To pursue or check on something after initial contact or action, ensuring continuation or completion.
Emerged from hunting terminology in the 1600s, where hunters would 'follow up' wounded game. The business sense developed in the early 1900s with the rise of sales and customer service, maintaining the idea of persistent pursuit.
This phrase reveals our hunter-gatherer instincts in modern business - we're still tracking and pursuing, just with emails instead of spears. Studies show that 80% of sales require five follow-up attempts, proving our ancestors' persistence pays off in the corporate world too.
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