Hi, it’s Nathan Brumand. Last week I said I’d go deeper, one task at a time. I want to start with the one I think gets overlooked the most: follow-up.
Not marketing. Not a chatbot on the homepage. Just the simple stuff that’s supposed to happen after a conversation and too often doesn’t.
Why follow-up first
Think about how many things in a normal week end with “I’ll get back to you.” A quote someone asked for. A customer who called and left a message. A lead who said “check in with me next month.” A supplier you promised an answer to.
Most of that isn’t hard work. It’s just easy to forget when the day gets busy. And when it slips, it costs you quietly: a customer who went with someone else because they heard back first, or a small problem that turned into a bigger one because nobody checked in.
That’s why I like it as a first step with AI:
- It’s repetitive. Same kinds of messages, over and over. That’s where these tools are strongest.
- It’s low risk. A reminder or a draft check-in doesn’t commit you to anything until a person sends it.
- It’s easy to measure. You can see whether things stopped slipping through the cracks.
What it can look like in practice
You don’t need a new system to try this. A few simple versions:
- A daily “who’s waiting on me” list. An AI tool reads your recent emails or notes and lists the people you said you’d get back to, with a one-line reason for each.
- Drafted check-ins. For each person on that list, a short draft reply in your own tone. You read it, fix what’s wrong, and send it yourself.
- After-call notes. Right after a call, you dictate two sentences. The tool turns them into a clean note and a reminder for the next step.
- “Gone quiet” reminders. A gentle nudge for leads or customers you haven’t heard from in a while, so you can decide whether to reach out.
Notice what’s missing: nothing goes out on its own. The tool does the remembering and the first draft. You do the deciding.
How to try it in a few weeks
Here’s the simple test I’d suggest:
- Pick one kind of follow-up. For example, quotes you sent that haven’t gotten an answer.
- Write down where you are today. Roughly how many slip each week, and how long you spend chasing them. An honest guess is fine.
- Try one tool for two or three weeks. Use something you already have access to if you can, before paying for anything new.
- Read every draft before it goes out. If the drafts keep needing heavy rewrites, that tells you something too.
- Decide honestly. Did fewer things slip? Did it save you time, or just move the work around? Keep it, adjust it, or drop it.
Where to be careful
A few things I’d keep a person on, every time:
- Anything with a price, a date or a promise. A draft that says “we can do it Friday” is a commitment. Check it.
- Unhappy customers. A complaint deserves a real reply from a real person, not a polished template.
- Private information. Be thoughtful about what customer details you paste into a tool, and read its privacy terms before you do.
- Tone. If a message doesn’t sound like you, rewrite it. People notice.
The bigger point
Most businesses don’t lose customers because of one big mistake. They lose them through small things that didn’t happen: the call that wasn’t returned, the quote nobody followed up on. If AI can help with that, without taking the human out of the relationship, that’s a real win, even if it’s not the kind that makes headlines. Start small, measure honestly, and keep the decisions with the people who actually run the business.
Your turn
Reply and tell me: what’s the follow-up that slips most often in your business? I’ll pick a few common ones and walk through them in a future post.
Talk soon,
Nathan
More about me and my work: nathanbrumand.com
