Follow-Up Emails: How, Who and When

1. Patience will be rewarded. You need to play the long game and follow-up consistently over a long period of time.
2. Make sure sales and marketing are aligned and have clear roles in follow-up.
3. You need a system. A good sales CRM like Pipedrive will go a long way to preventing embarrassing situations like duplicate emails or making your prospects feel like they’re being spammed.

Teamwork Closes More Deals

• It is important that you send relevant, valuable information to every prospect regularly, relentlessly and frequently.
• Make communication with prospects efficient. If you have a huge list of prospects one-on-one contact simply becomes impractical and costly, hence our templated approach.
• Track and log. A system like Pipedrive ensures that every touch is logged and that the various follow-ups are correctly scheduled and executed. Spreadsheets and calendar reminders simply won’t cut it if you plan to scale your business.
• Have your materials prepared. Your team needs an arsenal of specific, useful and interesting information you can use to craft your follow-up messaging. There’s nothing worse than a follow-up email that has no content. Never nag.

When It Comes to Follow Up Emails, Timing is Everything

Enough Talk: Let’s Get to those Email Templates

Use case: After the initial meeting

1. Subject line: Are you ready for a follow-up

2. Subject line: Good news. I have that info you requested

3. Subject line: Here’s that information you requested

Use case: Following a trigger event

4. Subject line: Do you want more information?

5. Subject line: I see you’re interested in [company name]

Use case: When a prospect has unfinished business

6. Subject line: As promised, here is more info about [company name]

Use case: Trade show, networking event or conference

7. Subject line: Here’s that information about [company name] you wanted

Use case: Immediately after leaving a voicemail

8. Subject line [I just tried to call you]

Use case: Mistaken identity

9. Subject line: I hope you are able to set me straight

Use case: Following up the follow-up

10. Subject line: A few things you may not know about [company name]

11. Subject line: A gift for you and your company

12. Subject line: Still hoping to connect with you

13. Subject line: [10 ways Pipedrive boosts your bottom line]

User case: The bitter end

14. Subject line: It’s really lonely out here

15. Subject line: Can I close your file?

How to create response rate boosting follow-up processes

How the follow-up fits into your sales pipeline

1. Lead Acquisition: When a lead first fills a form or takes the first action to begin a relationship with you. Here, you must respond quickly to strike while their motivation is hot. Here, you’ll need to follow up if an appointment or next steps aren’t confirmed.
2. Lead Prioritization: Your follow-up messaging will depend on what information you have on the prospect, as well as any actions they take. For example, you’ll want to lead with a strong call-to-action for those who visit your pricing and feature pages several times.
3. Discussions Begin: How you start the relationship will depend on several factors. For example, a senior decision maker will need more strategic insights, while more “tactical” roles value technical specs. Match your follow-up messaging based on who you’re talking to.
4. Opportunity Progression: After the initial conversation, you’ll want to schedule a presentation or a pitch. From there, you might arrange a second call or meeting to discuss any objections and understand timelines. You’ll need to lead the prospect from one step to another, and this often requires following up.

When to send your follow-up messages

• After the pitch: Send a follow-up one to two days after your initial presentation. Use this as an opportunity to review their pain points, thank them for their time and include a call-to-action for the next steps.
• Reviewing with the decision maker(s): If there are other stakeholders involved in the buying process, the sales cycle can take a little longer. Email four to five days after the pitch (you’ll need to learn about the buying process during this call) to give them enough time to speak with the rest of the team.
• Unanswered follow-up: You’ll need a follow-up sequence for when your emails go unanswered. Here, you can offer additional resources, ask them if they’re still interested or the best way to move forward.
• The break-up: If you’re still not getting a response from your follow-up emails, the last thing to do is to wrap things up. You can either tell them that you’re closing their file, or use it as one last ditch attempt to find a better time to talk.

Five follow-up mistakes to avoid

1. Not following up quickly: Many thought leaders believe that you should follow up on leads five minutes after they send an inquiry through. But this is unrealistic, as you’re not sitting by the phone all day, and you may be serving an international audience. However, it’s important to follow up quickly. The longer you leave them, the less chance you’ll get a response. Put systems in place to ensure you’re responding as quickly as possible.
2. Not focusing on the company: Many salespeople make the mistake of putting all their energy into the prospect. If you’re selling into large organizations, you need to be engaging with multiple people. Always find out as much information about other stakeholders and the buying process in order to accommodate all decision makers.
3. Not following up often enough: A study by Velocify found that 93% of converted leads are reached by the sixth attempt. Make sure that you’re following up enough when the relationship has begun. You’ll learn how to do this by adding value later in this guide.
4. Not using preferred channels: Anecdotally, 90% of the time prospects will want to hear from you by email. But some may prefer a phone call or other form of communication. If they’d prefer a phone call over email, ask them what time is best to reach them.
5. Not tracking your metrics: Without measuring your sales performance, you won’t know if what you’re doing is working. Use a CRM to measure the open and response rates of each of your emails to see how each follow-up email performs.

Optimizing your follow-up emails to boost response rates

1. Begin with value: As soon as a new lead enters your pipeline, it can be tempting to jump right into the pitch. Instead, add as much value as possible up front. New leads are unlikely to trust you at first, and by guiding them and acting like an advisor, you’re more likely to build the trust crucial to closing the deal.
2. Use data and insights: Back everything you say up with third-party statistics and anecdotes from industry thought leaders. You should also use testimonials and case studies, showcasing the results you’ve generated for clients just like them.
3. Avoid automation: Automation can be a powerful tool for streamlining certain processes. But when it comes to the follow-up, you need to be as personalized as possible. As you’ll see from the templates and samples below, many of them require you to understand your prospect’s company. You can’t get this in a timed, automated sequence.
4. Keep them coming back: Depending on the complexity of your offering, you’ll need more than one call or meeting to close the deal. This is especially true if there are several stakeholders within the company. Therefore, be sure to keep the conversation open and lead to the next step as quickly as possible.
5. Add your personality: People do business with people they like or respect. You should always be yourself during the entire sales process, but especially during your follow-ups. Even if you’re polarizing, many senior decision makers will respect you for holding up to your own beliefs.

Conclusion: Adapt and Learn