Business E-mail Follow Up Concern…

A site visitor was curious and pondered…

We are in negotiations with a major retail chain. I e-mailed our contact on Tuesday – after waiting two weeks for her vacation. This person promised to get back to us and review the documents. This is a big deal for our company and there has not been a response at all. Should I be worried?

She’s probably buried and/or your e-mail got lost in the shuffle. I wouldn’t assume the worst because you simply do not know.

Send a “courtesy follow-up” saying you hope she enjoyed her vacation and that you just wanted to touch base and see if she had any questions and if you can be of service in any way. Then, if you still don’t hear from her after a couple of days, pick up the phone and give her a buzz which will add a personal touch and get you the answers you seek.

This is the type of inquiry I get literally on a daily basis. Business folks wonder what to do, what does it mean if they don’t receive responses to their inquiries. It is so important when forming business relationships and partnerships to respond promptly even if to say, as could be the case of the person coming back from a two week vacation, “I’m swamped and haven’t forgotten about you — I’ll get back to you as soon as I catch up!”.

Little efforts as suggested above by both sides will reflect a respect for each others time and a professional conscientiousness so very important to building long-term mutually respectful relationships.

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