My daughter’s high school allows students to take classes like health and gym over the summer in order to free up time during the school year for more interesting electives. This year, the registration paperwork got buried in the maelstrom that is the “junk” section of my kitchen counter. I’d excavated the forms about a week after the school started accepting them, but I feared it might be too late.

Sure enough, my daughter heard from her guidance counselor that there was a waiting list, and she was on it. I figured they’d let us know if she’d gotten in, and I also planned to call the counselor toward the end of the school year to check the registration status. In the end, I didn’t hear from the counselor and I forgot all about it.

Imagine my surprise when the vice principal called yesterday morning, wondering where my daughter was! He graciously apologized for the miscommunication about the waiting list and let her start class late. (She was significantly less gracious about being rudely awakened and rushed out the door, but I’m telling myself that teenagers thrive on adversity.)

The whole debacle has me thinking about the importance of following up. How many opportunities do we miss because we either simply forgot or didn’t have the time to take advantage of them? The good news is that following up doesn’t have to be complicated or high-tech; it can be as simple as a phone call to a customer or prospect, or keeping on top of industry trends.

In this issue of ASI, we’ve continued to follow through on our pledge to provide quality information to help you succeed. For a full list of articles and departments, take a look at the Table of Contents on p. 5. If you have any comments for us, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I promise to follow up on your suggestions.