How to get beyond "Let's do Lunch"....

Getting ahead in an organization can be tough.  The disconnect between what people say and what they do is often quite a bit apart from each other.  How often do you get, "Great idea, I'll give you a call and we can discuss it further", or the classic "Let's do lunch" suggestion.

Follow through is critical to success, since so many people don’t do it. We live in a world of “Let’s do lunch” people. They say (or text) the words, but never mean to take any action. 

In todays text, instant message and email based world, changing plans and cancelling committments is quick, easy and painless. In a culture that values efficiency,  it's easy to treat the extra effort of face-to-face human interactions like a time-waster. Personal commitments in our society are often the first thing to fall off the "to-do"  list. 

Let me give you an example of this.  I just pinged an EVP at a local firm (whose company is in the midst of being acquired), to introduce a fellow I know from the job search support group I facilitate, who I feel is a very good fit for a position in his department. I'm not looking for a fee, just trying to help out a guy who is in-between jobs.

Two things were not surprising: the quick speed of the response, and his suggestion - something which he can’t seem to be able to get around to calendaring - to “let’s do lunch.”)   Now comes the hard part - follow through.

Ask any good golfer.  Follow through is very important.  Many golfers fail to give importance to golf swing follow through because their reasoning is that there is little one can do to influence the ball once it leaves the head of the club. They fail to realize that it is the preparation to get a good golf swing follow through that really matters. Follow through is in fact a very important aspect of golf swing and if you prepare for it well, you can be sure that you will hit the ball in just the right way for it to go where you want to.

Here's where the "Let's do lunch" proposal often falls apart.  Many times it becomes a "soft" commitment, that frequently gets rescheduled or cancelled.  Here's where the "rubber meets the road" and where many people fall into the abysmal swamp of non-commitment.

Here's how to get beyond "Let's do Lunch" and cause more of these appointments to actually happen: 

1. Push for firm dates and times - don't let "indefinite" commitments happen
   
2. Conform that this is important for the other party, and understand WHY 
3. Use a post-agrement "trial close" to make sure (one last time) that this will actually happen ("can I contact you in a week to confirm that nothing has come up that might cause us NOT to meet?)

These small but important steps go a long way in differentiating you from the ranks of the "amateurs" that treat personal and business commitments casually.

So actually doing what you say you’re going to do differentiates you from the 80% of the folks who never do follow-up.