What My Son’s Birthday Taught Me About Follow-Up

We had my son’s 3rd birthday party two days ago.

House decorated. Food made, ordered. (Thanks to my pregnant wife’s genius)

The setup? It was niiiiiceee.

What wasn’t dialed in? The RSVP’s. yikes

My wife sent the invites over a month ago, and we got plenty of “we’ll be there!” replies.

The typical excited emojis, double exclamation marks, all the good stuff-the first layer words of commitment.

Day before the party, we got a not able to come message… uh oh.

Party day is here.

A few more texts roll in…c’monnnn

And let’s just say…about half the people showed up. whoaaa

We even had a few NO SHOWS! Not a peep.

At first, we thought, “OMG we have SO MUCH FOOD” hehe.

Talk about the perfect reminder of the follow-up paradox in action.

Even when people have good intentions, life gets in the way.

They forget, they assume someone else will remind them, they get busy.

Maybe a parallel here to why you get ghosted, clients delay, or opportunities disappear? just sayinn

Don’t take it personal, call it human nature…

We made the mistakes, we own it.

Here’s what we were reminded away from the traditional sales environment;

When you follow up that’s a leading characteristic.

It’s saying, “this matters enough to drive forward.”

We got a bit complacent in this case. No excuse.

Laughingly later that night my wife joked with me, “if I had only followed up with those friends/family who said “we’ll be there,”….shaking our heads smiling at eachother.

It’s not that those people didn’t want to come…

We got caught up in all of the other preparations that we had a breakdown in the follow up, imagine that!

And that’s what can happen on the downside.

In sales, in business, in life, you see it all the time people mean well, but other things, many things can get in the way.

Can you carry the baton long enough to keep them connected with their original commitment?

Whether it’s a client, a prospect, or a 3-year-old’s birthday party, keep this in mind.

The people who follow up keep the party strong.

And you know what makes a great party…

Suffice to say, we still have many family and friends show up, great energy, music, food, and company, and Legendary Lincoln had a blast hosting all of his guests, opening presents, showcasing his toys, everything you could want to see from the joy on his face.

We’re blessed, we’re grateful and in one year from now we’ll have to double down on the follow up because our next son Maverick Alexander is less than two months from joining us and that means two birthday parties a few months apart…

Catch ya next week Follow Up Fam!

Manny “That Follow Up Guy” Vargas