You’ve delivered an impactful message full of memorable visuals to an audience that was hanging on your every word. Great! What’s next? Remember that all good presentations reach their full potential with proper follow-through. Every company has its own ideas of what this looks like, and there are numerous factors that come into play. However, if you don’t have a follow-through strategy, today is the day to take a hard look at creating one. We’ve compiled a list of five different strategies to make this easier for you!
Invest in Habit-Making
Habits are quite the time commitment, as they can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form! However, great habits make day-to-day life easier. What if you took five minutes in the car before you drive to your next destination to make notes about the presentation you just gave? Or what if you made a habit of connecting with potential future clients exactly 3 days after your pitch? Figure out if there are habits that would benefit your follow-through routine and start implementing them today!
Put it on Your Calendar
It’s easy enough to agree to get back to a potential client in a week–but how often does that week come and go without follow-through? It’s important to have a concrete system for reminding yourself to follow-up. If you have a physical calendar, write the “appointment” on a sticky note so you can move it out if your client needs to reschedule. If you work with an app-based or web-based calendar, type it in as soon as possible. Set a recurring reminder if needed for potential contact dates. Whether it is a simple thank-you or a full onboarding appointment, be intentional about relationship-building through this process.
Know Your Measurables
How do you know if your pitch was a success? It’s so important to take some time to sit down and create an actionable SMART goal. Having an actual number by which you can measure success helps you know exactly where you are vs. where you need to be. Once you see your progress using real-time data, you’ll be more driven to focus on your follow-through.
Stay Accountable
Ensure your new follow-through protocol will stick by enlisting a friend or colleague to check in on your progress. Set up a weekly touchpoint with someone you trust to ask you the hard questions. Make sure they know your measurables and are encouraging you to stick to your new habits.
Avoid Regret
Shift your mindset from reactive to proactive. If you are following through, you never have to say sorry to a client for forgetting to get back to them. A healthy follow-through regimen will set up organic times for relationships to strengthen and trust to be established. You’ll soon regret all the chances you didn’t take.
Follow-through is an integral part of success. It not only lets your clients know that you remembered them, it helps instill best practices that will spill over into other parts of your life as well. As a presenter, it’s important to say what you mean, and mean what you say. Finding yourself still needing fuel for follow-through? When you work with Ethos3, your project manager will stay on top of all deliverable dates so you don’t have to! Reach out for a free quote today.
