How to follow up

Make sure to do it:

• politely
• nicely
• respectfully
• effectively
• pleasantly persistent

Source: https://www.themuse.com/advice/pleasantly-persistent-5-rules-for-effectively-following-up

Rule:
1. Be overly polite and humble
– Resist the urge to get upset or mad
– Maintain an extremely polite tone
– Showing that you’re friendly and that you understand how busy your contact is

2. Persistent doesn’t mean every day
– Can show you don’t respect a person’s time
– General rule of thumb: to give at least a week before following up
> sooner: might come off as pushy
> let too much time pass: risk the other person not having any clue who you are

3. Directly ask if you should stop reaching out
– ask if you should stop following up
– ” “I know how busy you are and completely understand if you just haven’t had the time to reach back out. But I don’t want to bombard you with emails if you’re not interested. Just let me know if you’d prefer I stop following up.”

4. Stand out in a good way
– may be remotely interested in but not the top of priority list
> a little creativity in your follow up can go a long way

5. Change it up
– Getting people to respond can sometimes just come down to catching them at the right time
– Don’t send the exact same email at the same time of day on the same day of week