How to Write a Follow Up Email
Now
that you know how important it is to follow up, and how long (give or take) you
should wait before sending each email, let’s go through how to write the follow-up email
itself.
1. Add Context
Try
to jog your recipient’s memory by opening your email with a reference to a
previous email or interaction. Even if your recipient draws a blank, they’re
more likely to react positively to the follow-up if they’ve been reminded of the fact that
they’ve heard from you before.
2. Add Value
Avoid lazy follow-ups – ones where you’re
simply ‘touching base’ or ‘catching up’ – that don’t add anything other than
one more email in their inbox. Provide value at each interaction. Make it
worth their while to open, click, and respond.
3. Explain Why You’re Emailing
Go
on to explain the reason for your follow-up email, in a manner that’s both
direct and concise. Focus on them here. Remove ‘I’ statements from your text.
They honestly don’t care much about you or what you think or believe.
4. Include a Call-to-Action
Make
it easy for the recipient to respond. A lot of marketers and sales personnel
make the mistake of leaving it vague and ambiguous. Make your call-to-action crystal-clear and hard to resist. What exactly do you
want them to do? Tell them.
5. Close Your Email
Wrap
up in a way that feels natural to you and is sympathetic to your interactions with the recipient so far.
While
I have a few suggestions below, this part is really quite personal – as above,
wrap up however you feel comfortable.
- · Let me know what you think! [Your name]
- · Let me know if you have any questions. [Your name]
- · Speak soon? [Your name]
- · I look forward to hearing from you! [Your name]
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