It’s no secret that most businesses rely on emails to communicate with their potential and existing customers. As a result, this one simple message could potentially trigger a successful purchase in the future, which is why sales and marketing professionals put so much effort into email outreach.
Now, oftentimes, prospects won’t respond to your sales or marketing emails right away, and there could be several reasons why, so the next logical step is to follow up.
In other words, double down on your outreach and send another, much shorter, email in an attempt to spark their interest once again.
The dilemma here is, how can you strike that perfect balance between re-engaging your prospect and avoiding being pushy at the same time?
One of the most commonly-used opening lines in follow-ups is “Just checking in”, which not only conveys little value but also risks being interpreted as nagging. As a result, your messages may end up in the email graveyard, resulting in a lost business opportunity.
In this article, we’ll dive into the nuances of effective follow-ups to help you get your prospects’ attention without having to use generic, overused phrases or crossing the line of pushiness.
The role of follow-ups
In case you’re wondering, why do follow-ups even matter in business? Surely if a prospect doesn’t respond to your initial email they aren’t interested?
Well, for starters, persistence pays off in sales. In fact, according to a study by Invesp, around 80% of sales occur after at least 5 follow-up attempts, whereas nearly half of sales professionals give up after just 1.
This underlines a bitter truth—neglecting to follow up equates to leaving opportunities, and ultimately revenue, on the table.
Moreover, there are countless solid reasons why prospects may ghost your initial email. Sure, they might just be not interested and therefore ignore your email, but it could also be the case of:
- Timing issues → the recipient may have been busy or distracted at the time of seeing your email, so even if there is potential interest from their side, it just wasn’t a good time. On top of that, they may have read your email and decided that while interesting, it’s something they will address next quarter. Even in this situation, friendly, relevant, and non-pushy follow-ups will keep your company on their radar till the right time comes.
- Trust issues → this is perhaps one of the most common reasons, and honestly, it’s very justifiable. Your prospects may simply need more time, proof, or research before engaging with an unknown sales professional from a company they haven’t heard of. Staying persistent in your sales and marketing efforts will slowly build up that trust until they are finally ready to enter a constructive conversation.
- Lack of context → let’s face it, writing attention-grabbing cold emails is no easy task, especially when sales reps are faced with hundreds or thousands of prospects at a time. Your initial email could have simply not resonated or offered clear value at first glance. That’s why we invite you for a refresher on writing effective cold emails to bump the odds of getting replies in the first place, perhaps not needing as many follow-ups.
- Inbox overload → regardless of what industry or department you work in, it’s safe to assume that your inbox gets countless emails throughout the work weeks. Your prospects aren’t any different in that regard—your initial email may have simply gotten lost among the other hundreds of emails they’ve received that day.
There are numerous other explanations as to why your emails went unresponded in the first place, and sure, perhaps your recipient was simply not interested in your offering and decided not to reply. But it could also be one of the hundreds of different reasons, and there’s only one way to find out—following up with them.
