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title: Email follow-up examples
tags: [Week 3, ' M8', ' H3']

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tags: Week 3, H3, M8
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# Email follow-up examples

Getting a response via phone is relatively easy as you automatically get a response from the other person. 

But getting a response through email can be tricky. You need to stand out from a mass of mails flooding your leads' inbox. 

Something we hear over and over again from salespeople is this: 

> How do I follow up after already having sent follow-up mails? [color=green]

Now that you understand the importance of email follow ups, we want to share with you some examples of specific follow-up emails and tactics that work for your inspiration. 😉

:::warning
**Practical tip: Don't put all your use cases and benefits into one email.** Many salespeople are tempted to do so. Instead, focus on the most pressing problem and your most important use case for your first email. If you don't hear back after the 2nd or 3rd follow-up, try a different problem and use case your product caters to for the 4th follow up. 

Again, you are telling a story and you have more than one email to do so 🤓 .
:::
&nbsp;
## Follow-up templates and examples 

First off, keep in mind that wherever possible, you follow up in a meaningful way that creates value. No "hey, just checking in" or "Did you get my last mail". **Never.**

There are many use cases for follow up mails. We are going share examples and useful templates for the most tricky ones (most of which we have used as well):

1. Following up after a meeting
2. Following up after a first cold email
3. Following up the follow-up
4. Continued silence: The break-up email
&nbsp;
### Use case 1: Following up after a meeting

You felt that you had a great meeting where the prospect clearly had a pain point and recognized the value of your solution. Then, after you sent your recap email.... nothing. Silence. 

No worries, there are many potential reasons as to why they haven't responded (including that they read your mail and just forgot to respond in the heat of the moment). 

There is no great email without subject lines that make the recipient curious to what's inside. A couple of options below:

1. Can I help?
2. Are we still on track?
3. Subject lines:
4. Re: (your last follow-ups subject line)
5. How do we move forward?
6. Re: Our meeting 

Email template:

> Dear [Name], I’m writing to follow up on our last conversation. From what I have understood, solving [problem] is a priority to you now and you see value in exploring how we can help you solve it by [solution]. In terms of next steps, we have agreed to do [next step from meeting recap mail].
> 
> Does this still make sense as a next step or is there anything I can do to support in the meantime?
> 
> [Signature]
&nbsp;
### Use case 2: Following up a first cold email

**Option 1**

In many cases, your prospect just hasn’t read your first mail. Therefore, you can almost completely re-use your first mail and add a new first sentence and a different call-to-action.

Subject line:
Re: (your first email's subject line)

Email template:

> Hi [Name],
> 
> my last mail probably got drowned in your inbox so let me just try again.
> 
> [Insert main body text from your first mail following "problem" and "solution". See example for Hyrise: Many tech companies struggle to find qualified German-speaking salespeople, especially SDRs. When they do find them, it is often career changers with little experience. Usually companies then don’t have the bandwidth internally to properly enable these junior SDRs with proper training.
> 
> Hubspot, Forto and many other tech companies had the same challenge. Today, we help them build their sales teams by placing pre-qualified sales talent with them and training them to become SDRs via on-the-job training. Vacant positions are filled and new hires made productive much faster.]
> 
> Is this also relevant to you?
> 
> Best regards,
> [Signature]

&nbsp;

**Option 2**

Let's say you have cold emailed a lead and you are not 100% sure if they are the right person to talk to anyway. Of course, no response from their end. 

Subject lines:
1. Re: appropriate person? 
2. Am I wrong?
3. Thought of you
4. Best practices on [Solution] 

Email template:

> Dear [Name],
> 
> My first mail probably got drowned in your inbox. Based on our experience of working with similar companies in [Industry], I am curious to find out if we can also help you improve [name problem or solution]. Would love to share best practices on how we have helped other companies achieve [benefit]. 
> 
> If it makes sense to talk, please let me know what your calendar looks like in the upcoming days.
> 
> If you think you are not the right person to talk to, who is the appropriate contact for me to reach out to?
> 
> Looking forward to hearing from you,
> 
> [Signature]
&nbsp;
### Use case 3: Following up the follow-up

**2nd follow-up**

We know this one is hard. Coming up with meaningful follow-ups on follow-ups takes creativity 😊. It's easy to start sounding desperate, which you definitely want to avoid. After all, you need to stand out AND add value. 

Remember to be persistent and hang in there!

Below we are providing a possible sequence of mails you could use. 

Subject lines:
1. Relevant [Name of content piece]
2. Thought of you
3. [Name of content piece] to improve [relevant problem]
4. Improving [relevant problem]


Email template:

> Hi [Name],
> 
> Reflecting on the conversation we had last Tuesday, there is [Name of content piece] I want to share with you. It may help you recognize how we have helped companies like [customer names relevant to industry] achieve [benefit]. 
> 
> To help you understand how exactly we could provide value to you, I'd love to share more details. 
> Does it make sense to talk?
> 
> [Signature]

Note that for this one, you are attaching / inserting a content piece that's relevant. That could be a blog post, a white paper, case studies, testimonials or anything that provides value in the context of this prospect. You want to be helpful and at the same time, remind them of the value you can provide to them specifically. 

Let us share an example for a 2nd follow up mail at Hyrise. 👇

Subject line: Relevant profile

> Hello [name],
> 
> assuming you are still looking for SDRs, let me share an example of the kind of profiles we place with companies from our network. See [here](https://www.hyrise.com/post/lyns-success-story), for example, the "success story" of Lyn. Lyn previously worked as dental assistant who joined POSpulse as an SDR with our help.
> 
> Are such profiles also interesting for you?
> 
> Best,
> Dominic 

&nbsp;
**3rd follow-up**

Again, nothing that came back? No worries, keep at it. 

Subject lines:
1. Re: (your last follow-ups subject line)
2. Still looking to connect
3. I can be flexible
4. Was [Name of content piece] helpful?


> Hi [Name],
> 
> I know how busy you must be managing your [team or priorities] and being tied up by numerous internal meetings. I hope the resource I sent you about [description of content piece] was helpful to you and your team. Here it is again [insert hyperlink here] in case it got lost in translation. 
> 
> Does it make sense to discuss how we can help you solve [problem]?
> 
> Let me know what works best for you, or if you have any conflicts with those times. I’d be happy to work around your schedule.
> 
> [Signature]

&nbsp;
**4th follow-up**

Still nothing? Don't give up now. Remember that 50% of sales require at least five follow ups. So here’s a fourth follow up email template.

Subject lines:
1. Re: (your last follow-ups subject line)
2. Trying to connect
3. Still hoping to connect
4. Re: Our initial conversation


> Hi [Name],
> 
> I’m sorry we haven’t been able to connect. When we last spoke, you seemed very interested in [objective or benefit].
> 
> Again, I know how hectic things can get between meetings and other rivaling priorities. I am happy to schedule a call with you at any time, even if it falls outside regular office hours if it fits your schedule better. 
> 
> I really don’t mean to harass you, but would appreciate some indication on your decision either way. After all, we are only here to help you achieve [benefit]
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> [Signature]

&nbsp;
### Use case 4: Continued silence - The break-up email

Radio silence, even after all your follow ups? When you have reached the end of your cadence, which involves a multitude of touchpoints over a defined period of time (e.g. 20 days) and have gotten no response, it's time to send a "break up" email. If you continued your attempts, you would likely be wasting your time. 

It's still important to break up with your prospect in a professional way that leaves them feeling positive about you and the company you work for. Who knows, they may reach out to you in the future or even refer you. Also, you would be suprised about how effective these final mails can be in generating a response after all! 

**Use them.** But only do so when you are really ready to make the cut.

Subject line: Permission to close your file? 

> [First Name],
> 
> We are in the process of cleaning up our CRM. Typically when I haven’t heard back from someone it means they’re either really busy or aren’t interested.
> 
> If you aren’t interested, do I have your permission to close your file?
> 
> If you’re still interested, what do you recommend as a next step?
> 
> Thanks for your help.

Credit: This one we got from [Bryan Kreuzberger](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankreuzberger/), founder of Breakthrough Email, who uses this tactic and sends it as final follow-up that has a 76% response rate. Bryan swears by it, claiming it's his best-performing email of all time (find out for yourself). 

There is another one we like and recommend as it doesn't have a clear CTA (call to action) and therefore really serves as final and polite break up email (which therefore prospects are inclined to answer even more should they be interested after all). 

Subject line: It's always "see you later"

> Dear [Name],
> 
> When we first spoke, I really thought we could help you improve [problem]. Since I haven't heard back, I assume that achieving [solution] is not a priority to you now. 
> 
> Please know I sincerely enjoyed the conversation we had and learning about you and [company name]. Should the above become a priority again, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
> 
> All the best, 
> [Your name]

&nbsp;
:::info
The templates provided above should serve you as inspiration. We do not claim that these are the best working templates, but can say that we have had good success using them. As usual, feel free to try them out, edit and tweak and finally make them your own fitting your style and personality. 

:pray: 
:::

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