Follow-up: Lost Art, Secret Weapon or Business as Usual?

Take a quick inventory. How often (what percentage of the time) do people follow-up as promised? If you're a corporate exec, how often do your people report back as promised on the various issues you've discussed? How often do your suppliers or partners live up to what they said and communicate it to you? Or do you have to track down those individuals or teams to learn what is going on?

If you're a supplier--how often do you follow-up as promised on all expected information--good and not-so-good?

And internally at your company, how often do you follow-up as promised on what you've committed to with your superiors, co-workers or direct reports?

Follow-up, you'd think, should be a no-brainer. You promise, you do. But today it is not a given. Too often, follow-up is an option.

Do yourself a favor. Track what your follow-up score is--how often you live up to what you've said to others. And track the follow-up score of those that report to you (suppliers or direct reports).

I'll follow-up with more on this subject. I promise.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com