The Follow-Up Formula

If you’re the kind of person who wants to make things happen, this book is for you. Whether it’s making a sale, building a product, organizing an event, hiring amazing people, designing the most beautiful accounting app for freelancers, building a school in Uruguay, the follow-up will help you get it done faster.

Nothing that I share in here is particularly brilliant. Most of it is common sense, and you could probably think it up yourself if you took the time to think about it.

So why am I writing a book about it?

Because very few people actually DO what I advocate in this book. And the ones who do are either a) already very successful individuals, or b) very close to being immensely successful.

I don’t know how you measure success for yourself, but I do know that there are things you want in life: you want to do something, you want to create something, you want to have something, you want to feel something.

If you take the advice in this book and apply it, you’ll get it much faster. It’s written with salespeople in mind first, but you can take these principles and apply them to every area of life. Now before we get started ...

Find a typo? Keep it :)

“If there aren’t any typos in this book, we launched too late!” – Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder, LinkedIn

This isn’t a professionally edited book. You will find typos, incorrect grammar, inconsistent styling, widows and orphans, and that we probably mixed up our indentations with block paragraphs.

Here’s what you should do when you encounter them: Keep reading!

Our goal is not to publish the perfect book. Our goal is to provide you with actionable advice you can use right away, to start generating more business today.

Some people assume it’s a lack of care. But the opposite is true: We’re putting this imperfect book into your hands exactly because we care so much. Instead of focusing on creating the perfect book, we invest our time and energy into putting the most valuable information into your hands ASAP. There’s a big lesson for success and sales in here: always operate with a sense of urgency.

Pretty much every day we get emails from people pointing out some typo in one of the 500+ blog posts we’ve published over the years. I’m not gonna lie: It’s a bit embarrassing. Especially if it’s something like mixing up its and it’s. But this is exactly the kind of discomfort you need to get comfortable with. Whether you’re writing or reading, don’t let perfectionism prevent you from giving or getting value.

Steli Efti, author of the 2017 edition

“Stubbornly persist, and you will find that the limits of your stubbornness go well beyond the stubbornness of your limits.” – Robert Brault

I want to share the story about how a Thai fruit lady out-hustled 16 hypnotists using the power of the follow-up.

Thirteen years ago, I’m in Thailand studying hypnosis with a group of 15 hypnotists. We wanted to go to a remote island called Koh Lipe, which required a four-hour boat ride. When we showed up at the shore, the master hypnotist went into a building to find the guy with the boat.

Picture 15 people standing around, waiting in the hot sun after lunch. Suddenly, a Thai lady peddling fruits on her bike spots us. She bikes over to us, positioning the bike and the fruit right in front of us. She jumps down and starts shouting, “Fruit, fruit”, with a big smile, looking every single one of us in the eyes while heavily gesturing towards her delicious goods. We go, “Yes, it looks great but we’re so full. We just ate lunch, no thank you.” She simply repeats, “Fruit, fruit.” Same energy. Same pitch.

The master hypnotist comes down and says, “This is the wrong building. I need to go to that building a few blocks down the road. Come with me.” We all walk over and wait near the building.

The Thai fruit lady gets back on her bike, bikes over to us, positions the fruit right in front of us, gets down and repeats her pitch, “Fruit, fruit.” We go, “Yes, we know, we see it. It’s the same fruit as over there. We really appreciate it but no thank you.” She doesn’t care. With even more passion and animation, she waves her hands and points towards the merchandise, “Fruit, fruit.” Eventually, the master hypnotist comes down and says, “I talked to the guy. The blue boat over there is the one. Let’s stand around that boat and wait. He said he’s going to be here in 10 minutes.” We all go over to that boat.

You can guess what the Thai fruit lady does next. She gets back on her bike, bikes over to us, gets down and goes, “Fruit, fruit, fruit.” Her passion and smile widen. Wow! We can’t believe the persistence on display. And then it happens ... one guy goes, “All right, all right, what the hell, I’m going to have some fruit.” Another one goes, “Well, it’s a four-hour boat ride, let’s get some fruit just in case we get hungry.” Suddenly, everyone buys fruit from her. It was magical.

Two hours later, we’re on our little shaky and salty boat ride, enjoying the fresh fruit. We all look at each other with big passionate smiles on our faces, going, “Mmmmm ... fruit, fruit, fruit!” We were hypnotists, masters of language and persuasion yet this simple and humble Thai fruit lady influenced all of us with her hustle.

Her persistence made an impression on us, but this story also shows what not to copy: she kept pitching after we said no. Offer relevant value and follow up with tact, but stop when someone declines.

“Your advice on the psychology of entrepreneurship is important BUT your follow up advice has changed my fucking life!” – Joelle Steiniger, Co-Founder, Rocketship.fm & SmallHQ

It’s easy to focus on the initial contact. The first meeting. The email you’ve sent to someone important. You reach out to someone and then feel good about yourself. You’ve done your job, you’ve pitched and reached out. You’ve asked for a meeting/call/etc. Now, all you need to do is sit around and wait for them to respond.

And that’s the problem, you have no follow-up hustle.

I get it. You don’t want to be annoying or risk rejection. Keep a follow-up short and useful, then let the recipient’s response and the context guide what happens next.

Most people will contact someone once, then wait around for that person to get back to them. That’s the completely wrong approach.

My follow-up philosophy

A useful follow-up makes the next step clear. If someone asks you to reconnect in 14 days, record that date and follow up then with the context you agreed on. If there is no agreed timing, use a relevant, finite sequence and reassess rather than treating a reply as something you are owed.

If someone says now is a bad time, ask whether they would like you to reconnect later and when. Follow up only if they agree or there is another relevant, appropriate reason to contact them. If they say they are not interested or ask you to stop, respect that and end the outreach.

Silence does not tell you why someone did not reply, and it is not permission to contact them indefinitely. Make a small number of spaced, relevant attempts, then pause or close the loop. A reply is never guaranteed.

Two of the most important rules of my follow-up philosophy are:

1. For cold outreach, set a modest end point before you begin. The right number and spacing depend on the context, channel, and applicable rules; there is no universal quota.
2. Don’t guilt the other person, even if they don’t immediately respond.

The distinction is practical: a follow-up should add context, make a relevant next step easier, or honor an agreed check-in. Repeating the same ask after a clear decline is not useful follow-up.

How I followed up 48 times to land an important meeting

I once followed up with an investor 48 times until I got a meeting. He had been introduced to me and had said he wanted to meet.

Now, this investor was introduced to me through a mutual friend and had said, “Oh yeah, I want to meet with you guys”, but then disappeared in limbo.

I could’ve taken his silence for rejection, but I kept emailing him with different times and dates to meet.

Forty-eight emails later, his reply was, “Oh my god! I’m so glad you followed up, Steli. I was traveling and there was a crisis. Be here tomorrow at 1:00 PM sharp in our office.”

He ended up investing.

Another reader, sales executive Brandon Gracey, described how a mix of emails and voicemails led to a reply from a prospect who had gone quiet:

“You win, let’s connect at the trade show.” Long story short, they were onboarding that month.

The original edition also tells the story of James Altucher cold-emailing an investor over an extended period. It is another historical example, not a suggested cadence.

The follow-up is amazingly versatile. It can be used for a wide variety of situations, whether you want to raise money, close a big deal, or more.

You do not need special access to follow through on a relevant conversation. You do need judgment: the other person’s interest, consent, and time matter as much as your persistence.

Good follow-up can keep a useful conversation from getting lost. It cannot guarantee a win, and it should never override a clear no. The aim is a relevant next step or a respectful close to the conversation.

To get started, here’s a crash course on following up.

“The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.” – Author unknown

Following up isn’t complicated. Here’s everything you, as a busy reader, need to know to get started immediately.

How do you choose a follow-up rhythm?

With cold outreach, the recipient has not invited an ongoing conversation. Use a short, finite sequence only when the message is relevant and the channel is appropriate. Choose the limit and spacing for your context, then stop; do not turn silence into permission for indefinite contact.

If you have had a real conversation, follow up on the next step you discussed and at the time you agreed. If no next step was set, send a relevant check-in or two, then pause. Silence is not a clear yes, a standing invitation, or a reason to continue forever. A direct no or request to stop ends the outreach.

Build a rhythm around the conversation

There is no schedule that fits every buyer or channel. Start with the next step the person agreed to. Otherwise, leave enough time for a response, make each follow-up useful, and reduce frequency as the conversation cools. Set an end point before you start.

Illustrative sequence, not a universal schedule

Use a CRM or calendar reminder to follow up when you said you would, with the context and next step attached. Close is one option for keeping those conversations and tasks together.

I also set up tasks with due dates, and create lists using Smart Filter functions.

For example, a saved view can surface open conversations with an agreed next step due, or qualified prospects who have not had a useful touch recently. Choose filters that match your sales process rather than using an arbitrary call-duration cutoff.

Use the simplest system your team will maintain. A calendar, task list, or CRM can work; record the last interaction, agreed next step, owner, and date so a useful follow-up does not depend on memory.

Use judgment, not a fixed cadence

Your timing depends on the conversation, the value of the next step, the channel, and what the recipient has indicated. Follow any applicable contact preferences and rules.

If someone is handling a major decision or has a crowded inbox, give them room to respond. Refer to the next step you discussed or the date they suggested. Avoid guessing at how many messages they receive or treating seniority as a substitute for context.

Which medium is best for following up?

It depends on what you’re after. Do you want to optimize for a positive outcome or a quick response? Here’s how following up by email, phone, or in person stacks up.

When a written note helps: Email

Email gives the recipient room to respond on their schedule and leaves a clear record of the next step. It can still become intrusive if you keep sending messages without a reason. Use a finite sequence, then pause unless the person invites another check-in.

When timing is urgent: use the agreed channel

For a time-sensitive issue, use the channel the person has agreed to use and explain why timing matters. A call can help when a live conversation is welcome; repeated calls can feel intrusive. Do not manufacture urgency to force a response.

Repeated calls in a short period can overwhelm someone and damage trust. Match the channel and timing to the conversation, and do not use a burst of calls to get around silence.

Choose a channel the person has welcomed

An unannounced visit is not a shortcut to a reply. Use in-person follow-up only when the person has invited it or it is already part of the relationship; otherwise, choose an appropriate remote channel.

Do not invent a reason for an unplanned visit. If you have a legitimate reason to meet in person, be transparent and ask whether a visit would be useful.

Following up via other mediums

Email, phone, or in person are the most common ways of following up but they’re not your only options. Here are the pros and cons of following up by SMS, social media, handwritten notes, or even fax.

Following up with SMS

Text can be useful when the person has shared that number for business contact or agreed to use SMS. It is personal and easy to interrupt someone with, so keep it brief, relevant, and within their stated preferences. Do not assume it will earn a higher response rate.

If someone has invited business texts, use them for a relevant next step, not as a way to bypass unanswered email or calls. Keep preferences and applicable rules in view, and stop if they ask you to. The original 2017 edition described SMS as an uncrowded channel; that claim is time-bound and is not a current response benchmark.

Following up on social media

Social platforms can help you continue a conversation that already belongs there. Use them to respond to something relevant, not to manufacture familiarity by repeatedly liking, commenting, or messaging someone who has not engaged.

The main piece of advice I can give here is to not overdo this and don’t come across as a creepy borderline-stalker.

Following up with handwritten notes

Use your judgment if you want to do this or not. It’s just another weapon in your arsenal.

Depending upon the interactions you had and the relationship you share with them, a handwritten note can still make an impression.

A handwritten note can feel thoughtful when it fits the relationship and adds something personal. The original edition named a vendor and described an integration; that endorsement is historical. Try a few notes only where they make sense, and judge them by the quality of the relationship, not novelty alone.

Following up by fax

“It’s the 21st century. We’re a startup. Fax? Are you serious?”

Yes.

If someone has not replied by email or phone, do not switch channels simply to get around the silence. Use another channel only when it is appropriate for the relationship and the recipient’s preferences.

Because nobody uses fax anymore!

Fax is a channel for specific contexts where the recipient or process calls for it, not an attention hack.

Where an organization explicitly uses fax for a business process, follow its instructions. Otherwise, choose a channel the person expects and has agreed to use.

The dos & don’ts of following up

1. Be courteous and direct.

A delayed reply is not a reason to take things personally. Send a useful note, give the person space, and accept that they may choose not to respond.

1. Keep it short.

Avoid long-winded formalities. No one wants to read through three paragraphs of meaningless pleasantries. Be nice, but get to the point.

1. Add something useful when you can.

If you have something directly relevant to the person’s work or question, include it briefly. Do not send generic material just to create another touch; clear and concise is usually easier to evaluate.

1. Never use guilt to get a reply.

Avoid lines like, “Why haven’t you responded? I’ve sent you ten emails already.” They make the recipient responsible for your decision to keep writing.

A recipient does not owe a reply because you sent a message. Guilt and pressure add friction; make the next step easy to accept or decline, and then respect the choice.

Now, I’ve covered the major points of how the follow-up works. Let’s explore why it works (and the single mistake that will destroy your follow-up).

“You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.” – Publilius Syrus

The principle is simple: guilt is a poor reason to contact someone, and a poor way to earn a useful reply.

We’ve all experienced the guilt of leaving emails, phone calls, and texts unanswered. For instance, someone is awaiting your reply, yet the email still sits in your inbox. You’re busy, stressed out about work, and despite your best intentions, never get around to hitting “Reply.” You feel guilty about the delay and it’s easier to tell yourself that “It must not have been that important” or “They’re already mad and I don’t want to make it worse” than to reply.

Make it comfortable to reply by keeping the tone neutral and the next step simple. Do not imply the recipient needs reassurance for missing your earlier messages; they are free to decline or not respond.

The worst thing you can do is act like an angry, emotional stalker. That means:

1. Do not list your attempts as a debt the recipient needs to repay. Refer to the conversation only when it helps them understand the next step.
2. Do not send a burst of messages in one day to force attention. Space outreach according to the conversation and the recipient’s preferences.
3. Do not accuse someone of ignoring you, and do not use an email-open signal to suggest they owe you a response. Tracking can be incomplete, and an open is not agreement or interest.

Follow up with a smile. Keep it simple, professional and forward-looking.

A neutral, useful tone protects trust, especially when the recipient did not ask to hear from you. Good writing can make a message easier to answer; it cannot guarantee a response or make repeated contact welcome.

“I just booked a meeting with a big lead after over a year of following up. Thanks for the motivation!” – Jarrod Glasglow, Co-founder, Beloved Robot

Most people falsely assume the reason why they get a response to a follow-up email is because they’ve sent a better email or said something smarter.

Sometimes a later note arrives when the person has more time or a clearer need. That is one possible reason for a reply, not a rule; relevance, fit, channel, and timing all matter.

A recipient may have been busy, may have missed the note, may not see a fit, or may simply prefer not to respond. You cannot know which explanation applies without evidence.

A well-timed, relevant follow-up can make a next step easier to see. Treat that as a possibility, not proof that repeated reminders will change someone’s decision.

If someone says they are not interested, accept the answer and stop the outreach. Reopen contact only if they initiate it.

Do not treat follow-up as a way to overcome a decision the buyer has already made.

Focus on conversations where there is a real fit and a mutually useful next step. A follow-up can clarify value or timing; it should not assume that silence means someone is interested but needs more nudging.

If you follow up until the time is right, you can also solve one of the biggest challenges salespeople face: Convincing a prospect to switch from using a competitor’s solution. Here’s how.

“Deals aren’t closed in the show-up, they are closed in the follow-up.”

When you’re trying to get a prospect to drop their existing vendor and switch to your product instead, you’ll almost always encounter resistance. How do you manage (and overcome) that resistance to switching?

Before proposing a switch, verify that the alternative addresses a meaningful problem better enough to justify the buyer’s costs, effort, and risk. Do not assume your product is in their best interest.

The cost of switching vendors

A switch can involve more than price: training, workflow changes, data migration, and risk all matter. Understand which costs apply to this buyer before recommending a timeline or asking them to change.

1. Patience
2. Follow-up

It is not a shortcut. The buyer’s timing and switching costs still matter.

The #1 reason why organizations don’t switch vendors

Patience helps you understand timing. Follow-up is useful when it checks a relevant milestone or agreed next step; it cannot make a bad fit or a firm no disappear.

A buyer may have recently evaluated vendors, committed budget, and invested in implementation. Ask what has changed and when a review would be useful instead of assuming the timing or asking them to restart a decision they just completed.

A buyer may see little reason to switch immediately if the costs and disruption outweigh the expected gain. Compare the actual trade-offs with them; do not assume your product is ten times better.

Be in it for the long haul

If the buyer has a real need but poor timing, agree on a specific milestone or date to revisit. Sales cycles vary by segment, product, contract, and buying process; estimate yours from observed opportunities rather than assuming a six-to-eighteen-month cycle.

That shouldn’t bother you, that should excite you. You’re building a pipeline of great, high-value leads that you can close next year. This is an opportunity to build a relationship with them and get to know them better and learn about their sales process.

If the buyer welcomes a later check-in, record the date and the reason to reconnect. Send an update only when it relates to their priorities. Repetition by itself does not build trust.

A contract renewal or organizational change may create a useful reason to reconnect. Confirm that the timing and contact are welcome, then bring a specific update tied to what the buyer said mattered.

How to decide if a prospect is worth investing time in

Of course, you don’t want to waste a lot of time on prospects who will never close. Being perpetually stuck in “I’m working on my pipeline” land is the sign of lousy salespeople.

Start with fit: can your product credibly address a problem the buyer cares about? If so, ask whether they want to stay in touch and what future event would make a check-in useful. If not, move on.

Also compare the likely customer value with the time and cost required to serve the opportunity. Use your own margins and sales effort; a fixed dollar threshold will not fit every business.

On the other hand, if a prospect is showing some buying signals, but isn’t really a good fit for your product ... then they’re probably not worth following up with all that time.

“I’ve been applying your follow-up teachings. It changed my mindset (I don’t get as offended anymore if someone doesn’t reply immediately) and allowed me to keep pursuing leads who eventually closed.” – Allan Caeg, Founder, Northbound.io

At this point, you know what following up is and how to do it. There’s nothing stopping you from closing this book right now and start hustling by following up more. But I’ve found that most people don’t follow up nearly as much as they should because they get in their own way.

Specifically, there are two false assumptions that separate people who follow up and get what they want from people who don’t follow up.

1. You think silence is rejection.

When someone does not respond, you do not know whether they are busy, uninterested, or have missed the message. Make a limited number of useful attempts, then pause; do not assume silence is consent or interest.

You’re not the center of your prospect’s universe and they might not be responding for a variety of reasons:

- They’re sick. - They’re dealing with a problem in their personal or family life. - Their boss changed their priorities for the quarter and put a ton of new work on their plate.

Silence alone does not tell you whether the person is busy, uninterested, or has not seen your message. It also does not invite unlimited contact. Treat it as uncertainty, use a finite next step, then leave space.

For Colleen Werther, a business development director, telling herself that a prospect wasn’t interested almost cost her an important deal:

I had gotten the cell phone of a prospect at a major coffee retailer but was hesitating to call the prospect. I had created a false narrative in my head that he didn’t want to talk to me. I called him and finally got answers I’ve been looking for, further he’s put me in touch with the right people and I have a call set with that contact for this week.

Her amazing breakthrough couldn’t have happened if she kept believing in the fake story she was telling herself about the prospect.

Do not infer a firm no from silence alone, but do not infer interest either. Make a reasonable, relevant follow-up and then give the person room to choose whether to respond.

Do not assume silence means interest. Make a limited, relevant follow-up when appropriate, then pause and let the person choose whether to respond.

2. You want to be persistent without crossing a boundary.

No one wants to be a jerk.

Being liked feels better, safer. It means you don’t have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations or potentially make other people feel uncomfortable.

But here’s the thing: You’ll never get what you want if you always optimize for being popular. High school might be a popularity contest, but life isn’t.

Even in sales, a field which has a reputation of being hard-charging and ruthless, many reps get caught up in being liked. And in the pursuit of likability, they get lost in the “building rapport” stage and never accomplish the things that matter in sales.

In sales, your objective isn’t to establish all the things you share and have in common, your objective is to figure out if the prospect is a good fit and to close the deal.

Do not optimize for universal approval, but do not treat people who dislike repeated outreach as the cost of doing business. Create value in relevant conversations and respect a person’s decision to disengage.

Focus on being useful to the people who have a relevant reason to hear from you, and respect the people who do not.

“The choice isn’t between success and failure; it’s between choosing risk and striving for greatness, or risking nothing and being certain of mediocrity.” – Keith Ferrazzi

Following up isn’t hard; people make it hard because they take silence for rejection or don’t want to be annoying. But there’s another side to it: What happens if you don’t follow up?

You end up in “maybeland”, which is where everything you try to accomplish goes to die.

A clear yes helps you plan; a clear no helps you move on. Many conversations end without either. Record what is known, avoid treating ambiguity as a commitment, and decide when it is reasonable to close the loop.

Your job is to make the next step clear and easy to accept or decline. The other person decides whether to take it.

Yet, most people think that a maybe is better than a no, even though that’s seldom the case.

Hopeless optimism

As entrepreneurs, startup team members, and salespeople, we are hopeless optimists. We always look at the potential, we always see the possibilities.

Let’s say you’ve reached out to a prospect. You know you can create incredible value for them and this deal will benefit you as well. They seem to agree but then, they tell you, “We’ll look into this next quarter.”

Most people tend to look at the fact that they didn’t say no and tell themselves, “They’re going to sign the deal later. I just need to wait.”

If the timing is uncertain, ask whether and when a check-in would be useful. If there is no response, follow a finite plan and then pause rather than chasing a forced yes or no.

What’s your Plan B?

Whenever you embark on a new project, start a new initiative or run a new experiment, don’t just go into it blindly. Don’t just say: “We’ll try it out and see if it works!”

Determine these three things in advance:

1. What will success look like? (What results/numbers/specific outcomes?)
2. What will failure look like?
3. What are you going to do if the outcome you create is somewhere in the middle?

Before you embark on a new project or start a new initiative, define how you’ll determine success or failure. That’s the time when you’re in the best position to make a good judgment call, not after you’ve already invested a considerable amount of resources into the project. It’s a way of protecting yourself against the sunk cost fallacy (and yes, this cognitive bias is just as strong in smart startup folks as it is in Wall Street hotshots).

Maybe kills performance

In sales, a clear next step is useful. A yes or no can resolve a decision, but the buyer is not obliged to provide one on your timeline.

Optimize first and foremost for speed and clarity.

Don’t try to optimize for maximum possible conversions. It’s not about getting everyone to buy, everyone to agree, every deal to close.

Because if you try to optimize for the best conversion rate possible, you’ll end up wasting too much time and energy waiting for certain deals to close ... maybe! You’re going to wait around and let the prospect “think about it”, let them extend their trial again, let them delay the decision to next quarter ... and the next ... and the next. (All to avoid a no, because that would be a lost deal.)

Unclear opportunities can consume time. Set a review date, track what you know, and move on when there is no agreed next step or fresh signal. Do not use repeated outreach to manufacture urgency.

“Stubbornly persist, and you will find that the limits of your stubbornness go well beyond the stubbornness of your limits.” – Robert Brault

Whether you are a CEO, an intern, or a solo-founder, you have to rely on others to do their part so you can do your job. Your success depends on how well others cooperate with you. If you manage those relationships well, you’ll be able to get a great deal done and make a lot happen.

Yet, do you often find that people commit but then give you all kinds of excuses for why they didn’t do it?

Do you often hear: “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot about that,” or “I didn’t have the time to do that yet”?

In the original edition, I attributed fewer missed commitments to a consistent follow-up habit. The durable lesson is to make ownership, timing, and blockers clear; follow-up should support accountability, not pressure people into promises they cannot keep.

Straightforward management

There are a ton of management books out there, full of big words and fancy concepts. I don’t think you need any of them. I’ve got a very simple, straightforward method I’ve used for much of my entrepreneurial career, and it’s one of the most valuable tools in my management repertoire. It ensures that whenever I work with someone, my stuff gets taken care of. It doesn’t fall through the cracks, and it’s not the thing that people didn’t get around to yet. To illustrate my point ...

Let me tell you a little story

About fifteen years ago, my two brothers were running a small business. They always used this one print shop to create all kinds of promotional materials: flyers, posters, signage, and so on. The owner of that shop was a cool and ambitious young guy, a kind of crazy creative fun guy, but pretty chaotic.

My brothers really liked the guy. He knew his stuff, he had the skills, and he was a great craftsman. And he did the work for cheap too.

But they didn’t like his way of working: Chronically late, often with some mistake in his work. Flyers would arrive late. Posters were printed with errors. He was so disorganized that my brothers were constantly dealing with some mishap, feeling frustrated. But they didn’t do anything about it, they just kept complaining.

Don’t complain about problems. Find solutions!

One day, after my brother got off a call with the guy, he vented his frustration to me. “He’s always late! He never keeps his deadlines! And not only is he late, but there’s always something wrong with the prints!”

Maybe you have that kind of person in your life somewhere: Someone who is consistently late and consistently delivers work that doesn’t meet your expectations.

If you see this pattern, you can do one of these three things:

1. Understand that this is how this person works. Don’t expect perfect work on the agreed deadline and don’t get worked up and stressed out each time they miss something. Instead, schedule in enough buffer time for missed deadlines and revisions.
2. Manage that person better so they stop being late and deliver great quality.
3. Find someone else to work with.

I’m not going to elaborate on point 1 or 3, they’re pretty self-explanatory.

But let’s talk about point #2 ...

Managing people more effectively

That sounds difficult. But it really isn’t.

Here’s the thing: I was running my own business at the time and was also working with the same chaotic, creative print guy.

And you know what?

He was never late. He always delivered on time. The prints were always meticulous.

Do you know why?

Not because the guy liked me more. Not because I paid the guy more. Not because I was a better customer.

It was simply because I kept following up more. I communicated more effectively with him than my brothers did.

How to become a priority

Let’s say I wanted some flyers done by Wednesday next week.

I’d tell the guy what I wanted and by when I wanted it, and once he agreed, I’d say this: “Are you one hundred percent certain that you can deliver this to me by next Wednesday?”

Print guy: “Yeah, sure!”

“This project matters to me. Would a check-in on Monday help you flag any blockers before Wednesday? Let me know what timing works, and what you need from me.”

What did that do?

We had agreed on the deadline and a check-in, so both of us knew when to raise a problem and what was expected.

So when he was in the midst of his busy day with a thousand things to take care of, guess what was on top of his mind?

“Oh yeah, I need to do this thing for Steli because he’ll call on Monday.”

Don’t be rude about it. But don’t be weak about it either. Do it with friendly strength.

For ongoing work, agree on owners, dates, and how to flag a blocker. A short check-in can help people follow through, but repeated reminders do not make a project more important or replace a realistic commitment.

It’s your responsibility to get the best out of people you work with

If a commitment slips, first clarify what changed and whether the plan is still realistic. Agree on a new owner or date, or decide together to stop. Clear communication helps work move forward; repeated reminders cannot replace capacity or a workable agreement.

Follow up on the commitments you made together, and make it easy to surface a blocker early.

“In case of doubt, push on just a little further and then keep on pushing.” – General George S Patton, Jr.

A few years ago, I interviewed the one and only Gary Vaynerchuk for our blog. To a lot of people, that was a pretty impressive feat, especially because back then we had a much smaller audience, whereas Gary had more than a million followers on Twitter and amazing Facebook page engagement.

Friends kept asking me: “How did you pull that off? How did you get Gary to dedicate an hour of his time to do an interview with you, Steli?”

How I made the interview happen

In terms of Internet fame, I was basically a zero. Until that point, most of my entrepreneurial triumphs happened under the radar, and the small amount of notoriety I had was generated by me stubbornly struggling with a startup that had been a failure many years before I realized it.

Gary, on the other hand, was getting paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak for an hour at events.

So it was a fair question to ask: how did I convince Gary Vee to do the interview?

Here’s the short answer: Persistent follow-up hustle.

In this historical story, I first contacted Gary years before Close existed, while a few friends and I were building a live-shopping startup. That earlier project and its channels belong to the period described in the original edition; they are context for the anecdote, not current marketing guidance.

During that period, I read Gary’s first book, *Crush It!* (If you haven’t read it, it’s an absolute must-read even though it was published in 2009.)

At the end of the book, he listed five billion-dollar business ideas that he liked but didn’t have the time to pursue. Guess what the first idea was?

When I saw that, I got very excited: “Wow! We gotta get Gary to invest in us and get him involved in this venture!”

the QVC of the internet

It blows my mind that this hasn’t been done on a serious level yet. Ustream.tv and Justin.tv are free platforms that replicate live television, they provide the perfect opportunity for a great salesperson to start an efficient online QVC. Find a terrific host (or host the show yourself), mix things up by inviting guests…

We wrote Gary a very long cold email (back then I knew surprisingly little about cold emailing).

We created a website on a ridiculous domain, something like www.garyveeinvestinus.com, and plastered its background with the NY Jets logo (we had learned he wanted to buy the Jets one day). We also put in a couple of video snippets of our QVC live stream along with a business plan.

We invested a lot of time and energy into this pitch. Convinced that our pitch was irresistible, we sat back and waited for Gary’s enthusiastic response, surely he’d want to invest.

His response?

Silence

Nothing. No reply. We sent another email. No response. A couple more follow-up emails, tweets, and phone calls. Nothing. Either he wasn’t even aware of our efforts, or he completely ignored them.

I could have felt hurt or upset that we put in all this effort and didn’t get a reply from him or anyone on his team. I could have felt entitled to get some kind of reaction.

But I didn’t, and neither did my friend. We didn’t attach any feelings to this non-outcome. We tried our best to get Gary’s attention, and then we just moved on.

A few years later

Fast-forward to 2013. I was watching a video of Gary Vaynerchuk together with a friend, and we heard Gary say he’s a salesperson at his core.

I’ve watched a ton of videos of Gary, and nobody ever asked him about sales. Everyone wanted to hear his thoughts on social media, e-commerce, Internet businesses, and marketing, but no one ever asked him about his thoughts on how to sell.

So I got this idea of doing an interview with Gary on salesmanship.

One of our investors is a close friend of Gary’s, so I reached out to him and pitched him the idea.

At first, he gave us a polite pass: “Gary is currently on a book tour. Follow up with me again in a couple of months, and maybe I’ll try.”

Which is exactly what I did.

Our investor asked Gary if he’d be willing to do the interview, and Gary said he liked the idea.

And then, silence.

I followed up a couple of times again.

Silence.

Followed up again.

Finally, a response from Gary’s team: “Gary’s interested. He wants to do the interview.”

Yes! ... or no?

Now I had my official yes: Gary had made the commitment!

Except I had to keep following up for months to finally make the interview happen. There were all kinds of scheduling conflicts, last-minute cancellations, and other obstacles in the way.

I could have thrown in the towel or gotten all indignant about this.

But I realized that Gary is just a crazy busy guy who’s overwhelmed with requests. If I wanted to get an hour of his time, I’d have to work around that.

Conducting the interview

If you watch the interview, you’ll see Gary isn’t excited at first. Clearly, he feels there are a lot of things he would rather do than an hour-long Skype interview in his hotel room with some dude nobody has ever heard about, it’s written all over his face.

But as the interview proceeds, you can see his energy changes and he genuinely begins to enjoy the opportunity to explore a couple of questions no one had ever asked him.

What the interview did for us

This video got more than 40,000 views, which might not mean much if you’re posting a 30-second video of a cute cat, but it’s pretty impressive for a 43-minute talking-heads Skype video with crappy sound and video quality.

I enjoyed interviewing Gary very much, but it was our company that really benefited from it.

Here is what happened as a result of the interview:

- A lot of trial signups for our sales software - Thousands of dollars in revenue - Some of Gary’s followers started following our brand as well - It elevated our brand and our credibility as a company

Your current results in life are an indicator of your past hustle

Some opportunities grow from work done months or years earlier. That history can matter, but it is not a guarantee that persistence will pay off in every relationship.

Just consider the interview with Gary. I was able to engage him in a really interesting conversation only because I knew his stuff: I had read his books, I had watched his videos, and over 15 years I had developed a deep understanding of the sales process.

I didn’t ask him the same questions he’d already answered a hundred times, I made it interesting for him by asking him questions that prompted him to think about himself in ways he might not have deliberated in the past.

Not happy with your current achievements?

If you think what you have accomplished thus far is not enough, it’s not because of what you’re doing today. It’s because of what you did and didn’t do in the months and years leading up to this very day. It’s because you showed up a bunch of times but didn’t follow up and follow through till the final result.

And if you’re grinding and putting in hard work today, if you’re following up with people pushing projects forward and making sure you stay top of mind, don’t expect results tomorrow! That’s not how real life works. That’s what Hollywood movies and the media make it look like because the dream is what sells.

The original 2017 edition used an unsourced 0.1% figure to describe overnight success. That number is not a current statistic. Long-term effort can matter, but persistence should still be guided by fit, consent, and evidence.

“There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.” – Author Unknown

When it comes to fundraising, there are many mistakes founders make. These mistakes range from fundraising part-time to falling in love with investors and VC firms. However, there’s one mistake in particular that founders make that could be avoided if they followed up more: In fundraising, you haven’t raised anything until cash hits the bank. This is particularly true when you raise money from angel investors but this is also, unfortunately, true for VC firms.

The problem is inexperienced startups and founders think that the moment somebody signs a term sheet is the moment you’ve raised money. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The deal is not done until money is in your bank account. It doesn’t matter who said what. It doesn’t matter how many handshakes you got. It doesn’t matter if the VC firm blogged about your company. You have not raised a penny until that penny hits the bank.

Never forget that. A lot of startups are surprised, especially when they raise a seed round from angel investors. They’re surprised by how long it takes the angel investors to send over the money and how many of the angel investors who said, “Yes, I’m in,” never send the money.

I learned this lesson first-hand. The first round one of my startups raised was a catastrophe. It was only $50,000 and it took one investor six months to give us a check for $15,000.

Besides that, there were three other investors who are multimillionaires who said, “Yes, we’re going to invest,” and never invested.

Just because somebody says yes doesn’t mean you’re going to get the money. The world is littered with dead startups that got term sheets from VC firms that promised to give them money and didn’t follow through on their promise.

It’s your responsibility when somebody tells you, “Yes,” to turn that yes into cash in your bank account as quickly as possible.

When we later raised our seed round, $1.4 million in four weeks, you know when we had all the money in the bank? Two weeks later.

You know why? Because I followed up by email, phone, and SMS with every investor and VC firm multiple times a day until we got that money in the bank account.

It’s as simple as that. You’re like a bookie and it’s your job to get the money that people promise you.

Don’t think, “These are important investors. This is a billionaire. This is the VC that invested in blah, blah, blah. I surely don’t have to micromanage them.” No! You have to micromanage everybody and people who are really successful and experienced appreciate somebody who’s on their game. They appreciate it when you follow up and follow through with them to make sure things get done.

They go, “You know what? If this startup acts towards their customers like they do with me, they’re going to be fine. They’re on their game. They’re on the hustle.”

Investors are not annoyed if you are on their case about getting money. And the ones who are? Ignore them. They’re not serious. It’s just as simple as that.

Please remember that when people promise to give you money, that a promise is not a success. Only cash in your hand, in your bank account, in your pocket is true fundraising success. The surest way to turn promises of money into real cash is to be on top of your follow-up game until people deliver what they promised.

“Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.” – Napoleon Hill

The power of the follow-up can be used to close deals, overcome rejection, and achieve the impossible. Here’s how to harness that same power to recruit the unrecruitable, or how to hire amazing, talented, transformational people for your startup.

I’m going to share two stories from my company’s earlier years, before Close had its current name and product. They show how persistence shaped recruiting and relationships; use the practical lesson to set a clear limit and respect the answer.

I’m going to share two stories from the company archives that illustrate the role follow-up played in hiring and customer relationships. Before the stories, let’s make sure you’ve got the right hiring mindset.

If you can’t commit to a decade, don’t commit to a day

In recruiting, you’ll come across three types of candidates: Those who do good work, those who make a difference, and those who make all the difference.

The first two are in good supply. But those who make all the difference? They’re almost impossibly rare. When you find someone you believe can make all the difference in your business, hire them, no matter what it takes or how long it takes.

And it’ll probably take a lot. But that’s okay, because as Naval Ravikant, the CEO of Angellist said, “If you can’t see yourself working with someone for life, don’t work with them for a day.”

Hire for the work and team needs you can reasonably see, while leaving room for those needs to change. Shared values and potential matter, but no one can predict a ten- or thirty-year fit; assess the role and evidence in front of you.

If a strong candidate is not ready, ask whether they would welcome staying in touch and what timing works for them. Keep any check-in useful and occasional, and stop if they decline or disengage. No amount of follow-up guarantees they will join.

A long-term relationship can be valuable, but the possibility of one does not justify disregarding someone’s present answer or boundaries.

But that’s enough theory. Let’s talk about what this looks like in practice. Here are two true stories of transformational hires made possible through the power of relentless follow-up.

A 3-year recruiting process (that started by getting drunk at a party)

In the original edition, Steli described Phil Freo’s early role in building what became Close. This is a historical account of the company, not a claim about current roles or organization structure.

Before working together at Close, Phil and I were friends involved in education startups. The story starts well before the current company and product.

Even back then, I knew I wanted to work with him and I made sure he knew that, too. I remember getting drunk at a TechCrunch party one night and saying (read: slurring) something like, “Phil, I think you’re really amazing. I love your energy and your intellect. Someday, I want to work with you. I need to work with you. I will work with you.”

He said he felt the same, though maybe he was just being nice. After all, what are you supposed to say in a situation like that? Either way, the whole thing was hypothetical. I wasn’t in a position to make an offer, and he wasn’t looking for anything new.

I told him I hoped we might work together someday. The relationship continued over time, but that outcome was specific to us and is not a reason to keep pursuing someone who has declined.

The worst decision of Phil’s life

Fast-forward a couple years: My startup had failed. While I was figuring out my next move, Phil was helping a mutual friend of ours brainstorm ideas for a new app.

Eventually, I was pitched the idea and, knowing Phil was advising the startup, jumped on board immediately. Although not an “official” part of the team, Phil was an incredibly helpful advisor. In fact, he even let us use his apartment as our first headquarters.

With Phil’s help, we launched our product, found some traction, raised money, and even got accepted into Y Combinator. And as soon as we could afford to, we pushed hard to hire Phil.

There was this 3-month process where we were inviting him to breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at least once a week. We were calling him, emailing him, showing up at his apartment ... We even had a few Y Combinator partners pitch him on working with us. We tried everything.

Even after all that, Phil broke our hearts. The answer was, “No.” He wasn’t ready to leave the startup he was working with.

But what happened next is critical: When most people are rejected after this level of investment, they cut ties and give up. We refused to do that. In fact, his rejection only made us more committed.

That’s not to say the rejection didn’t hurt, or that I didn’t rib him for it. In fact, I remember texting him a photo of that day to commemorate what I called the, “Worst decision of your life.”

But even with that disappointment, we continued to invest in the relationship. More importantly, we continued to make our intentions clear: One day, one way or another, we would work together.

The best decision of Phil’s life

About a year and a half later, the earlier outsourced sales business had become ElasticSales, which later preceded Close. This is a historical company transition from the original account.

As our situation changed, so did Phil’s. He’d spent the last year-and-a-half building a highly-efficient team that had become less dependent on him by the day. And once he felt comfortable doing so, he started flirting with the idea of working with us again.

You’d better believe we pounced on that. And this time, it worked. After a few months of discussions, Phil joined the team. I’m not gonna lie: It felt amazing.

Years of investment finally paid off. But was it worth it?

Every second.

Phil joined and helped build technology for the sales team. The company later released that product as Close. This account describes the product’s earlier history.

The cost and ROI of following up

Recruiting Phil didn’t come easy and both sides had to invest a lot. But because of that investment, there was a richness to our relationship that really allowed it to thrive.

The story had a positive outcome, but no one could know that in advance. Keep a professional relationship when it is mutually welcome; do not treat a candidate’s no as a puzzle to solve or assume persistence will change it.

Remember: When you find someone you believe can make all the difference, pursue them relentlessly. When they’re finally ready for a change, you want to be the first person they think of.

I truly believe that the follow-up is one of the most under-appreciated high-impact areas in your life. I say that because I hardly ever meet anyone who’s really great at it. It applies to all areas of life. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve got a dedicated feature to help you manage your follow-ups with our sales software.

Speaking of people that can make all the difference ...

Winning, losing, and (finally) winning again

The original edition also tells the story of a former colleague who later returned to the company. It is a historical relationship story, not a playbook for keeping pressure on former employees.

Nick Persico first joined during the ElasticSales period and later worked on the launch of what became Close. This account describes his historical contributions at the company.

Nick became successful quickly and received a job offer from one of our clients. We were disappointed when he accepted, but respected his decision to leave Close.

But even so, we weren’t angry or bitter. We knew we wanted him back, needed to have him back, so we did everything we could to help him succeed in his new role.

Nick’s company later became a customer, and he introduced other companies to Close. That outcome is one historical example, not a predictable result of persistence.

The hardships of entrepreneurship

A couple of years passed, and Nick decided to leave his role to co-found a startup of his own. It would have been easy for us to become discouraged by this. Instead, we doubled down on our investment efforts.

We became ad hoc advisors to Nick’s startup and did everything we could to help him succeed. But even as we did so, we made our intentions clear: One day, we wanted him back.

Later, Nick’s startup began to struggle. I remember having these odd monthly calls where we’d spend the first 30 minutes discussing strategies to save the startup, and the next 30 minutes telling him that it probably wasn’t going to work out and he should come back.

In the original account, Nick declined offers for a period before later returning. That result was specific to the relationship; repeated offers after a no should not be treated as a recruiting standard.

Homecoming

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), Nick’s startup didn’t make it. And when it didn’t work out and Nick found himself needing a job, what was the first thing on his mind? Where did he know he could go where he’d be welcomed and supported?

Nick later returned to Close. The story is a reminder that relationships can change over time when both sides remain open, not a reason to ignore a person’s decision.

As of writing, Nick has been back only a few weeks but he’s already changing the ways we operate. In fact, the things he learned in his time away have made him even more valuable to us than before.

The relationship eventually led to a return, but three years of pursuit is not a transferable rule. Ask before maintaining contact and accept the answer.

Can your startup afford not to have amazing people?

When you meet someone you respect, be clear about your interest and ask whether they would like to stay connected. Follow through on shared plans, and let them set the boundary if they are not interested.

Invest however you can, whenever you can, and keep in mind it doesn’t always have to be something major: Collaborate with them on a blog post. Invite them to join you at a conference. Or just hang out, have a beer, and take an interest in their career.

If you would like to work together, say so once, explain why the fit matters, and leave the choice with them. Do not frame another person’s career decision as inevitable.

Professional relationships can last, but they remain voluntary. Keep contact useful, mutual, and welcome.

This bonus section includes examples for a concise check-in, a light touch, and a respectful close-the-loop email. Adapt them to the conversation and your contact rules; no template guarantees a reply.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

There are 3 simple rules you need to follow if you want to send follow up emails that create results:

1. Be relevant.
2. Get to the point fast.
3. Make it easy for them to respond.

Making it easy for them to respond is key, yet it’s something most people forget. Sometimes, we ask people to make too many decisions and that friction prevents them from ever writing us back. The solution? The 1, 2, 3 email.

The concept is simple: Present your prospect with three scenarios that are likely to apply to them based on the information you have about them. Ask them to choose which scenario applies to their situation. All they have to do is hit reply, enter a number and click send. Friction removed.

Here’s a template you can use when following up:

Humor can make a note feel more human when it fits the relationship. The original 2017 edition described this approach as effective, but it offered no response-rate data. Use humor sparingly and never to disguise a generic or unwanted message.

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” – Charles Dickens

Many people ask me for new creative ways to spice up their follow-up hustle and I came across an awesome guy who’s putting some “funny” in his follow-up and seeing great results with it.

The original edition recounts a conference sponsorship example in which Rachman sent a humorous image after no reply. It is a dated anecdote, not a recommendation to send memes to people who have not welcomed that style of contact.

The author described the responses as positive, but the book does not provide a sample or response-rate data.

After the talk, I asked to learn more about FunnyBizz. The following story is an anecdote about a conversation between people who had already met, not a cold-outreach template.

It’s one thing to preach something on stage and another to practice it in real life. When he didn’t hear from me in a while, he sent an awesome follow-up video.

At first, I thought it would be a generic video he sent out to everyone but then, Rachman specifically mentioned my name and company’s name before two dudes burst in behind him, playing the guitar while singing the “Follow-up song.”

It was a great example of how to be creative in your follow-up and create immediate value in a relationship by putting a smile on someone’s face and making their day a little brighter.

The baby ducks follow-up

Sometimes, readers forward me great follow-up emails they receive. I thought this one was hilarious and wanted to share it with you.

These historical examples use humor. Consider whether the recipient knows you and would welcome the joke; if not, use a direct, professional note instead.

A reader of the original edition reported getting a quick reply from a close-the-loop email. This is an individual testimonial, not evidence of a typical result.

Some people will reply to a final check-in; others will not. A close-the-loop note can clarify that you are pausing, but it should not be written to provoke fear of loss or force a response.

A close-the-loop note is simply a clear statement that you will pause outreach. It is not a relationship tactic or a threat to withdraw value in order to get attention.

Use a close-the-loop message only where another contact is appropriate. A past interaction or trial does not erase a request to stop or make someone responsible for replying.

How to write an effective breakup email

Keep the subject clear and neutral. For example:

Closing the loop · Pausing outreach for now · Should I keep this open?

Email body

The email body itself should be short and succinct.

Here are four good examples of inbound break up emails.

This Trunk Club email does a good job at re-stating the value that’s being lost.

Subject: Goodbye from Trunk Club

Hi Steli,

I was really looking forward to putting together a trunk of great clothes for you, but I haven’t heard a response to my calls and emails. That means this will be my last email to you. If you change your mind and would like to give Trunk Club a try, please let me know and I’ll have you looking great in no time.

Best,

Here is an adapted example based on a message in the 2017 edition:

Subject: Thank You From Hubspot

Steli,

I’m closing the loop on this conversation for now.

If this is still a priority, you are welcome to reply with a next step. If not, no response is needed and I will pause outreach.

Thanks for considering it. If your priorities change, you can reach me here.

Best,

Here’s an email from Bryan Kreuzberger’s Breakthrough Email.

“Should I stay or should I go?” is another option. Here’s an example from Uberflip.

Use these as inspiration for your own breakup emails, and constantly track how these emails perform.

The basic structure of an effective breakup email

Here are the elements you want to include in your email:

A respectful close-the-loop note can: state that you are pausing; briefly name the relevant conversation; leave one optional route to reconnect; and avoid blame, artificial urgency, or a demand for a reply.

Mistakes to avoid

Sometimes I get breakup emails that have an almost accusatory or disappointed tone, that’s not what you should do.

It’s important that you keep the email on the emotionally positive or neutral side. After all, this isn’t a high school breakup; you’re a professional, this is business. No blame, criticism or disappointment.

Why it works

A final note should communicate your next action, not try to trigger fear of missing out. If there is real value, explain it plainly and let the person choose.

A close-the-loop note is not a way to create interest where there is no fit. If the recipient is cold or has declined, stop rather than searching for a more provocative message.

For someone who previously showed interest, a clear final note may make it easy to restart a conversation later. Treat that as an option, not a nudge designed to make them feel they are losing something.

“If you double the number of times you follow up after reading this book, we’ve made the world a better place.”

You have reached the end of the original book. Instead of trying to contact everyone at once, choose one open conversation where a useful, welcome next step is clear.

That’s also why most people live average lives.

Try this next:

Pick one conversation with a relevant next step.

Choose the channel the person expects.

Send one concise note that names the context and offers a useful next step. If the person has already declined, do not reopen the conversation. If you do not hear back, follow your stated limit and pause.

Take the time you need to make it relevant and respectful.

Here, I’ll leave some empty space on the page for you so you have time to do this now:

...

This call to email the author uses an old email address from the 2017 edition and is no longer a reliable contact path. The useful exercise is to make one thoughtful next step, then record when to follow up or when to stop.

Following through helped the author in his own work. Your results will depend on the fit, timing, and choices of the people involved.