The 3 Critical Components of a Perfect Sales Follow-Up Email

A good sales follow-up email can make or break a deal. Dull, pestering follow-up emails will leave you with nothing but an empty inbox. But master the follow-up email and your leads will be responding faster than you can manage. And according to Grant Cardone, you should always be aiming for more sales than you can manage.

Part 1: So Personal, They Can’t Ignore You

Personalization goes a long way in a sales follow-up email. Find out what your lead has been up to recently and make a sincere comment. Research is your friend here – aim to make the most genuine and detailed comment they’ve ever had from a salesperson.

“Hi Colin, I hope you’re well. I noticed on LinkedIn you’ve just finished up with a big presentation on the west coast – congratulations! It looked like a great turnout too. I caught the recording on YouTube and liked what you said about how machine learning could be utilized in education. It sent me down a rabbit hole reading about AI in the classroom. It’s an interesting field. Nice work on that.”

By sending a highly personalized message, you’re catching their attention and giving them a glimpse at the level of service they can expect from you. Messages like this separate you from other salespeople and your email won’t be mistaken for a bot because it’s lovingly hand-crafted.

Part 2: An Offer They Can’t Refuse

Introduce your previous email, but include all the details so they don’t have to go traipsing through their inbox to find the original.

“I don’t know if you picked up my last email, but have you had any thoughts about meeting to chat about Productivity Now’s new course for small teams? We’re running a promo right now that will mean JMR Educate can access all content for a whole month for free”.

Sales is about people, and your first email thread will dictate the kind of relationship you’re trying to establish. By doing the work for them – and making all the information readily available in one place – they’ll appreciate the service you’re willing to offer both now while they’re a lead and in future when they potentially become a client.

Part 3: Make Replying Easy

This part is important – you’ve provided a lot of personalized details, so a lead may put off responding if they feel they owe you a lengthy reply. You can alleviate this guilt and ramp up your chances of getting a response with the following:

“Are you free for a quick (15 minute) meeting in the next few weeks? I know you’re busy, so a quick ‘yes’ reply is fine and I’ll send over some availability, along with details of that promotion.”

Bonus: Even though you say ‘a quick yes is fine’, in my experience, leads will usually write something warm back voluntarily!

The Complete Sales Follow-Up Email

Here’s how the final email reads:

Hi Colin, I hope you’re well. I noticed on LinkedIn you’ve just finished up with a big presentation on the west coast – congratulations! It looked like a great turnout too. I caught the recording on YouTube and liked what you said about how machine learning could be utilized in education. It sent me down a rabbit hole reading about AI in the classroom. It’s an interesting field. Nice work on that.

I don’t know if you picked up my last email, but have you had any thoughts about meeting to chat about Productivity Now’s new course for small teams? We’re running a promo right now that will mean JMR Educate can access all content for a whole month for free.

Are you free for a quick (15 minute) meeting in the next few weeks? I know you’re busy, so a quick ‘yes’ reply is fine and I’ll send over some availability, along with details of that promotion.

Your Personalizable Sales Follow-Up Email Template

Here’s your own template to personalize:

Hi [NAME], I hope you’re well. I noticed on [PLATFORM] you’ve just [RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENT]. I thought [COMMENT ON ACCOMPLISHMENT WITH DETAIL].

I don’t know if you picked up my last email, but have you had any thoughts about [YOUR OFFERING]? [COMPELLING DETAIL ABOUT YOUR OFFERI NG].

Are you free for a quick (15 minute) meeting in the next few weeks? I know you’re busy, so a quick ‘yes’ reply is fine and I’ll send over some availability, along with details of [PROMOTION].

Become a Sales Email Wizard

With these tips in tow, you’ll have all the ingredients you need to send compelling sales follow ups to your leads.

What do your sales follow-up emails look like? Let us know @TextExpander and in our group on Facebook.