Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops

The secret to effective follow up: What NOT to say

By

women using laptops

You probably know better than to follow up with someone like this:

  • “Just following up!”

You realize that doesn’t really help either of you. But you still might be making this mistake:

  • “Did you do that thing you said you were going to do?”

That feels like it’s helping, but from the customer perspective, it’s just adding to our guilt. What if you took a different approach, a helpful approach.

Here’s how I can help you be successful with this next step.”

Now that sounds helpful! And I’m betting you’ll have a lot more success following up to be helpful than to just add more guilt.

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

More of the best of Small Biz Survival