It is a tough environment with prevalent cut-throat competition, not just with the competitor, but with your colleagues too. I personally believe that businesses need to have better and structured communication channels that help them win the business accounts they need for survival in this market.
I am trying to share a very sweet and simple fact with you here. Proper follow-up channels work wonders in business, be it for marketing, sales, or customer success. And why won’t they, after all, nothing puts you at the back of the prospect’s mind.
But then again the dilemma you might face is which channel must be used to do so?! I know this because I face the same issue. But then I came to know that it was a well-crafted and attractive email that acts as an apparatus of your client communication success.
No, I don’t want you to rush towards your desktop and start composing your email without going through a proper communication process. Unlike major follow-up emails, that are written in haste or rushed to the prospects’ inbox to stay ahead of the competition, I want you to keep the humane side of your email intact.
First thing’s first, your prospects love it when you pay attention to them. They just love it when businesses check on them. It makes them feel connected to the brand. But that is not enough to get their business. You cannot get their business with your “hey, wassup, I was just catching up with you…” subject line and content body. What you will be doing with such an approach is fill up their inbox with more unreasonable, and unimportant emails.
Take the example of a marketing team that pushes the lead data onto their sales team counterparts without doing a proper background check. This way what they are doing is providing the sales team with a list that they will use for “treasure hunt”.
If you are categorizing the task of following up or sending out follow-up emails as just a chore then you will never be able to capitalize on its benefit as the perfect communication tool.
I am not saying you do it intentionally, it’s just that there are so many tasks and KPIs to work with that you just skip a few steps here and there. Hear me out. Emails are a communication tool that enables you to set up communication with those whom you have forgotten in the business race or who have forgotten you amidst the brand game.
By using follow-up emails you can:
- remind your prospects about your product
- create urgency
- clarify your value proposition
What I am trying to make you understand is that emails help you persuade the prospects into taking certain actions that will help them move through your business process.
Before heading into the realm of sending follow-up emails I will like to get into some important details of follow-up emails and why you need a strong email strategy for your business.
How many emails are “too much email for your prospects”?
Various studies have revealed that follow-up emails are a crucial part of the business process strategy. For instance, salespeople must do multiple follow-ups before expecting a response from the prospects. So, having an effective follow-up strategy will definitely experience a 5x response rate.
What is the “wait around time” of a follow-up email?
Learning the frequency of emails as part of your follow-up strategy is important for businesses. And if you are sending out cold follow-up emails then you are in murky waters.
If you follow-up too soon and too frequently then your prospects will get annoyed, and if you are late in your follow-ups then you are no more likely to be remembered by them.
So when the point is to learn the timing of your follow-up emails what must be the wait-around time?
An 8-touch sequence, one opening email along with 7 follow-ups. — Heather Morgan from Salesfolk
I would suggest sending around 5–6 email follow-ups in a month. Try sending two follow-ups in a week for the first two weeks and then reduce it to one follow-up per week.
If you observe zero engagement from the prospects after around 6–8 follow-up, they are not interested.
Yet sometimes, prospects do engage with your email communication:
1. Reverts once or shows some interest then suddenly goes cold:
Continue follow-up until such prospects communicate their disinterest. Once your follow-up sequence runs its course, maintain a regular email cadence every 7th day.
2. Shows zero interest yet has not unsubscribed:
There will be cases where the prospect never reverts yet they are clicking on the links inside of your emails, they are going to your website and downloading the value-adding content. Run a fortnightly/monthly drip campaign for such prospects.
How can you master the art of writing a follow-up email to prospects?
The follow-up email copy is another critical factor in the success of the marketing email sequence. The idea behind developing your email copy is to provide value in every single follow-up email.
- Keep your prospects at the center of the focus of your follow-up email.
- Explain how this email will add value to the prospect’s current situation.
- Always experiment with your email copy.
- Keep the solution of various pain-points as the center of focus of your follow-up emails.
- Share social proof and customer testimonials or success stories, etc.
How can I craft engaging and precise emails for better follow-ups?
Some sample follow-up emails that you can use for creating a better connection with your prospects.
Follow-up email 1
Hey, Prospect Name
Congratulations on the fundraiser’s success! I was inspired after knowing your struggle and the foundation of your business.
If you don’t mind me asking, how are you managing the growing number of your contacts? I am positive that our solution is apt for a business of your size and stature.
Do let me know the best time to contact you. Here is my (email address/contact number)
Kind regards.
Follow-up email 2
Hey, Prospect Name
A founder does everything in their power to grow their business. Do you feel that you spend a lot on training the new addition to your team?
Our company automates the employee onboarding process, saving several working hours.
Do let me know the best time to contact you. Here is my (email address/contact number)
Kind regards.
Follow-up email 3
Hey, Prospect Name
These SaaS startups in the bay area utilize our services every day. And they have seen (x%) growth in their (mention the pain point).
I am sure this (mention the feature or set of features) for (mention the company name) as well. What does your schedule look like next week?
Do let me know the best time to contact you. Here is my (email address/contact number)
Kind regards.
Follow-up email 4
Hey, Prospect Name
Automated prospecting is on the verge, and these businesses have made good use of the same in the past few months. Here are some excerpts of how much the customers are loving us.
“(Mention your company’s name) has backed us in our prospecting process” — (name of the customer) (Position) at (Customer’s company)
“It really works like a charm and integrates beautifully within our business process” — (name of the customer) (Position) at (Customer’s company)
Did these statements intrigue you to try us out?
Do let me know the best time to contact you. Here is my (email address/contact number)
Kind regards.
Follow-up email 5
Hey, Prospect Name
I hope the meeting was as per your expectations. I really learned a lot about your goals and it has convinced me that our unique set of features will help your number soar through the roof.
After working and serving various companies for the past decade, we understand the unique requirements of your business.
I am attaching a case study of the business model similar to yours. We’ve helped a previous client who successfully overcame the same challenges. I thought this would come in handy for you.
Also, here’s a recap of our meeting today. Do share if you think I have missed some crucial pointers out.
Here are your key priorities
The parameters required for your company’s success
How (mention the solution) can help address the above-mentioned pain-points
Please let me know if you have any questions. I am happy to help!
I am looking forward to catching up with you soon on (Mention the time/date), for the next discussions.
Kind regards.
How you must plan your email follow-up?
Your contact list might be less yet your team members might feel the brunt of writing the follow-up emails every few days and might give up. This where you might want to try a smart contact management tool such as Salesmate which enables you to record and store your communications in a streamlined manner. Businesses can automate their follow-up emails and make it less monotonous.
Concluding thoughts.
How will you know that your follow-up emails are working or not? The simple answer is you cannot. Without the key metrics, you won’t know how your email copy is working or not.
CRM for small business helps you know the open and response rates of your follow-up emails. Analyze the response rate against your existing process. See how and when you can enter the email sequence into your business process.
Create and save your email follow-up templates inside a smart CRM software like Salesmate CRM. Using this high-end software create follow-up sequences, track the performance of the follow-up emails, and make the successful ones part of your follow-up process. Try Salesmate for free and explore its amazing features.
