You meet your prospect online or offline. You’d introduce yourself, make that small talk happen, and then wait for an opportunity to pitch.
Savvy marketers would be subtle, of course. Some people and businesses do this exceptionally well. Is it art or attitude? Andy Paul of Salesforce blog takes a shot at trying to explain this, but we’d think that it’s an art that requires a certain kind of attitude.
Most business owners with an inclination to sell, professional sales people, and pretty much everyone else have to follow-up every once in a while. It’s about reminding your prospects or recipients that you exist. It’s about plugging into a routine drill to keep reminding others of the value proposition you have to offer.
Sending follow-up messages has been happening forever, and it’ll continue to do so.
Here are a few examples of follow up emails that we created with a few hypothetical scenarios. The tone, attitude, and the soft-pitches: it’s all here:
Reminder for an upcoming social event
Hi Andy,
The sky isn’t falling yet, but it’s close.
We’d like to thank you for signing up for our upcoming event. You care, and we tip the hat to you for that. Those poor kids with that expectant look in their eyes would be thrilled to have you there.
Your presence could make a difference. We hope that you downloaded the directions to the venue. In case you’d like to, please [download it here].
You may also email us at: mail: event@yourlovelyevent.com or call as at XX XXXX XXX
Let’s rock this event and bring a smile to those faces
Team [event organizer]
Follow up example for cold emails
Hey Maurice,
I am John and I sent you a web design and annual maintenance proposal recently to your email address. I was wondering if you had a chance to peruse through it?
The email was a shot in the dark and I sent the proposal to the only email address I could find on the web. Please do let me know if you’d like me to resend or re route the proposal to another department, if that’s the case.
In case you have any questions about the proposal or if you’d like ask any other questions, please do drop in a line. I’d love to field your questions.
Best regards
John
From a freelancer to a client
Hi Nicole,
A few weeks ago, I sent in a query with a couple of feature article ideas to write for your magazine. I am writing in to find out if you had a chance to go through the query and see if my ideas would fit your magazine? As I mentioned earlier, I have my sources lined up for interviews and I already have my preliminary research ready.
If you’d like to suggest alternative approaches to my topic or title suggestions, please do let me know and I’ll gladly swing it your way.
Best wishes,
Claire
In case you haven’t noticed, none of the emails are too wordy. You’d get right to the point. No extra words, no waffling, and absolutely no rushing your prospects, clients, or your recipients.
The charm of effective follow-up emails lies in brevity, personality, time and precision. Be sure your up to date on the best time to send an email as well. Of course, you could plug in your own style. Don’t forget to A/B test the follow-up email subject line.
Pick up any of these examples and make them your own. It’s time to play sticky with flair.
How does your follow-up email look like?
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