Let’s Talk About Follow-up Etiquette

I recently received a follow-up message that simply said: “Janet?”

No context.  No greeting.  No indication of what the sender was referring to. 

And this happened twice.  From the same person.  A seasoned sales professional, someone I had already exchanged messages with.

As someone who has spent their career leading Revenue Operations (RevOps) transformations, I see this kind of miscommunication misstep far too often.  I’m also a Certified CustomerCentric Selling® (CCS) Business Partners, and I teach the CCS methodology  as part of the Sales Minor at The Jack Welch School of Business at Sacred Heart University. 

Sales isn’t just my profession, its my lens for understanding how businesses grow and how people connect.

Effective communication is rooted in: respect, relevance, clarity, value.

A good follow-up should:

✅ Reference the prior interaction.  Remind the recipient of the context.
✅ State your intent clearly.  What are you asking for, and why?
✅ Offer value .  How does your message help move the conversation forward?
✅ Be courteous.  Respect the recipient’s time and attention.

A vague message like “Janet?” puts the burden on the recipient to decode your intent.  That’s not customer-centric, it’s self-centric.  And in RevOps, we know that friction like this can derail pipeline velocity and erode trust.

Now, contrast that with a student who emailed me this week asking to be let into a fully registered class. Their message included: 

-       A clear purpose

-       A specific ask

-       A thoughtful explanation of why

-       And above all, genuine courtesy

Even though I couldn’t accommodate the request, the student’s approach demonstrated maturity, professionalism and respect.  Everything that we aim to teach through CCS and everything RevOps strives to operationalize across the buyer journey.

Let’s raise the bar.  Follow-ups should build trust, not erode it.