Close the loop

Let people know if you tried their suggestions

In life, we have to figure out a lot of things. Where to send the kids to summer camp. Where to buy a good pair of black pants.

If you’re wise, you no doubt ask friends and acquaintances for ideas. Perhaps you try some of these suggestions out.

If you do, why not take the next step? Tell whoever made the recommendation that you tried it. Close the loop. Even if you wound up going in a different direction, letting the other person know that you tried their idea can make them feel useful.

This is really pretty simple. “Thanks for the recommendation on the Theory black pants. I wound up trying them on and a few others and bought some from M.M. LaFleur but I thought they were all great. Your suggestion was really helpful.” Who wouldn’t want feedback like that?

I will admit that there is a personal reason I am bringing up this topic! I launched Vanderhacks approximately 7 months ago — which means we’ve just crossed 150 posts. So I’m curious. If you’ve tried one of my suggestions, would you let me know how it went? I’m of course thrilled if things went well, but if you tried something and it was trickier than planned, that’s good to know too. I am always looking to refine my advice.

You can respond here, or email me at laura at lauravanderkam dot com. I am hoping to make Vanderhacks more useful in the next 150 posts. And if there are other topics you’d like to hear about, please let me know that too!