Cold Email

How to Write Follow Up Emails that Intrigue and Convert Prospects

Cody Dufrene
May 17, 2022
After you wrote the best cold emails, you work diligently to generate new leads for your sales pipeline. You send cold emails expecting responses, but you check your inbox throughout the days and see none. Don't abandon hope. Sending follow up emails can help you increase your conversion rates. Marketers devote much of their time creating cold emails, not focusing on sending more follow up emails. They may fear that they may annoy prospects or get rejected as spam. In fact, a campaign with only one follow up mail will convert more prospects by 22%. The conversion rate is even higher at 36% with prospects who get five emails before making contact than with prospects who receive more follow up emails. While only 24% of the sales emails are opened, out of all those leads, only 20% of those receive follow up emails.

How can you make a follow up email work for you?

Many people wrongly believe that the reason they get an answer to a follow up email is that their email was better or more eye-catching. Most of the time, the real reason people don't respond to your first cold email is timing. The prospect saw the original email because they were too busy or distracted to respond to you right away. A follow up email should be sent when your prospect has the time and convenience to read it. If your prospects read your cold email and they reply they are not interested in your offer, you can ask for feedback but nothing else may change their minds. Optimize your follow up emails for cold prospects with whom you may have a reasonable opportunity to turn into hot leads. Sometimes, they need more nudging to get in touch with you.

Time your follow up emails to intrigue them

The first sales rules is ‘know your customer.' Reach out with your prospects regularly about your product or service. You want to send a follow up email shortly after the initial cold email. Look at which emails are generating the highest response rates. Scrutinize the days of the week and the time of day sent to them. Use this to schedule the timing around the method of follow up. Keep in mind that you’re dealing with competitors, other offers, and short-term human memory. With outstanding timing and persistence, you can make deals weeks, months or even years later.

How to Write a Follow Up Email

Subject Line

It's not enough to create a convincing subject line for a cold email but to write an equally amazing one for a follow up email. Write straight and sharp subject lines with purpose. The subject must include crucial details that help to achieve your goal. If you want to sound more natural, use the name of the receiver on the subject line of the text. You can also ask a question that can only be replied by reading the email. Examples:
  • Re: Take the next steps
  • It’s never too late to get started
  • Hi (Name), here’s the link I wanted to show you

Opening Lines

The opening lines should refer to the cold email and let them know clients that you contacted them previously. Don’t assume they remember your cold email. If you have met or worked with the prospect before, help them gently remember who you are. Examples:
  • We spoke previously at…
  • I left you a voicemail, and I wanted to send this email to you too.
  • I sent a follow up email last week, and I wanted to get in touch with you again.

Clarify Your Purpose

Define your key goals and state the primary aim of your email. Keep it brief and sweet as you describe your goal in the follow up email. It may be to set up a free introductory call to help uncover their pain points, share data and testimonials from happy clients, or to offer a free trial of your product. Examples:
  • If you need help with [pain point or frustrations with current service], let’s set up a time to chat.
  • Would you like to take part in a free 7-day trial?
  • We’d like to invite you to a webinar we’re hosting…

Call to Action

A prospect will be more responsive when you close with a definite offer. If you’re sending follow up emails without receiving a reply, match your call to action with every email. Keep the discussion open and help them take the next step as quickly as possible. Examples:
  • When is the best time for you to talk about this?
  • How about a quick 10-minute call on Wednesday or Thursday morning at 11am?
  • Feel free to make an appointment on my calendar.

Follow up Email Templates

The follow up email templates below are different takes on the most common follow up emails. Don’t be afraid to add your own spin on them. You and your brand’s unique messaging and your target audience’s needs and wants must align for your prospects to act on your call to action. Let's see some of the best email follow up templates, plus more follow up emails to make them more effective. Subject Line: Let’s connect again Hi (First Name), Have you had a moment to consider my idea? The last time we chatted, I noticed that you seemed interested in (your solution). I understand you could be busy, so I’d be happy to chat and discuss more strategies. Feel free to make an appointment by clicking on my link to my calendar below: [calendar link] Please let me know and I can help you get started on a free 7-day trial. Regards, Subject Line: I respect your time Hi (Prospect name), Since we last reached out to you, we’ve worked with (satisfied client) to (overcome the client’s challenge) and achieve (measurable target). I understand you’re busy this season and (client’s challenge) may not be your main priority now. I want to be available when you’re ready to tackle this. When you’re ready to learn more, I want to be able to help you out. When is the best time in the next few months to reach out again? All the best, (Your signature) Subject Line: This might help you out, (Name) Hi (Prospect name), We chatted (and/or emailed) a while back about (key pain point) and how we could be a good fit for (prospect company name). Did you know that (satisfied customer company name) reported (a quantifiable achievement) when they used our (solution name)? Would you like to learn more about how we helped them in (time frame)? I have other ideas on how we can help you accomplish more with (a similar result). Thanks, (Your signature) Subject line: A special gift for you and your company Hi [Name], I understand how busy you must be at this time and helping your department boost [goal for the year’s quarter]. I sent you more information about [product or service] previously and I thought this might be a good time to give you a demonstration. I’ve created a few guest logins to share with your staff and colleagues to access [product or service]. I’d like to hear their thoughts and opinions about using it. I’d like to spend some time explaining our [product or service] as I feel we can really add value to your [area of operations]. Can we book a call on Tuesday or Thursday at 1:30 pm? Looking forward to speaking with you, [Signature]

Bottom line: When you send follow up emails, you can close more deals

Your success in your follow up emails relies on the same factors as in every other cold email. You have to offer value, share helpful updates, or entertain. They also are brief and to the point. Just because your prospect doesn’t respond right away doesn’t mean they’re not interested. Perhaps, because of the million distractions and challenges going on now, they may have overlooked or forgot to reply to you. Imagine if you’re in a marathon with other competitors. They send out the same cookie-cutter cold emails and don’t bother to follow up afterward. You keep a consistent cold email strategy that includes sending out follow up emails and winning over your prospect with your unique messaging and valuable information. More follow up emails mean more replies and interest. No matter how far you run, when everybody else has stopped running, you will win.

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