9 Follow Up Emails That Guarantee Client Replies

Follow-up emails are the messages you send to people after they don't respond to your first email. For some reason, these messages have a reputation for being overly pushy or annoying, but if done correctly, they can end up amplifying the effect of your first email. This article will guide you on the follow-up emails to boost your cold email outreach. 

A follow-up email is a marketing strategy used to contact potential customers interested in your company, product, or service. These emails are sent in a sequence to turn a lead into a conversion.

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Follow-up emails are a great way to continue connecting with a prospect or customer. Many people use follow-up emails for lead generation. The follow-up email asks if they would like to receive specific content related to their pain points.

How follow-up emails help you convert?

Every marketing technique should have a follow-up email. It is a brief follow-up letter sent to your client or customer after doing business with them. 

According to statistics by Hubspot, "The average conversion rate for a free trial sign-up on request pages that include a progress bar is 11.10%." That means 91 out of every 100 people who visit that website will not turn into customers if they do not receive encouraging words from the company via email after initially expressing interest in becoming one.

This may sound contradictory to previous paragraphs on personalization and writing for your specific audience, but remember the information for different purposes. There are several types of follow-up emails, such as post-transaction follow-up, prospecting follow-up, and sales funneling follow-up.

How to write a perfect follow-up email?

1. Connect with your prospects on social media

The initial step in creating a perfect follow-up email is to connect with your potential prospects on social media. This will help you build and establish relationships with them.

Connecting with your clients will provide them with some vital information about you. This works as social proof for the work you do, people you've worked with, and more.

2. Craft a subject line that is not spammy

The second step is to create a subject line that does not look spammy.

This will help you demonstrate value. The subject line is the key, so it needs personalization and relevance.

3. Add context as to why you are emailing them.

The third step is to explain why you are emailing them and what you need from them. Segment your prospects into categories and email them accordingly.

4. Give an answer to the "what is in it for me?" question.

You have to answer this "what's in it for me?" question. 

It has to include the following,

• Flattery

Do you compliment them?

• Benefit

How will this product/service benefit them (not just your company)? 

• Credibility

How can you be the right person the other person would enjoy meeting?

5. Include a strong Call-to-Action

Make it easy for the customers to respond. For example, if you are trying to book a meeting, suggest a specific date and time (and place if you arrange an in-person meeting).

6. Automate your follow up email sequence

The final step in creating a follow-up email is to automate your follow-up email sequence. Companies tend to put a significant amount of time into writing and sending follow-up reminder emails.

If you are to run an extensive outreach campaign, you should consider using automated outreach tools like Respona. They take most of the repeatable tasks. This lets you run outreach campaigns at scale without having to hire additional staff. Also, automating your follow-up email sequence will save you valuable time and money.

You can send personalized emails to each prospect. The follow-up message you create in advance is automatically sent at exact intervals if you do not receive a reply. Respona is the perfect tool that helps you find emails straight from blog posts and send personalized follow-up mails to prospects.

Top 9 Follow-up Email Templates for your outreach

Here is a list of the best 9 polite follow-up email templates that you can use to improve your email reply and open rates.

1. Follow-up Email Template for Nice to Meet You

If you have a mutual conversation with a stranger, it is safe to assume they will welcome an email from you. So how can you write the "nice to meet you" email?

For a fast follow-up, use this information into a pre-set follow-up email template,

• How you people met - Helps them remember.
• A key point from your conversation - Shows you were listening.

Here is how to roll it all together,

Subject Line - Great to meet you at (Event)

Template,

Hi (First Name),

It was nice to meet you at the (Event where you met). I loved learning more about (Something discussed). I am very interested to hear more about your role as a (Job title) at (Company name), as (Reason why you are interested).

If you have time in the upcoming weeks, let us (Follow-up action). I am generally free on (Days of the week) if that works for you?

I am looking forward to keeping in touch.

2. The Introduction Email

When someone just tapped on the network you're so proud of, requesting an introduction email for your product/service, they made it easy for you by sending along all the necessary information.

Here is a follow-up email that gets to the punch quickly,

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Tip: Do not forget to CC the person who requested the introduction, so they can pick up the conversation where you leave it off.

Template,

Hi (First Name),

I hope this note finds you well and (Personal message).

(The person requesting referral) (CC'd here) mentioned that (he/she) is looking for (Reason for their request to you). I am reaching out hoping that you can point (him/her) in the right direction. 

As I think you know, (What the requester's company does). (Value statement - what is in it for your recipient?)

Quick Favor

Will you be willing to introduce (Requester's first name) to the right person who (Responsibility) within (Their Company)? It would be excellent to (Requester's end vision).

Thanks!

3. The "Just Left A Voicemail" Follow-Up Email

Do your missed calls that go to voicemail get ignored?

Chances are your prospect could be ignoring you (both your cold emails and cold calls).

Capturing their attention will not be an easy feat - but it is possible if you could prove there is alignment. After you send a voice message, send an email to repeat your value statement.

Here is an example,

Subject line - Just tried to reach you / next steps.

Template,

Hi (First Name),

I just sent you a voicemail but wanted to drop a line by email if this is more comfortable. 

I am reaching out to you because it looks like (the Point of alignment between your company and the target company).

We are (your company and customers).

(First name), I want to connect about your specific needs. Also, I have a suggestion about how you can (Achieve the desired result).

Give me a quick call back at (your phone number) if you're available, or feel free to reply to this email.

Thanks!

4. When You're Sent To Someone Else 

Sometimes, finding the right person to reach out can get tedious.

When Person 1 bounced you to some other person, keep in mind the context with this new person,

These are the tips to take with your follow up email:

1. CC the co-worker you first emailed to, which increases your chances of a response by 12%.
2. Ask yourself, what particular problem does my company resolve? How exactly does it solve it? 
3. Convert this into a problem-solution specific to your recipient's role in their company.

Here is a template that one of our sales team uses regularly,

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Make sure to do your study by visiting their company website and social media to make it even more personalized.

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Save this follow-up email as a template,

Hi (FirstName),

I just spoke with (Employee's role) over the phone, who pointed me in your direction.

I reached out to (Employee's role) because I noticed that your (Department name) team is (mention the problem), which we hear is a significant challenge (Why and how it is challenging).

(your company) would automatically (Paint the solution). (Employee's role) suggested we have a conversation.

Could you and I arrange 10 minutes this week to explore how (the target Company) could leverage (your company)?

5. When You've Just Had a Meeting

The response rate is relatively high if whoever you are emailing is invested in your relationship. If the company spent time meeting with you, they are probably going to read your follow-up.

But how to go beyond opens and increase replies?

Here is the template,

Hey (the target company) team,

Great meeting with you today. Thank you for your time and for having us (share in a discussion/come by the office). I look forward to reconvening on (the meet date). The next step is to [a one-sentence pitch about the next steps involved] 

Quick Question

Can you please reply to confirm I summarized our discussion accurately and if I missed something?

Your Current Initiatives / Priorities / Goals:

• (Priority)

Evaluation Success Criteria:

• (Measure)

How (your company) Can Help:

• (how will your product benefit them+ End Picture of it) 

The Next Steps / Action Item Owners / Dates & Times:

(Action + Date) - (who is responsible - First name)

6. When You Get another shot at Your PR Pitch

What if you get a second shot at convincing the target that your deal is the best they can get? If your first pitch did not win over the marketer or editor, it is time to up your game.

Here is the tactic to sell it: Make sure the follow-up email is shorter than your first one. Why because Journalists spend less than one minute reading what you've sent them. They prefer them as bullet-form facts.

• Know their role - are you reaching out to the right person? If not, find who is and use a tool like SmartWriter to find their email.
• Do not include buzzwords; include just the facts.
• Offer an exclusive deal.

Here is an example of a first email that our sales team sent to a company (followed by the follow-up),

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The Email tracking revealed that the person had opened the email, but our sales team did not get a reply. You can use an email tracking tool to track your follow-up emails. So here is the follow-up email the sales team sent a couple of days later,

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This shorter and bulleted follow-up email won a response from the company.

Here is the template,

Hi (First Name),

I hope you're doing well. I know you are busy, so I wanted to reach back out about my previous request. Have you had a chance to review the (something you sent) that I sent over (date when you sent it)?

(one-sentence pitch - recapping what you have is new, comprehensive, or groundbreaking)

(mention the finding)

And more. I am reattaching the (Any Report or other sources of further info).

I am looking forward to your feedback. Thank you so much for your time.

7. Follow up after sending an invoice and haven't received payment.

When you have sent the invoice, but the client has delayed payment, send a quick reminder about it. This can also be an opportune time to provide them with details on how to settle the payment, including creating a pay stub for their records.

Tip:

1. When the email subject line is about late payments or overdue payment, be brief but direct.
2. Give a gentle reminder about the payment from clients. Ask a question instead of pointing out that you have not received payment, for example, asking to confirm they have received the invoice and whether they have questions about it.
3. Conclude with a call to action, telling them what you want them to do.

Payment Email subject line - Overdue invoice for (project name)

Template,

Hi (First name),

I hope you are doing well. I know you are busy, especially this season. Have you had a chance to look over the invoice I sent you on (date you sent the invoice)? 

Please let me know if you want me to resend the original invoice or contact me for any other questions about any of the line items.

Thank you.

(Your Name)

8. The "Break Up" Follow-Up Email

You have been nurturing a ghost with a drip campaign, and it is time to let him/her go. The best thing is you can automate the entire process so you do not have to sit there with tissues. If you are not sure how to say goodbye,

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Here is a follow-up email template,

Hi (First Name),

I have been reaching out because I see an excellent opportunity for your team to (mention the outcome).

I do not want to be a bother, so I will plan on reconnecting with your team in a few months unless you tell me you are ready to do this sooner. If you were interested in getting your team on a trial period to try us out, I could also help set that up.

Meanwhile, I will keep an eye out for (the target company) news!

Thank you for your time.

Takeaways - We dislike potential loss more than we enjoy the potential gain. This is why it is worth telling them you are walking away, especially if you want them to take some action.

9. When They Asked You to Circle Back Later

What is your first reaction when your phone alarm goes off in the morning?

Snooze, and that is how we procrastinate dealing with cold sales outreach, too.

Instead of considering a meeting or committing to a contract, we say, "let's check back next quarter."

If you are the salesperson circling, you need to provide tangible, relevant information.

Here a polite follow-up email by our sales team,

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A couple of things to note here:

1. Consider leaving the subject line empty as this is a strategy proven to increase opens.
2. The case study note in the email delivers fast value with a brand name and a success metric.
3. The email signature also includes a UTM-tagged -book offer. This does two things. It nurtures the prospects, and it provides marketing with engagement data.

Here is the template:

Hi (First name),

I know we are still in a holding pattern, but I wanted to send over a customer case study that speaks to how (your customer name) leveraged (product/service you offered) to (What the customer accomplished and hard metric). 

What sort of timelines do you think we are looking at to pick this back up?

Thank you!

SmartWriter

SmartWriter is a robust AI tool to generate cold email templates that you can use for your outreach campaigns. Email Personalization is the secret sauce for your successful sales email outreach. To create effective sales emails, do the steps below,

Step 1 - Sign in to your SmartWriter account or Sign up to create one.

Step 2 - Create a project using the create project available on the tool.

Step 3 - Select Compose Copy and choose the category as Cold Email Outreach.

Step 4 - Choose the Email Outreach category you want from the available categories.

Step 5 - Enter the details and the prospect URL to generate the cold email you may use.

Step 6 - You can select the best cold sales email copy from the templates for your outreach.

Step 7 - You can also edit the details and generate a new set of templates by clicking on the Edit Prompt & Try Again.

Conclusion

When writing a polite follow-up email, quality always outweighs quantity. Writing an excellent follow-up email isn’t easy. You can use SmartWriter to create personalized cold emails for outreach to enhance your response and open rates. 

Hopefully, some of the tips and templates above will help you improve your follow-ups. If you want to create cold emails that will convert visitors into potential customers, SmartWriter is the perfect tool.