Following up
Three lines is enough. A long follow-up is one that apologises for existing.
In short
An effective follow-up is three to four lines, brings something new, and ends with a simple question or a date. The four situations to cover are: after a quote, after a meeting with no outcome, after prolonged silence, and the closing message that says you are stopping.
A message that restates the previous one with a different opening is not a follow-up. Each one must bring something the last did not: an example, a real deadline, a precise question, a piece of information about the reader's market.
« Just circling back » is the clearest symptom of the empty follow-up. If that is all you have to write, wait until you have something else.
A follow-up is read on a phone, in three seconds, often standing up. Three to four lines, one ask, no attachment. Anything longer gets postponed, and later does not exist.
The closing message is the only one that can afford to be slightly longer, because it asks for nothing and gets read to the end out of curiosity.
One per situation. Keep the length, change the content.
About a week later.
Objet : Following our conversation on [day]
Hello [first name],
You mentioned [specific point raised in the meeting]. I've been thinking about it: [short, useful element].
Is that moving on your side, or should I come back later?
One to three months with no news.
Objet : Where does this stand?
Hello [first name],
We spoke in [month] about [subject]. Since then, [new element: at your end, at theirs, in their sector].
Still live for you, or shall I close the file?
On the exact agreed date. Cite the previous exchange.
Objet : As agreed in [month]
Hello [first name],
You asked me to come back around now, about [subject]. So here I am.
Are you free [day] late morning?
The last message. It asks for nothing.
Objet : I'll leave you in peace
Hello [first name],
No reply from your side, so I'll stop here: not the right moment, and that's entirely fine.
If the question comes back, you have my number and I answer it directly.
All the best.
At minimum the first element: what you discussed together. A follow-up citing nothing from the previous exchange looks like an automated send, and gets treated as one.
Yes, and read rates are often better than email. Keep the same brevity, and avoid duplicating the same message across two channels on the same day.
No. Apologising suggests you are intruding and invites confirmation that you are. Following up a prospect who expressed interest is part of the job, on both sides.
Lea CRM keeps your contacts, deals and reminders in one place, and shows you every morning what needs doing today.
