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How To Guarantee a Reply Every Time You Send Emails
What is a Follow-Up?
A follow-up is every interaction you have after making the first contact with a prospect.
Following up is vital to converting interested leads into paying customers.
How Often Should You Follow-up?
If you’re doing cold outreach and have never interacted with this prospect before, follow up a maximum of six times. You don’t have a relationship with this person that gives you permission to do much more than that.
If you’ve already had some kind of interaction with this person but didn’t get a clear, definite “no,” then keep following up as long as it takes to get a response.
You should not care what the response is as long as you get one.
- If someone tells you they need another 14 days to get back, put that in your calendar and ping them again in 14 days.
- If they tell you they’re busy, ask when to ping them again.
- If they tell you outright they’re not interested, leave them alone.
You’ll be surprised how often this persistence pays off.
What’s The Right Follow-up Frequency?
- Day 1: First follow-up (+2)
- Day 3: Follow-up (+4)
- Day 7: Follow-up (+7)
- Day 14: Follow-up (+14)
- Day 28: Follow-up (+30)
- Day 58: Follow-up (+30)
Still no response? Going forward, aim for checking in once a month.
Why to Follow-up?
Consistently following up means you’ll win the deals others are giving up on.
- 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up
- 92% will give up after four “no’s,” but studies show that 80% of prospects will say “no” four times before they say “yes”
- People are busy, and you’re not a priority for them—it takes on average 8 follow-ups to reach a prospect
- Only 2% of sales are closed in the first contact. So if you’re not following up, you could miss out on 98% of your potential sales
What to Say in These Emails?
Avoid at all costs using guilt as a motivator.
When you become emotionally invested in the deal, it can hurt when the prospect doesn’t respond to you. That’s when the danger of using guilt comes in.
Saying something like: “Why haven’t you responded to me? I’ve sent you ten emails already!” can seriously damage your relationship with this person.
Remember: your prospect doesn’t owe you anything. Never, ever make them feel or do anything guilt-inducing.
Sequence Example
{your name} here with {your company}.
My assistant had emailed you about potentially helping with [goal]
I wanted to connect quickly to give you more information and see if we might be able to help.
How does Tuesday or Wednesday 4:00pm sound for a quick 5-minute chat to talk through the details?
Best,
{your name}
Checking to see if you still have plans in 2024 to [achieve goal]?
If so, we should definitely have a chat.
What’s tomorrow like for you?
Best,
{your name}
Hi [prospect],
We understand that dealing with [pain points] can be difficult, and this is how {your product} has helped our existing clients manage the process successfully:
- {proof/testimonial}
- {proof/testimonial}
- {proof/testimonial}
If that sounds interesting for you,
How about hopping on a quick call tomorrow at 4:00pm?
Best,
{your name}
Are you busy..?
{your company} mission is to help busy [audience], like you, surpass their goals.
Hey [prospect]
Me again – let’s get to the point.
Problem: if you plan to [hit goal] this year it takes a TON of time…
Solution: if you take 5 minutes, I can explain our process to expedite your [goal] so you can focus on building your business.
Let me know what time works for you and I’ll make it happen.
If it’s easier, feel free to book a time directly {here}.
Best,
{your name}
Break-up Email
The breakup email is your last attempt to reach a prospect that is not responding to your outreach—you can’t spend any more time on this unresponsive contact.
This is your “adios”.
Hey [prospect],
I was really looking forward to talking with you about {your product} that can get you [benefit], but I haven’t received any response. I’m sure you’re busy, so this will be my last email to you.
If you change your mind and would like to give {your product} a try, please let me know.
Always happy to chat.
Best,
{your name}
But a well-written breakup email does more than say goodbye.
Instead, it can boost open and response rates—opening previously-silent lines of communication, and pave the path to more closed deals.
Use a Clear and Direct Subject Line
- Goodbye from {your name}
- So long from {your company}
- Thanks for your time
- It’s not you. It’s me.
- Should I stay or should I go now?
- Moving on
- [prospect], is this goodbye?
- Last Attempt from {your company}
Not-to-do list
- Do not be vague. Wishy-washy communication won’t pack the ‘goodbye’ punch you want it to. Say what you need to say in as few words as possible.
- Do not be boring. Make a joke! Use some emojis. You want this email to stand out and leave a lasting impression, so make it interesting.
- Do not guilt-trip. Passive aggression, accusations, or extreme disappointment won’t leave a positive impression of your brand—and will likely burn the bridge.
3 More Break-up Email Templates
1.) This is useful when you have had previous discussions with the prospect.
Hey [prospect],
I am checking in again before closing out our past discussions. I haven’t heard from you recently, and I understand that circumstances and priorities can change.
However, I am confident that {your product} will provide considerable value to [prospect’s problem]. Our approach has assisted [similar businesses/industry leaders] in overcoming [particular issues] and achieving [outstanding results].
If you’re interested in discussing how we can collaborate to achieve [goals], I’d like to organize a call at your convenience. If not, no worries—I’ll take you off my list.
Thanks for your time.
Best,
{your name}
2.) Inbound prospects or leads have already shown some degree of interest or familiarity with your solution. You can tailor the breakup email to reflect this, re-highlighting your value and showing understanding of the situation.
Hey [prospect],
I still believe in the value our solution can provide for [prospect’s company]—we’ve already helped [similar businesses/industry leaders] achieve [results].
It’s clear that you’re either busy or have moved forward with another solution. Sorry, we couldn’t get the timing right.
I’m taking you off my list for now. If you want to get in touch here’s a {link to your calendar}, and we can explore if this might be a good fit.
Best,
{your name}
3.) Remember, your breakup goal is to re-engage your audience and continue (or begin) building a trusting business relationship.
Hello [prospect],
Earlier on, it seemed like {your product} was an appropriate solution for [their challenge].
I haven’t heard from you in a while, so I assume the timing isn’t right or you have gone in a different direction.
I won’t bother you again, but I wanted to leave you with some information about [something relevant to their goal].
- [Resource 1]
- [Resource 2]
I hope this helps you crush [their specific goal]. I won’t reach out again, but feel free to let me know if you ever need help with {goal}.
Best,
{your name}
8 More Follow-up Templates
Hey [prospect], how is it going? Can we schedule a time to talk next week?
Hey [prospect], we got some new press coverage since my previous email {link to article}. I’d love to pick up on our conversation. When’s a good time to chat?
Hey [prospect], can we hop on a quick call Wednesday at 4 p.m. or Thursday at 11 a.m.?
Cheers,
{your name}
P.S. Thought you might find this article interesting: [link to article]
Hey [prospect],
{your name} from {your company} here. I’ve been trying to touch base with the person in charge of [responsibility], but I’m having trouble finding them. Basically, I wanted to show them how {your product} can [improve relevant metric/solve relevant pain points] for your team.
Could you point me in the right direction here?
Thanks,
{your name}
Hey [prospect],
Friendly follow-up here. Has your team gone in a different direction?
PS: Feel free to see what our current clients are saying:
{social proof or testimonial link}
{your name}
Hi [prospect],
It looks like something came up, and you couldn’t make our call today. Is there another day/time that works better for you? Here’s a link to my calendar: {link}
{your name}
Hey [prospect],
Thanks again for connecting with me on {Linkedin, Twitter/X, etc.}! Wanted to follow up on our conversation [whatever topic you discussed] and find a good time to schedule that call.
Here’s a {link to my calendar}, is there a day/time that works best for you?
Looking forward to continuing our conversation.
[consider adding a relevant article or resource related to your previous conversation]
{your name}
Hi [prospect]
I noticed you checked out some of our content {title of content}.
You’re looking to solve [pain point], right?
If so, I’d love to share how we [explain how your solution can solve their problem].
Do you have 15 minutes to discuss how we can help?
{your name}
