137: The fortune is in the follow-up
Have you ever assumed silence means a missed opportunity? In this episode I’m sharing a simple but powerful lesson: the fortune is in the follow-up! Inspired by a real-life conversation with my son about job hunting, I dive into why following up isn’t desperate—it’s strategic. Whether you're reaching out to a potential employer, a client, or a past connection, a well-timed check-in can change everything. I’ll also share insights from entrepreneur Denise Duffield-Thomas and a personal client win that proves just how effective follow-ups can be.
Tune in to learn practical, non-pushy follow-up strategies that can boost your business, revive client relationships, and even land you new opportunities. Plus, I’ll give you a peek into my simple system for tracking follow-ups—no fancy tech required! If you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to follow up, this is your sign to make it happen.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The surprising mindset shift that makes follow-ups feel effortless
Why some entrepreneurs won’t even consider hiring someone who doesn’t follow up
How a two-sentence email helped my son land a job interview overnight
The key reason prospects and clients don’t respond—and what to do about it
A simple but effective follow-up email template you can start using today
How I personally keep track of follow-ups (hint: it’s not high-tech!)
Why following up sets you apart from 90% of people in business
Take a few minutes today to touch base with someone you had a sales call with who never bought, or someone you met at a networking event. A short, friendly check-in could be all it takes to spark a conversation, revive interest, and turn a missed opportunity into a win. The fortune is in the follow-up—so go after yours!
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Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients. Let's get started. Hey there! Welcome back to the IL Communication podcast. So I was driving around with my 17 year old the other day. In fact, we were driving to the mall to find a suit because he's graduating later this spring and I can't believe it. Anyway, as we were driving, he shared that he's stressed and worried about finding a summer job. Now, the thing is, this kid is very motivated. He's already applied for five different summer jobs and had an interview for one of them, but he hasn't heard back and he's thinking that he's not in the running. Nobody wants him to work for them. And then I asked him if he had followed up and he said no. They told me they'd be interviewing people last week and then let people know by the end of that week, and I didn't hear from them.
[00:01:40]
So I guess I didn't get it. And then I said, why don't you send an email to Touch Base? It shows you're interested and motivated to work with them. He kind of balked at the idea. And I get it. When you're looking for a job or talking to prospects, you don't want to come across as desperate or annoying. And then I shared with him something I heard Denise Duffield Thomas say one time. Now, Denise is kind of an online famous money mentor and coach for entrepreneurs. She's also the author of get Rich, Lucky Bitch. And one of my all time fave entrepreneurship books, Chill and Prosper. Anyway, I don't even remember where or when I heard her say this, but she mentioned that she and her team won't invite someone for an interview or even a second interview if they haven't followed up first. A good team member is someone who does what it takes to get a job done, and following up on a job application or an interview is a sign for them that this person has the kind of commitment and care they're looking for. It shows that you're really interested in the job and willing to go the extra mile to get it. If you apply to work with Denise, she won't even interview you unless you follow up on your application first.
[00:02:56]
Now, once I heard her say that, it changed my view on following up, and it is a big part of my sales process to stay in touch with leads and past clients for months or even years. Now, when I told my son the story about Denise and her approach to following up, he decided to do it. So while we were driving in the car, I helped him word two very short and very kind follow up emails, one for the job that he had interviewed for and one for the job he was hoping to get an interview with. Each email was only about 2 to 3 sentences long and went something like this. Hi. Name. It's been a couple weeks since I came in to meet with you at the job interview. Are you still looking for staff for the such and such position? I'm still very interested in working at your business this summer. Hope to hear from you soon. Signature. The other email was a slight variation of that, but more around finding a time to meet for a job interview. They were kind and to the point and totally inoffensive. Guess what happened this morning? He told me he heard back from both of the folks he had emailed. One asked him to come in for an interview tomorrow, and the other said they're still interviewing and hadn't made any decisions yet.
[00:04:16]
So he's still in the running. Which just goes to show that the fortune is indeed in the follow up. And that's a quote attributed to author, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn. Just last week, I heard back from a repeat client who hadn't responded to my friendly check ins over the last couple of months, and he just replied, apologizing for not responding. It's his busy season, but could he book the private copy coaching package to work on a new product launch? And this morning I followed my own advice and reached out to someone I had an exchange with back in November who was looking for a copy coach in her community. It was simple, a friendly little hey, I was thinking about you and wanted to touch base on this. I'm curious to see how she responds. If you're looking for a really nice template for this, kind of like touching in or checking in email. Go and listen to episode 18 how to use the nine word email to get more clients. The links in the show notes as far as keeping track of follow ups, I have a very simple system, kind of have a spreadsheet. We also use Trello to track the folks who are in our pipeline. I have a whiteboard. It's really very unsophisticated. I also don't deal with a huge volume of clients, so I don't need a big CRM or anything.
[00:05:32]
But there's lots of different solutions out there, both tech or just basic spreadsheets and things like that. But the point of this episode is a reminder for you to follow up. Take a few minutes today or later this week to touch base with someone you had a sales call with who never bought, or so many you met at a networking event or a past client. Give a friendly check in to see if they're still looking for support or needing a little extra help. The fortune is in the follow up. It separates you from the folks who don't follow up. So, my friend, go and get your fortune. That's all for me today. I'll see you again next week. And that's a wrap on today's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I would love if you would leave a rating and a review to let me know. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss out on the tips, prompts, and strategies I share in every episode. They're designed to make you an ill communicator too. As always, you can check out all the links and resources from this episode on the web page. Just head over to Kim Dotcom Slash podcast. I'll chat with you again next week.
Resources
Read Chill & Prosper by Denise Duffield-Thomas
Ep 18: How to use the 9-word email to get more clients
Additional Resources
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