In your high-tech career not only is it important to get the job done
you must constantly be checking that problems have not returned. Nothing
is more aggravating to a computer user than a problem that seems to
go a way only to return at the worst possible moment. It doesn't matter
whether you work in a large corporation or as an independent contractor,
follow-up can take your career from average to excellent.
Call, even if you don't want to
Recurring computer problems can be frustrating for everyone involved.
If people are constantly having to call you to report a computer
problem it can seem to them that you are not working hard enough
to solve it.
On the other hand, if you follow up with people they see that you
are still aware of the problem and haven't forgotten them.
Even if you aren't dealing with a recurring problem, follow up may
still be difficult for you. I know from personal experience that there
are some people that you don't want to deal with on a regular basis.
It seems more prudent to assume that "no news is good news" and
let them call you when they have a problem. In truth, this lack of
follow up could be making your troubles even worse. Too often, computer
users will not call you with a problem until they are completely frustrated.
By the time they get you on the phone they only want to scream at someone.
The only way to get on with solving the problem is by letting them
vent their anger. We all know that no one wants to deal with that phone
call.
If, instead, you are contacting people on a regular basis, even those
you would rather not deal with, you can diffuse these situations before
they get out of hand. You might even find that people who were troublesome
in the past might come to develop a better understanding of their computer
and more respect for you.
Follow-up = Income
For the independent computer contractor, follow up becomes more than
a good idea, it becomes a revenue generator. Follow up phone calls
and email are just another way of advertising your services. Retail
stores can't rely on customers walking through the door. They have
to advertise to draw new customers and get old customers to return.
Think of your follow up calls as your form of placing an ad in the
daily paper. You are not waiting for your clients to realize they
need your services on their own, You are actively reaching out
and trying
to generate another appointment with them. In more than 50% of the
calls you will find that there is some issue that needs to be fixed,
some training that needs to be performed for the client. Who knows
how long the client would have put off calling you if you had not
made your follow-up call? If you want to insure a steady cash flow
you have
to engage in follow up as if it were as important as breathing.
How to follow up
The first and foremost item for building your follow up system is
a tickler file. I assume they call it a tickler as it tickles your
memory
at some future date to perform some action. It matters little how
you set up this system. It can be a simple paper date book, a series
of
file folders, scraps of paper shoved in a pocket or an expensive
handheld computer. It is much more important to build and use your
system than
how you put it together.
My own system involves a computer date book and a Handspring Treo
90 handheld. I like this system because it will remind me automatically
instead of requiring me to look in a paper date book or file folder.
An alarm simply goes off, no matter where I am and reminds me to
do
something.
You should be performing follow ups with a minimum of 2 people every
day. If you don't have a particular reason to call someone, make
a point of working through your list of contacts on a regular basis.
Sometimes when I am waiting in line somewhere I will start at the
top
of my list of contacts and add reminders of who I need to call. This
is a great way to make sure that you talk to everyone at least every
once and a while.
While you may think that follow up is just extra work for you, you
will find that it has dramatic benefits for your career.
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