Following up
When to follow up a prospect.
Too early and you have not left time to read. Too late and the subject is cold, along with any memory of who you are.
In short
The intervals that work in B2B: three to five working days after sending a quote, a week after a meeting with no outcome, three days after a first email. Then widen progressively: one week, two weeks, a month. That widening is what separates a follow-up from harassment.
Intervals by situation
After sending a quote, three to five working days: long enough for it to have been read, before the subject cools. On larger amounts involving several decision makers, a week is more realistic, because the decision needs a meeting that has not happened yet.
After a meeting with no outcome, one week. After a first email, three working days. After a « call me back in six months », call back at six months exactly, citing the previous conversation: it produces the warmest reception in all of prospecting.
Why intervals should widen
Following up every three days for a month gives eight messages in thirty days, which reads as pressure and loses the deal. The same eight messages spread over six months, with widening gaps, read as professional persistence.
Widening also matches reality. A prospect who has not replied in ten days is probably not deciding, they are busy elsewhere. Coming back in a month places you at the point where their situation has moved.
Typical rhythm
Day 3, day 10, day 24, then monthly for three months, then twice a year.
Each message stands alone
It must make sense without assuming the previous ones were read.
A new angle every time
Otherwise you are not following up, you are repeating.
Silence is not refusal
A prospect who does not reply is rarely one who has said no. They are in a meeting, their budget is unapproved, the decision maker is away, or your message arrived on a Tuesday morning in an inbox holding sixty others.
Reading silence as refusal is comfortable, because it excuses you from persisting. It is also why a large share of quotes are lost without any decision ever being made.
Frequently asked questions
How many follow-ups before giving up?
Four to five attempts over two to three months, across all channels. Most salespeople stop at two, which is why the third is so often the profitable one.
Should you follow up during holidays?
Avoid the first half of August and the week between Christmas and New Year. The September restart, on the other hand, is an excellent moment to revive dormant files.
Phone or email?
Alternate. Email is easy to ignore, a call is harder to dodge but sometimes lands badly. The two combined, spaced out, beat either alone.
Keep track of every follow-up
Lea CRM keeps your contacts, deals and reminders in one place, and shows you every morning what needs doing today.