The Top 10 Reasons to Follow Up
with Clients and Colleagues

...And why not to take it personally if they don't return your call, email, etc. In the past month I have failed to respond to people for the following 10 reasons. In all cases, the person recontacted me, for which I was grateful. So keep after your contacts, and don't assume it's personal if they don't get back to you ... or even that they got the message.

1. I could not get an email through to them.

Either it was spam-blocked, or their server wasn't working, or something. Worst of all, my server didn't inform me it hadn't gone through.

2. My telephone quit permitting me to retrieve old messages.

Am I the only one with these frequent technical problems? I doubt it. I listened once through to all messages, and then was going to go back and write down numbers and voila! Gone!

3. I forgot.

It happens.

4. They transposed the digits of their phone number in their email.

Or I transposed the digits in mine.

5. The person I had the phone appointment with lived in China and wasn't aware of the time change to daylight savings time.

Because I deal with clients all over the US and the world, there are often time zone problems.

6. I planned to call from my cell and the battery went dead.

7. I couldn't understand the name or phone number they gave me on the answering machine

8. The information on their website was incorrect or the form didn't work.

9. We had a thunderstorm and whenever that happens in San Antonio, the phones, servers and alarm clocks go out.

10. The dog ate my homework.

We're busy. We have technical problems. We forget. We're human. There are any number of reasons why people don't get back to you, although they may very much want to. Contact them again. Don't give up. And don't take it personally.

About the Submitter:

This piece was originally submitted by Susan Dunn, MA, Clinical Psychology, author of many ebooks on emotional intelligence, Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, who can be reached at sdunn@susandunn.cc, or visited on the web.

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