The biggest mistake most salespeople end up making when they are working on their sales campaign, or any other kind of outreach, is not giving follow up emails the attention they deserve. They end up pouring your heart and soul into the initial email but everything afterward becomes a chore, almost.
This is a bad idea, of course. Why? Because time and time again, research has proven that following up is the key to making sales. This means that if you want the greatest results for your business, you need to be diligently following up on every lead and prospect that you interact with.
It might sound like a terrifying prospect.
After all, your follow up email has to be eye-catching and effective. But you don’t need to worry. Here, we’ll take a look at 10 basic, yet effective templates for follow up emails for a variety of situations. You can use these as a starting point and tweak and tune them as necessary to craft a follow-up email that suits your needs.
You’ll also find some useful tips and tricks.
Let’s get started.
Everything has to start somewhere, right?
So you’ve just had a nice, mutual conversation with a potential lead/prospect/customer. They’ve even given you their business card (or otherwise given you their email address). That usually means that they welcome an email from you. So how do you go about writing the “nice to meet you” email?
There are several things that you need to include in this email. They are:
Put together, your email might look like this:
Hi, [Name],
It was fantastic meeting you at [location/event]. Discussing [topic] with you was refreshing. If I could learn more about your position at [company] and what you do there, I might be able to help you, as [reason how you can help].
If you are up for it, I would love to set up a meeting to discuss it further. How does [date/time] sound for you?
Either way, feel free to keep in touch.
Regards.
You’ve been working with a potential customer for a while now and you’ve just wrapped up a successful meeting.
In fact, let’s go one step further: imagine, you’ve just walked out of the meeting where your prospective clients were just completely enraptured by you. They’re invested in your relationship, love you, your company, your product/service, they want to know more and all that. Of course, you want to send a follow-up email in this instance because you want to close the deal as effectively and as efficiently as you can.
In this case, your follow up email should include some basics about what you discussed in the meeting and potential next steps.
Let’s see how this follow up email might look:
Hey [Name],
I’d say our meeting went well today. Thank you for your time and attention. If my notes are correct, the current problems that [company] is facing are [problems the company is facing]. As I explained in the meeting, I believe that [your company] can help fix this issue, as [product/service] has the following features that will be useful for you:
Of course, all that is left now is to decide which version of the [product/service] you want. I highly recommend [version], as it has [extra features].
How about we set up a call for [date/time] and we can discuss this further before you finalize your purchase?
Regards.
Sometimes you walk out a meeting or wrap up a call — good or bad — and then you realize that you’ve failed to get a crucial piece of information from the potential customer. Running back into the meeting or calling them back in a hurry feels unprofessional, so what’s a man to do?
Send a follow-up email, of course.
In this case, all you have to do is just thank them for the meeting and sneakily ask them for the missing piece of information.
Hey, [Name],
Thanks for the meeting today. It really helped me understand how [your company] can be of help to [company]. I am looking forward to our next meeting, but in the meantime, I wanted to ask, [information you need]?
Thanks in advance.
Regards.
Sometimes, you can be the greatest salesman in the history of the world and you can still not know all the features of the product you’re selling. This is especially true if you are selling a product or a service that is very complex in nature. Or if you are selling something that needs a bespoke proposal or price.
In such cases, you’ll have some homework to do after your meeting with the client.
Of course, this is easily one of the most straightforward follow-up emails to write. You can still mess it up by overstuffing it with details and whatnot, but as long as you stick to the basics, provide the info they want, and then maybe give them some further reading, you should be fine.
Such a follow-up email will look something like this:
Hey, [Name],
I’m glad we got to speak at [event/place]. As I promised, I have found out the answer to your question about [topic]. [Insert answer here].
If you are interested in learning more, I have attached a PDF that explains all the features available with the [product/service]. Of course, we could always set up another meeting and I could walk you through it myself.
I look forward to your response.
Regards.
More often than not, you’ll find that you call a prospective customer only to find that they are not available. In that case, you’ll end up leaving a voicemail. As you probably already know, just because you leave a voicemail, it doesn’t mean that your prospect will respond.
How do you increase the chances of getting a reply?
Why, you send them a follow-up email, of course.
Hi, [Name],
I called earlier to [reason], but unfortunately, couldn’t get a hold of you.
As I explained in my voicemail, I’ll try you again on [date/time], but if that’s inconvenient for you, feel free to reach me at a [your number] or shoot me an email whenever you can.
Regards.
Part of the life of any salesperson is attending trade shows, conferences, networking events, and other such occasions related to your industry. In such places, you are bound to make some important connections. If you want to build upon those connections, you’re going to want to send a follow-up email so that you build a relationship, close a deal or whatever else.
Hi [Name],
It was great to see you at [event]. I hope you enjoyed the event as much as I did. More importantly, I hope I helped you learn more about [product/service] and how it can help make your life easy at [company].
I remember you asking about solutions to [problem], so I’ve attached [content name], a document that contains several excellent tips to [solve the problem] for your perusal. If you want to discuss the [content name] further or how [your company] can help you, feel free to let me know and I would be more than happy to set aside some time for you.
I’m here whenever you need me.
Regards.
A sales trigger event (which may also be known as a buy signal) is an occurrence that indicates a potential customer’s interest in your product/service. Trigger events are an excellent way to distinguish hot leads from cold ones. Trigger events can include anything from a prospect opening an email you sent or visiting your website to them founding a new branch or receiving an award.
If one of your potential customers causes a trigger event, you should follow up on it, as it can help you maximize the chances of closing a deal.
Hi, [Name]
I just read that [company] just expanded, and I wanted to offer you my congratulations. The work you’ve done in [field] is excellent and I am excited to see how [company] does in the future.
With your new expansion, I am sure you are in the need for [service], and I believe that [your company] is the best choice for you. As industry leaders in [field], we are well-prepared to help you out with [service], as we are [reason] and [reason].
I believe we both stand to benefit from working together. I would love to schedule a meeting on [date/time]. Let me know if that is suitable for you and we can get started on growing your company further.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Regards.
Sometimes you email people and they don’t respond immediately. You wait a week or two and you still don’t get a response. That doesn’t mean you give up. After all, 50% of sales happen after the 5th follow up attempt.
So, if someone has gone quiet on you, you should send a follow-up email to see what’s going on.
Hi, [Name],
In case you missed the email that I sent on [day/time], I wanted to [purpose of the original email.]
If you would like to discuss this matter over the phone instead, please feel free to call me at [phone number]. I am available at any time during the week.
Looking forward to hearing back from you.
Regards.
It happens. Sometimes you get busy with other projects and fall out of contact with a particular prospect. They don’t really get in touch with you, either. Which makes sense, because after all, it’s your job to follow up with them and convert them into a paying customer, right?
All is not lost, however. Even if it’s been a month or two. You can try and re-establish communication with a simple follow up email.
Hi, [Name],
It’s been a while since we last talked. With how hectic things have been lately in [industry], it’s understandable.
Anyway, I was wondering how you are getting along with [project]. I believe I have mentioned this previously, [your company] is well-situated to help you. Our [product/service] is exactly what you need to increase your success in [subject].
I would love to talk further so that we can catch up and see how we can help each other out. How about [date/time]? Otherwise, let me know when you are free and we will arrange something.
Look forward to hearing back from you.
Regards.
You’ve followed up more than five times, spent time with them, helped them, talked to them, but nothing doing. Or maybe they just don’t respond to your “it’s been a while” email.
It happens. It’s just a fact of life.
If you are continuing the conversation with an uninterested prospect, not only are you wasting your time, you are also annoying your recipient. But that doesn’t mean you just let it lie. It is imperative that you send a follow-up email — or more accurately, a breakup email — that ends things on a professional note. This can help you end things on a positive note, even if they don’t need your services at all.
Keep things professional and cheery. How?
Hi, [Name],
I haven’t heard back from you since our last meeting. We’ve spent a fair amount of time together and I hope I have helped you with [issue] and [issue].
I am reaching out one last time in the hopes that we can continue working together. I have had some new ideas about how [your company] can help you with [problem]. I would love to discuss this more with you, but if I don’t hear back from you, I’ll assume it’s time to part ways.
In the meantime, I wish you all the success and I’ll keep an eye out for news about [company].
Thanks for your time.
There you go, 10 follow up email templates covering 10 different potential scenarios. All of these are just one possible variant out of thousands, and everything ultimately depends on the specific needs of your business and the circumstances of your follow up email. All that matters, in the end, is that you actually follow up.
You may think that if someone hasn’t replied to your email, they just aren’t interested. That’s not true, however. As we mentioned earlier, most sales success stories occur after the 5th follow up attempt. Research from Iko System shows that a fair amount of prospects only respond to the fourth (13%) — or even the sixth (27%) — follow up email.
So, don’t give up. Keep on trying. You can automate your follow up emails using OutreachBin campaigns. Give your prospects all the chances they need to respond and then keep at it until 1) they say yes, or 2) you’re sure they’ll never say yes. And if you need more help setting up your email campaigns, feel free to reach out to us. We’re always glad to help.
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