When it comes to follow-through, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing. But following up as frequently and best as you can, can mean the difference between creating a successful business and creating a business that just survives.