Over the past few weeks, I have received a total of five calls and three text messages from my doctor's office to schedule my annual checkup. I had forgotten that I was due for one, so the first message that I got made me think, yes, I need to do this. I made a mental note, but I did not put this on my to-do list. The second time I received a text message reminder. Yes, I thought, I need to do this, but I am in the middle of something, and I will get to it later. It was only after several messages that I found the time to pick up the phone to call and make an appointment. Had they not continued to call and text me, I likely would have forgotten.

I bring this up because so many people do not follow up after initially making a networking outreach and not getting any response back. Then they will say that networking does not work. As my doctor's office example shows, follow up is often crucial to get a response.

Let's Learn From Sales Professionals And Their Outreach Success

While networking and sales are not the same, they do share some commonalities. They both involve reaching out to someone you do not know and introducing yourself. Here is an eye-opening sales statistic.

80% of prospects say "no" four times before they say "yes." — Marketing Donut

Think about this. Salespeople have to hear a lot of "no's" to get to a "yes." They accept it as part of the sales process. As someone that wants to be a successful networker, you have to admit that you, too, will hear "no," which in your case is just silence-no response. But if you give up, chances are you also have given up getting a "yes." People are busy. Not everyone can respond to your request right then and there. Sure, some people will never be interested in speaking with you. But not all. Therefore, follow up has to be a part of your networking strategy.

Expect that you will get no response on your first attempt. And have a plan B.

OK. So How Often Should I Follow Up?

There is a fine line between appropriate follow-up and becoming annoying. When networking, you do not want to offend potential contacts but still stay on their radar. So what is the right amount of time between contact attempts? Again, let's look at what works in the sales profession for guidance. In 2017, InsideSales.com conducted a study on 14,000+ sales cadences across 8,000+ companies to gain valuable data on what makes up an effective sales cadence. Here is what they found:

The typical gap in between contact attempts was 4.23 days.

So if you attempt to contact a person on a Monday, it is acceptable to try again on Friday. Now, if this second attempt does not result in any contact back, you will want to increase the time between each follow-up. On the third attempt, you might want to try six days later, and a fourth attempt seven days later. 

Hint: Set up a reminder on your calendar program to remind yourself when you should make a follow-up attempt.

So When Should You Stop If You Do Not Get Any Response?

This is a tough one and may depend on the type of networking contact you have and their importance to your job search. A study indicated that 80% of sales required at least five follow-up calls. I think in the context of networking, that seems excessive. My suggestion would be to stop after the fourth attempt. That should be sufficient time for you to have gotten the person's attention without becoming annoying. If it is a vital networking contact to have, you might want to take it to the fourth attempt. If the networking contact is less critical to your job search, then you might want to stop at three attempts. You always want to use your time efficiently, so depending on how many networking contacts you want to make and the time you have allotted for networking, you can adjust the number of attempts by the contact's importance.

You can let the person know that you will not be contacting them again for your last attempt. You leave it open that the person can reach out to you anytime in the future, though. As an example, you could say the following:

"I am sorry that we have not been able to connect. I wanted to speak with you and get your perspective about a career change into data analytics since you did this successfully. If in the future you ever have a few minutes and would like to share your knowledge, I would be happy to hear from you." 

Tips For Making Your Networking Follow Up More Effective

There have been many studies on outreach effectiveness, so keep these in mind when doing your follow-ups.

Subject Lines

When writing an email, your choice of words for your subject line is important. The first step in an effective networking email is to get the recipient to open it. One way to build rapport is to use the person's name in the subject line.

Subject lines with the recipient's name are 2.6% more likely to be opened. — Retention Science

Examples here can be "Wish to speak with you, Heidi" or "Happy Friday, Marcus."

Many people, probably you included, often will only open up an email from a stranger if the subject line is interesting. Another helpful way to do so is to use your subject line to generate curiosity. Subject lines like "We met on Tuesday," or "I have information for you" can get your contact to want to read more.

Another way to get someone to open an email is to use the subject line to start a story you will talk about in the email. For networking, it could be how the person's information helped you. As an example, you could have as your subject line," Your networking advice helped me to contact Bill Gates."

Lastly, the subject line could showcase your expertise in an area that might help your networking contact. If you are a subject matter expert, you can highlight your knowledge in the subject line. If you have expertise in sustainability and you want to showcase it with a contact, you could use it as your headline, "I just did a deep-dive into Palm Oil and sustainability."

Should You Text?

You might have gotten a mobile number for your contact and thought I could text the person instead of email or call. People will indeed read text messages more often than pick up the phone or read an email. A 2014 Gallup study had text messaging the favored form of communication for those under 50. I think whether you text a networking contact will depend on several factors, including if it is a warm or cold contact, the age of the contact, and the contact's field. One word of advice is not to use this method for your original networking outreach. It would be best if you either reached out by email or phone first. If you do not get a response, you will need to decide whether texting can be part of your follow-up strategy.

Vary Your Message

I know it might be tempting to forward your initial outreach message (if done through email) to the recipient with a note asking if they had had a chance to read the previous message. Don't do this. You need to vary the messages you send. Maybe in one of your outreaches, link to an article or blog post you think the person might find interesting. Then in the next follow up offer to introduce the person to someone of interest in your network. The ideal is always to provide value, and by changing up your outreach message, something might pique the interest of the recipient and prompt an action to respond.

Vary Your Outreach Method

If you have more than one way to contact a networking target, use it in your follow up. If you have always emailed the person, but you also have a phone number, try giving a call. If the person is active on social media, try a direct message. You never know what method will work best. The only caveat to this is if you have been given instructions to contact the individual through only one means. If that is the case, stick to this.

Conclusion

I always advise adding networking as part of your job search strategy. Just be prepared not to initially hear back from your networking targets after your first attempt to contact them. This is normal. Just do not give up. In your networking strategy, also have a plan for following up. You will have much more networking success this way.

You may also be interested in Easy Tips for Reconnecting with Your Professional Network.

Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.