{"id":930,"date":"2020-06-04T10:56:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T15:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.kmbrian.com\/?p=930"},"modified":"2020-12-23T09:55:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T15:55:25","slug":"follow-up-email-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kmbrian.com\/blog\/follow-up-email-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Follow-up Email After No Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

If the thought of writing a follow-up email makes you feel a little uncomfortable, you\u2019re not alone. Our instincts tell us that if someone hasn\u2019t replied to our first email, they\u2019re not interested, and that they\u2019re not going to like it if we bother them again.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately in this case, our instincts are often wrong. Very few prospects say \u201cyes\u201d to the first ask – or, for that matter, to the second, third, or fourth.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In fact, a study from Iko System<\/a> saw an 18% response rate to the first email they sent, and 13% to the fourth. The sixth<\/strong> email in the sequence received a massive 27% response rate.<\/p>\n

\"Response<\/p>\n

A similar study from Yesware<\/a> saw a 30% response rate to the first email and 14% to the fourth. They actually sent 10 emails in total and even the very last one had a 7% response rate.<\/p>\n

\"Yesware<\/p>\n

Despite this, Yesware reports<\/a> that a colossal 70% of email chains stop after just one<\/b> unanswered email.<\/p>\n

It gets worse, or better, depending on how you look at it: Roughly\u00a080% of prospects say \u2018no\u2019 four times before they ultimately say \u2018yes\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But 92% of people give up after hearing \u2018no\u2019 four times.<\/p>\n

So, why does that matter? It means that only 8% of salespeople \u2013 those following up at least five times \u2013 are generating 80% of\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0sales.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, other studies reveal that an email drip series\u00a0with 4-7 messages delivers 3x more responses<\/a>\u00a0than those with only 1-3 (27% and 9%, respectively).<\/p>\n

In fact, even\u00a0following up just once can convert 22% more replies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, sending follow-up emails is essential (unless you like<\/i> missing out on sales\u2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t follow up too much in the earlier part of an engagement<\/em>.\u201d ~Damian Thompson<\/a>, Leadfuze<\/p>\n

Need some tips? Here\u2019s how to write a follow-up email after no response.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How Long Should You Wait Before Following Up?<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Automate Your Follow-Up Sequence<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Diversify Your Channels<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Decide What You Want to Achieve<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Put Yourself in Their Shoes<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. How to Write a Follow Up Email<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Sales Follow-up Email Templates<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Expert Tips<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Ready to take your follow-up game to the next level? Mailshake can help you send automated, personalized follow-ups at scale. Click here to learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    First, let\u2019s answer this question…<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    How Long Should You Wait Before Following Up?<\/h2>\n

    The short answer here is \u201cnot long.\u201d The vast majority of emails are opened the day they\u2019re sent, and if the recipient\u2019s going to reply, they\u2019re probably going to do that the same day, too. That means it\u2019s pretty safe to assume that if someone doesn\u2019t reply the day you send your email, they\u2019re not going to reply at all.<\/p>\n

    How safe? About 90% of recipients open and reply \u2013 if they\u2019re going to reply \u2013 on the day they receive an email.<\/p>\n

    \"Percentage<\/p>\n

    Image Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

    So, how long should you wait before sending a follow-up email?<\/b><\/p>\n

    As a general rule, two or three days is a good amount of time to wait before sending your first<\/b> follow-up email. You should then extend the wait period by a few days for each subsequent email.<\/p>\n

    While there are no hard-and-fast rules on how you should approach this, Close.io<\/a> CEO Steli Efti<\/a> proposes spacing your follow-up emails like so:<\/p>\n

    \"Best<\/p>\n

    Image Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

    You can and should experiment, but that schedule is as good as any until proven otherwise. You want to follow up without annoying your targets with daily blasts.\u00a0Efti\u2019s\u00a0suggested timetable works out to six emails \u2013 the initial contact and five follow-ups \u2013 over the course of a single 30-day period.<\/p>\n

    With it, you\u2019re checking all the right boxes. Go with that until, if, and when you discover it\u2019s not working for you and your audience.<\/p>\n

    Setting Up for Success<\/h2>\n

    Okay, so you know why it\u2019s important to follow up, how long to wait, and have a ballpark figure on how many messages to send altogether.<\/p>\n

    Before you start, though, you need to set yourself up for maximum success. The first step? Write it all down.<\/p>\n

    Writing down your goals and workflows is beneficial on many fronts: it creates consistency amongst everyone on your team, it keeps everyone on the same page, and it actually helps you achieve your goals better than if you didn\u2019t write them down<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    To maximize your follow-up success, have a concrete set of \u2018rules\u2019 as to time, frequency, quantity, and message. Be consistent. And automate.<\/p>\n

    Automate Your Follow-Up Sequence<\/h3>\n

    If you’re reaching out to hundreds of prospects every week, it’s impossible to manually stay on top of following up with all of them.<\/p>\n

    That’s why a sales engagement tool like Mailshake is essential to creating an effective, scalable follow-up email sequence.<\/p>\n

    With Mailshake, you can personalize your emails in bulk with powerful mail merge features<\/a>, schedule follow-up emails<\/a> that are paused or triggered based on whether a a recipient opens an email, clicks a link, or replies, and reply to leads straight from your Mailshake dashboard with Lead Catcher<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    You can also set the amount of time between follow-ups (5 days between the first and second email, 7 days between the second and third, etc.), and the days and times you want them to send (for instance, between 8 am and 6 pm on weekdays).<\/p>\n