A follow-up letter may put you ahead of the competition by allowing you another chance to summarize what took place in the initial meeting. If you are writing this letter to a future employer, it will show him your appreciation for his time interviewing you. It can also serve as a thank-you letter, giving your clients more information about your products or services and showing that you still have an interest in better serving them.

Significance

The purpose of writing a follow-up letter is to once again put yourself in front of the person with whom you met; both to thank her for her time as well as to remind her what the meeting was about. According to Virginia Tech's Office of Career Services, the follow-up letter for an interview should do the following things: thank the person for taking the time to meet with you, show that you still have an interest in the position, repeat your skills for the position and give the employer any additional information she may require.

Types

Follow-up and thank-you letters can be written for other reasons. If you had a sales meeting with a client or provided him with a proposal or quote, you also will need to follow up with him in order to be able to provide him with any more information that he may need in order to make his decision. If you are having an event, a follow-up letter could be necessary to remind people, so they won't forget to come on the date of the event. Follow-up letters can also be used to provide all parties in a meeting with a copy of the meeting's notes or information that was discussed.

Time Frame

A follow-up letter should be provided to the organization within two business days of the meeting. The Career Explorer website adds, "Five to seven days after your thank-you letter or follow-up letter, you should make a follow-up telephone call." This will ensure that your letter got to the person who was supposed to read it, as well as remind her of your ambition and drive toward wanting the job or sale. The initial meeting and follow-up letters will set the tone with the individual or client as to how you communicate within an organization. That is why you really want to impress.

Size and Format

The size of the follow-up letter should be one page. If there are any attachments of meeting notes or other enclosures, they should be indicated on the actual follow-up letter and included within the same package as the letter. The letter should be typed, handwritten for a thank-you note or, on occasion, emailed.

Expert Insight

The Write Express website states, "If you do not receive a response from an initial follow-up letter, you may want to write a second letter." An additional follow-up letter simply lets the person know that it is important to you that he received the first one and further expresses your interest. Don't ever indicate that you are frustrated if your first follow-up letter went missing. Simply express that you wrote one and reiterate your points in the second.

Don't be afraid to include additional information in the follow-up letter that you forgot during the meeting. It might just provide you the edge to get the attention of the recipient.