Follow-Up Steps After Initial Negotiation Meetings

The Follow-up Dance Everyone wants the contract. Few master the follow-up. Here's what most do: Send the proposal. Wait three days. Send "Just checking in..." Repeat until ghosted. It's the dance of desperation, and your prospect can hear the music. But what if we've got it backwards? McDonald's follows up with "want fries with that?" Amazon follows up with "others also bought..." But you? You're following up with "did you see my proposal?" See the difference? One adds value. The other adds pressure. Your proposal isn't sitting unopened because they forgot about it. It's sitting unopened because you haven't given them a reason to open it. The real follow-up isn't about the contract at all. It's about continuing to be useful. To be interesting. To be worth paying attention to. Share an insight about their industry. Point out a competitor's misstep. Send an article that makes them think. Because the best follow-up isn't a follow-up at all. It's leadership. Formula for Contract Follow-Up: 1. Acknowledge the pain of change: Empathize with the challenges or effort involved. 2. Contextualize the cost of inaction (COI): Connect the delay to tangible consequences, framed in the present. 3. Reframe the obstacle: Make the “enemy” external (e.g., a roadblock, not them). 4. Invite honesty: Create a safe space to hear the real status, including bad news. 3 Messaging Formats 1. Concise & Direct Subject: Are we hitting a roadblock? Hi [Name], You’ve been instrumental in getting this proposal to the finish line, and I truly appreciate the effort. I know [specific COI, e.g., “every week of delay keeps X revenue off the table”]. Has something unexpected come up that’s holding back the final signature? I’d rather know where we stand so we can adapt as needed. Let me know. [Your Name] 2. Empathetic & Collaborative Subject: Checking in on the proposal Hi [Name], I know this process isn’t easy—you’ve been a champion working through the details, and I appreciate it. That said, we’re seeing [specific COI, e.g., “the impact of [X issue] creeping into next quarter”]. Is there an unexpected roadblock we need to address together to move things forward? Or has something else shifted? Happy to adjust if needed—just let me know where we stand. Best, [Your Name] 3. Narrative & Storytelling Subject: Getting ahead of status quo losses Hi [Name], I can imagine how grueling contract reviews can be—it's one of the least glamorous but most critical steps. It got me thinking about [specific COI, e.g., “how $2M slipped through the cracks last year due to the status quo”]. Have we run into an unexpected roadblock that might risk a similar outcome this time around? It’s okay if we’re stuck—I just want to make sure we can keep the momentum toward solving [specific pain point or goal]. [Your Name] ___________ When was the last time your follow-up made someone smarter?

Here's exactly how I structure my follow-ups to stop deals from slipping or ghosting at the last minute. Buyers ask themselves 5 crucial questions before they spend money. So we match our follow ups to each different question of the buying journey. The questions: 1/ "Do we Have a Problem or Goal that we Urgently need help with?" Follow up examples: Thought Leadership emphasizing the size / importance of the problem. Things like articles from Forbes, McKinsey, HBR or an industry specific publication. Screenshots, summations or info-graphics. NOT LINKS. No one reads them. 2/ "What's out there to Solve the Problem? How do Vendors differ?" Follow up examples: Sample RFP templates with pre-filled criteria. Easy to read buying guides. Especially if written by a 3rd party. 3/ "What Exactly do we need this Solution to do? Who do we feel good about?" Follow up examples: 3 bullets of criteria your Buyers commonly use during evaluations (especially differentiators.) Here's example wording I've used at UserGems 💎: "Thought you might find it helpful to see how other companies have evaluated tools to track their past champions. Their criteria are usually: *Data quality & ROI potential *Security (SOC2 type 2 and GDPR) *How easy or hard is it to take action: set up/training, automation, playbooks Cheers!" 4/ "Is the Juice worth the Squeeze - both $$$ & Time?" Follow up examples: Screenshots of emails, texts or DMs from customers talking about easy set up. Love using ones like the Slack pictured here. Feels more organic and authentic than a marketing case study. 5/ "What's next? How will this get done?" Follow up examples: Visual timelines Introductions to the CSM/onboard team Custom/short videos from CSM leadership When we tailor our follow ups to answer the questions our Buyers are asking themselves - Even (especially!) the subconscious ones Our sales cycles can be smoother, faster and easier to forecast. Buyer Experience > Sales Stages What's your best advice for how to follow up? ps - If you liked this breakdown, join 6,000+ other sellers getting value from my newsletter. Details on my website!

The 48-Hour Follow-Up Rule That's Opening Doors The difference between average and exceptional medical sales reps often comes down to one thing: what happens AFTER the initial meeting. I've implemented what I call my "48-Hour Value Follow-Up Rule," and it's transformed my results: Within 48 hours of EVERY meaningful interaction with a healthcare provider, I send something of genuine value tailored to their specific needs or interests: • A relevant clinical study they hadn't seen • A testimonial from a similar provider using my solution • A quick video addressing a question they raised The key is that it must be personalized and valuable—never generic. Why 48 hours? It's the sweet spot: • Soon enough that your conversation is still fresh • Enough time to find something truly relevant • Before competitors have followed up This simple practice has doubled my callback rate and significantly shortened my sales cycles. Remember: In medical sales, the follow-up is where relationships are built and deals are won. Make yours count.

This one checklist made my life 10x easier (Save hours later by following these steps now!) Over the last 22 months, I’ve attended 184 walkthrough meetings. Trial. Error. Frustration. Fixes. And through all of that, I created this simple system. A checklist that every auditor should follow after the walkthrough ends. If you’re tired of scrambling for screenshots, losing notes, and chasing follow-ups days later, Save this post. Share it with your team. Use it every time. Post-Walkthrough Checklist: The SOP I swear by 1. Segregate your screenshots (Immediately) - Use Windows + Print Screen to capture quickly. - Create a new folder right after the meeting using this format: [Date]_[Control_ID]_[ControlName]_[AuditName] - This makes it easy to find everything later. 2. Store in two places - One local folder on your laptop - One shared folder (e.g., Teams) so others don’t need to ping you 3. Summarize your notes - Right after the meeting, take 5–10 minutes to clean up your notes. - Capture who said what, any key clarifications, and system flows. 4. Save notes smartly - Again one local, one shared. - Use the same naming format for consistency. 5. List out all follow-ups in one place - Don’t rely on memory. - If something needs clarification or additional evidence, document it immediately. 6. Assign owners and due dates - Use a tracker to assign each follow-up to a control owner with a clear timeline. - This alone will save you days of back-and-forth. 7. Update your main control tracker - Capture the status of the walkthrough and all pending items. - If your team doesn’t have a control tracker, create one. (And if they do make sure you’re using it daily.) Bonus: I personally keep a tracker with separate tabs for each audit I’m working on. Every control I’m assigned gets listed with deadlines, dependencies, and current status. This isn’t just a checklist. It’s a habit. Follow it after every walkthrough and your future self will thank you during wrap-up week. Have your own post-walkthrough system? Drop it below! I’d love to see how others do it.