How awesome would it be if new clients simply dropped into your lap at the right time? We wouldn’t need to do so much work – that’s for sure! Unfortunately, real life doesn’t work that way. Salespeople and marketers rarely catch many breaks, leaving you no option but to go through your sales cycle and hope for the best.

That’s why cold email outreach has evolved to become one of the most important tools for any sales team. It allows you to reach out to anyone at any time and – if you do it right – convince them to buy your stuff. How amazing is that?

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Of course, you can follow various different tips and tricks to help you run a better sales email outreach campaign. You could even turn to templates to make the whole process easier. But there may be one area in which you are lagging behind – and that’s the follow up.

It’s one thing to capture a prospect’s attention, but it’s quite another to get them to the point where they’re ready to buy. New sales and engagement do not happen at the first contact. What gets a prospective customer from point A to B here, especially in aspects that are driven by relationship-building (like sales and marketing), is the follow up.

It is true that 80 percent of all your sales will be made between the fifth and twelfth follow up emails. As you can see, persistence is the key to convincing more people to buy your product or service. But it is also true that 92 percent of all salespeople and marketers don’t follow up on their leads in any way.

What’s up with that disconnect? It could have something to do with the fact that most people in sales find prospecting to be the hardest part of the sales process. Every salesperson and marketer spends hours at a time building their email list, analyzing their customers’ behavior, getting information on their prospects, and preparing personalized templates for their outreach email. But they completely drop the ball when it comes to following up.

But whatever the case, there is no arguing that a string follow-up process will help you land more clients more consistently. On the other hand, a weak one will cost your company massive losses in missed sales.

Do you know that point in the sales process, where you’re having a nice conversation with a prospect, and then the trail suddenly goes cold? Despite what you do or say, or how many times you follow up via email and calls, they just don’t reply.

We’ve all been there before, and you will waste time trying to understand why someone who had previously seemed so interested in your business does this. What matters is how you react to this kind of situation.

So your main focus should be on finding out if the prospect wants the relationship to continue or not. At this point, your mantra should be, “close the sale, or close the file.” So how do you get this done?

First, you must start off with a logical follow up plan. By now, you must know the best sales email follow up strategy that you can adapt for your own outreach efforts. But, in case you don’t, here is a quick recap:

•    Send the first outreach email to the prospect
•    2 days later – the first follow up email
•    5 days later – the second follow up email
•    7 to 10 days after the second follow up email – send the third (and last, or break up) follow up email

With that basis, here are three things to keep in mind when designing your follow up campaign for maximum impact:

The best way to engage a prospect at any time is by providing value. This is especially true when it comes to follow up and you’re trying to get them to respond to your sales email.

So start using your follow up campaign to share success stories from previous customers that you have worked with. Send interesting case studies as proof of your awesome product or service. You could even offer short courses that provide prospects with a viable solution to their need or challenge.

Approaching follow up in this way will effectively keep prospects interested. It will get them to see you as a valuable contact that can offer real solutions to their problems. Doing this will help you transform your outreach from a seller to prospect interaction, into a relationship that is based on trust.

If the prospect is still friendly in the middle of the sales cycle but remains unwilling to move forward to the final sale, why not offer them a cheaper option.

This doesn’t mean cutting the cost of your service or product! Instead, do you have an ebook or course that provides more detail on how to solve the prospect’s challenges? Do you have a one-time package or group option? Or, if you’re dealing with software, do you offer a cheaper package with fewer functions than the premium deal but more than the trial?

By offering a less expensive product or service, you are simply making it easier for the prospect to say yes. It helps you build brand loyalty while offering value. Better still, this gives you a great reason to keep in touch through follow ups.

Lastly, look into automating your sales email follow up process. This lets you engage prospects consistently with targeted messages that provide value and help you build strong relationships.

On the other hand, working without automating these replies puts your whole follow up efforts at the mercy of your personal schedule. Getting busy means you won’t be able to stick to a strict schedule. And if that happens, then you lose your base of potential customers.

So use RooJet and avoid this loss. RooJet is a great tool that helps you run your outreach campaign from start to finish. You can also automate your follow ups to run on a set schedule and keep your efforts consistent.

The content of these emails also matters a lot. You can start by viewing the follow up process as your chance to give the prospect more information. Show them what makes your company different from its competitors. You could also give them more details about the service or product that they have already shown an interest in.

When nothing else works, these eight strategies will help you write follow up emails that will get a response:

Ideally, you have already learned enough about the prospect to be able to send them a relevant, personalized sales email in the first place. But you need to take this a step further for your follow up emails.

It is simply not enough to recycle old tidbits that you have already used in follow up emails. This shows a distinct lack of interest that could put the prospect off for good.

Instead, find out about the specific challenges and needs of the prospect’s industry. This will help you sound like you know what you’re talking about when discussing current events in the field.

Also, learn about their interests and hobbies. This way, you’ll be able to use relevant news items or blogs articles as an excuse for your next follow up attempt. You can even add a quick note saying something like,

“I was reading this and thought you’d be interested. I’d love to share some ideas with you on this.”

This kind of approach lets the prospect know that you’re keeping their needs in mind. It also shows that you are in the know with what’s happening in their industry and that you’d be a great resource to keep around.  

Apart from that, it also helps you build a strong relationship with the prospect instead of just trying to sell to them.

This sounds kind of obvious, but are you really doing this? Because many salespeople and marketers are not.

If your repeated emails truly offer some great value, then the prospect won’t think that you are being pushy or aggressive. When you give something that will help them in some way, you are also opening an undisputed door for yourself to keep contacting them.

Even sending something like a curated email with some of the most interesting industry news and events every week is providing value. That is because you’re being helpful, but also building up your own credibility and authority at the same time.

So, ask yourself: what would the prospect like to hear about? A truly savvy marketer will then take this information and find a way to tie it to their own services or products. Tell the prospect – clearly and briefly – how you can help them solve a particular problem or reach a specific goal.

All in all, ensure that the content of your follow up emails focuses on the potential customer and their needs.

When crafting a sales follow up email, it is important to back it up with facts. But don’t just recite random points and numbers! Put the situation inc context and bring your brand story to life.

The best way to do this is by using case studies and success stories from previous customers to gain new leads. This way, the prospect will be able to find parallels with their own business and clearly identify how your service or product can turn things around for them.

Sending this kind of emails gives you an amazing chance to paint an ideal future for your prospect. Show the prospect how someone in the same situation actually benefited and highlight their ROI. In turn, they will be able to see what they can achieve if they work with you.

If you can turn your product or service into the prospect’s champion then you are also gaining their interest and goodwill. This makes it easier to convert interest into paid engagement.

When writing a follow up email, it is important to briefly recount your exchanges with the prospect to date. And the key word here is brief. You don’t have to repeat your original email and the conversation that followed over and over since you’ll be replying to the same thread anyway.

But you can use each follow up email to give the prospects highlights of any milestones you have achieved or resources sent so far. This is a great way to show them how continuing a conversation with you will be mutually beneficial to you both.

Like anything else in life, business is all about building relationships. But unlike the relationships that you develop with family and friends, it is never a good idea to bring in too many emotions when something goes wrong in business.

This means that you should never come across as entitled to a response (because you spent so much time on preparing your sales emails!), or like you are blaming the prospect in any way for not replying to your emails. Also, you should never try to guilt the prospect to get them to respond. Such approaches never work out and may even destroy your future chances of getting back to the prospect.

Instead, here is an example that shows how you can keep your follow up emails friendly, optimistic, and professional:

Hi (Prospect’s name),

I’m sure you’re caught up in a thousand other things to do, and my goal isn’t to be a pain.

I’m going to assume that, for one reason or another, you’re not open at this time to discuss (highlight your pitch).

If I’m wrong and you still want to connect for a short meeting in the near future, send me a quick email or give me a call.

Either way, I wish you all the best! Thanks (Prospect’s name).

Best,

(Your name).

After highlighting what has happened so far in a professional way, you can then focus on giving the prospect suggestions on how to continue the conversation – or end it. Remember, the goal here is to find out what the prospect wants to do next.

This sales follow up email sample could suit your purpose:

Hey (Prospect’s name),

Just wanted to touch base on (mention specific proposal). I’ve emailed and called a couple of times and haven’t heard back from you yet, and I’m not sure how to proceed.

I assume that something is going on that is keeping the project from moving forward. My sense is that it could either be:

•    You are too busy to look at it right now
•    Something has changed and your company no longer needs/supports this service/product/project

I might be really off base here, but either way is okay. I just ask that you let me know. Then we can decide how to move forward, or if I should go ahead and close the file.

I really appreciate your help with this.

Best,

(Your name).

If you do manage to get a reply or land a meeting with a prospect, always set up your next contact now. Never end any active communication with them before setting a clear next step.

This simple move can help you get from initial contact to a firm proposal and the final sale much faster. It’s a great way of streamlining the follow up process dramatically.

This strategy is always most effective during calls or face-to-face meetings, but can also work well for email conversations. You can simply say something like:

“Looking forward to our next call/meeting on (mention specific date) at (mention specific time)!”

It’s an old sales mantra: the more you give, the more you get.

This is a great attitude to take with you into the business world, especially when it comes to following up effectively.

If you know someone that could benefit a particular prospect, then introduce them to each other.

For example, if you know that they need some help with a website redesign, then introduce them to some incredible web designers. If they can’t find the right person to hire for some essential task, then ask around and find a few people that could be a good fit.

All in all, prospects notice this kind of generosity. The benefit to you might not come immediately, but it will certainly play a part in their final decision.

Using email automation software like RooJet is a vital part of any successful sales email follow up process. It allows you to keep in touch with a huge number of prospects on a consistent basis, no matter where they are in the sales cycle.

So, take the time and effort to use all these strategies to reach out to your prospects. But also enrich your outreach efforts by using RooJet to increase your chances of success. No doubt about it: this is a lot of work, but the results are worth it.

Hey (Prospect’s name),

I just noticed that you checked out the email that I sent you yesterday, but I haven’t heard back from you yet. So I wanted to follow up and see if you had any questions about (name of your company) or our product/service.

I hope you don’t find this email pushy or a little creepy! I just wanted to know if these actions mean that you want to learn more about (name of your company) or how our product/service can help you (mention specific benefit).

If so, are you free for a quick 10-minute call on (mention specific date) at (mention specific time)?

Cheers,

(Your name).

Hi (Prospect’s name)

We have set a few dates to meet but had to reschedule due to other events. I haven’t heard back from you on my latest suggestion of when we can meet.

Since I’m sure you have a lot of other things going on right now at (name of prospect’s company), I’m going to assume that now isn’t a great time to talk about (name of your company)’s products/services/platform and how it can help you (mention specific benefits).

I might be wrong, so if you want to talk, can we schedule a meeting for (mention specific date and time)?

Best,

(Your name).

Hi (Prospect’s name),

I’ve been reaching out because I see a great opportunity for your (mention specific) team to (mention benefit 1, benefit 2, benefit 3) with (name of your company/product).

I’d hate to be a bother, so I’ll plan to reconnect with you in a couple of months unless you tell me that you’re ready to reevaluate sooner.

In the meantime, I’ll definitely keep an eye out for (name of prospect’s company)!

Thanks for your time.

Best,

(Your name).

Follow up emails work, but only if you stick to an established set of rules, principles, and strategies. They can be amazing tools that help you build strong relationships with prospects and turn them into long-term customers.

In particular, the examples provided here are very effective at moving along stuck conversations. When a prospect seems unable or unwilling to make the next step, these sales email follow up templates will help you guide them to the final sale.

Another thing to consider is the need for email automation software. In many cases, tools like RooJet prove to be an essential part of the follow up process.

When used in combination with these strategies, lots of time, and plenty of effort, you will start seeing a difference in your outreach campaign. You will begin experiencing a constant flow of new leads and sales, stronger relationships with prospects, and a rock-solid reputation within your industry.