Following through is just as important as following up. Following through (the act of continuing a plan, project, scheme, or the like to its completion) is an important part of following up (to maintain contact with someone so as to monitor the effects of earlier activities). Here are some best practices to help you follow through on your follow-up.
1. Start in the presentation phase.
There are four phases to networking: preparation, presentation, follow-up and maintenance. Preparation is doing your homework before an event or meeting. Presentation is introducing yourself (or getting yourself introduced) to others, having great conversations, offering the infamous elevator speech and exchanging business cards. The follow-up starts there, in the presentation phase, with you saying something like, “Does it make sense for us to exchange cards? I promise to follow up with you to explore ways to refer each other business.” Now when you follow through with an e-mail, phone call or text (no, really!), you already have established yourself as reliable and serious.
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