Follow-up Email: Get an Appointment Every Time

If writing an email reminder makes you lose your means, you've come to the right place. At the end of this article, relaunching by email to get an appointment or sign a prospect will no longer have any secrets for you.

Bonus: we even share with you our best templates to [copy/paste] at the end of the article.

Let's go!

Not being comfortable with the stimulus is natural. As humans, our instinct tells us that if a person does not respond to our first request, it is because they are not interested, and will certainly not appreciate being contacted again by a second message.

Although the logic is consistent, in reality, the numbers say the opposite.

And that can be due to a lot of things on the recipient's side:

• An email lost in the mass,
• At reception at a bad time,
• An inattentive reading (diagonally),
• A reading interrupted by a disturbing element,
• Sometimes even just an email that arrives in SPAM.

(In order to avoid the latter cases, I Advise You To Go Read This)

In a Study Carried Out by Yesware (an email automation tool), out of more than 500,000 emails sent, we can observe that the first email sent brings an average of 30% response, which is the highest response rate. Until then, logical.

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Only, by analyzing the numbers in more detail, we can see that the following emails also have a Response Rate not negligible. Thus, by transforming a single email into a sequence of 4 emails, the probability of having a response increases from 30 to 83%, i.e. 3X more likely to have a response by making only 3 more reminders 🤯.

Moreover, the fact that the first message is the most effective is not guaranteed. Another study, this time carried out by Iko System (former commercial automation platform), based on the analysis of its customer data, shows that despite an 18% probability of receiving a response to the first message, this probability decreases thereafter. We can see that the 6th message sent (or the 5th reminder) goes back up with a 27% probability of getting a response!

The conclusion? Relaunch pay 💪

Even more interesting, Yesware also shows us that 70% of prospecting emails stop at a single message, without a follow-up.

Only 19% of salespeople will send a second follow-up email.

In summary, by doing only one additional email reminder, you will increase your chances of responses by 21% and exceed 70% of sales representatives. ‍

Not bad for an extra little email, huh? 😏

And the more you do, the more these numbers will turn to your advantage.

Of course, it's not just a question of persistence, and relaunching without bringing value will not bring you this kind of results. You May Even Affect Your Brand Image As Well As The Deliverability of your emails.

Now that the importance of relaunching your prospects has become obvious, let's see how to follow up like a pro, to get an appointment every time.

The different types of reminder emails

When we talk about reminder emails, there are two main categories:

1. The relaunch of prospecting [pre-meeting] 💼

A follow-up call is a reminder that follows an unsolicited prospecting message, (also called Cold email), it is therefore a message that relaunches the prospect to increase the chances of having an exchange, and of getting an appointment.

In this type of case, the follow-up is done without having received any feedback from the prospect.

2. The relaunch of closing [post-meeting] 🤝

The closing reminder is a follow-up, generally carried out after an exchange (on call, in person, or even in writing) with a qualified prospect. This generally follows the sending of an offer or additional information, and the objective is to support the prospect in making decisions, to optimize the chances of him signing with you.

What is the difference between prospecting and closing? 🔦

The Key Difference Will BePurpose And your Relationship with the Prospect. In the case of prospecting, your objective is to get your foot in the door, and the relationship between you and the prospect is still non-existent (in the sense that you have not yet discussed it together). You will thus be able to allow yourself to be more insistent, with a Slightly Shorter Contact Rate, because your The Objective Will Be to Qualify or Not Your Prospect as Quickly as Possible. Moreover, you will not continue beyond one Defined Number of Reminders, because once your arguments are exhausted, pure insistence will only have the effect of boring your prospect.

In the context of the closing, on the other hand, you are there to follow up on the strong interest of your prospect in your offer. Even if the interest was not 100% confirmed, There is an established probability that this person can turn into a customer. You therefore have no interest in stopping the raises, until you have confirmed that the probability of closing it has returned to 0. So you can afford to Repeat as many times as you want, but this time More Spaced Out, because the idea is to maintain a special relationship with your prospect, and especially not to make them feel “in a hurry.”

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How many reminder emails should I make in total?

The number of reminders will depend on your type of reminder:

If you are cold prospecting (prospecting reminders):

The optimal number of reminders will be directly linked to the number of valuable elements that you have to present to your prospect.

And this number of reminders can be precisely defined.

At Leadix, we use a strategy linked to the number of valuable elements to offer to your ICP.

📐 Calculate your number of emails in sequence for optimal prospecting:

• 1 introductory email
• 1 email about the item #1 values for your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
• 1 email about the item #2 values for your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
• 1 email about the item #3 values for your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
  ...
• 1 Last Emotional Boost

= The number of emails in your optimal email prospecting sequence 💌

Take for example A SAAS tool for team management allowing you to:

• Simplify project management and monitoring
• To distribute tasks between each collaborator
• As Well as Organizing More Productive Meetings

In this case, the total number of emails in a prospecting sequence will be 5 emails: 1 intro email, 3 emails detailing the 3 key elements of value for the prospect, and 1 final follow-up email.

On the other hand, if you call again to follow up on an appointment:

In this case, the limit is almost infinite ♾️.

Ask yourself the following question: if you are convinced that this is the man or woman of your life, how many follow-up messages would you give up after?

Unless you are very happy/happy alone, chances are you won't give up.

So why do you do something different for your ideal customer?

Selling also means being a bit relentless 💪⚡️

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How long should I wait between reminders?

Before we look at the content of Reminder emails, it is important to identify the optimal timing between each reminder. Enough to maximize the impact of your messages, without being considered a keyboard freak. ⌨️

The first step is to understand the longevity of an email sent. Again in the same study carried out by Yesware, we can observe that Over 90% of emails that have been answered receive this response within one day of being sent.

The majority of emails are therefore opened the same day they were received, and if the recipient attempts to respond, they will usually do so the same day they are opened.

It can therefore be considered that if you do not receive a response the same day, your chance of receiving a response in the following days decreases severely.

Although these figures confirm that after the first day, your chances of getting an answer go down, it is still advisable to wait 2 - 3 days before the first reminder, to give the recipient the opportunity to take a little more than their single day.

Then your reminders will have to be spaced out more and more as you send them, in order to avoid annoying your target.

Since cold e-mailing is not an exact science, there is no “magic” rule for the timing of reminders, everyone has their own favorite formula.

Here are 3 reminder timing formulas that make sense 👇

1 ️. Steli Efti, CEO of Close.io Has the habit of spacing out his reminders as follows:

The underlying idea is to properly balance the space between reminders, starting with a high frequency, then more and more distant.

Do you too, when you read the evolution of frequency, does it directly remind you of a Fibonacci sequence? Crazy! 🤯

(All kidding aside, even if you're not a mathematician, it's also a great approach)

Here it is:

2 ️. The Fibonacci sequence Add each number, with the one before, thus giving a sequence of... 2, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89... etc. And this one lends itself quite well to spacing email reminders.

The advantage of the Fibonacci sequence is that it allows for effective and continuous stimulus timing, without risking being considered too insistent.

However, after a few reminders, the gap quickly becomes very wide, and not all salespeople have time to wait 89 working days between reminders.

That is why at Leadix, we have developed a reference formula that we apply in 90% of our campaigns.

3 ️. The Leadix Recovery Formula:

PS: We hope no one will read it, but if you are reading this, keep it to yourself 🤫

⚡ The Leadix Recovery Formula: delay n+1 = ((delay n x 2) - 1)

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In other words, if we start with a delay of 2 days between the first message and the second, the next delay (n+1) will be 2X2-1, or 3, then 3x2-1, or 5, then 8, etc.

The Leadix relaunch suite looks like this:

• 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11...

It's all a question of balance between insistence and spacing the points of contact.

Don't hurry, patience pays off.

The structure of a reminder email that converts

Now that you know why it is essential to follow up with a prospect, how long to wait between each follow-up, and the optimal number of reminders to do, let's get to the heart of the matter: How to write a follow-up email that converts?

Before getting into the structure of a reminder email, it is important to have the objective of your reminders in mind. Whether it's to qualify a prospect, get an appointment, get more information, or get news following an offer sent, keep your objective in mind because everything else will revolve around it.

1. Establishing the context for its relaunch

Since this is a reminder, start by refreshing your prospect's memory by reminding them of your first message or contact. Even if they don't remember the message in question, reminding them will increase your chances of getting a response. In addition, when you follow up with additional value (next point), it will already be something to relate to.

Exemples:

• “I'll get back to you following my [Date] email about [First email subject].”
• “To give you a bit more context on my last email of [Date] about [First email subject].”
• “I wanted to get back to you because I am curious about your opinion on [First email subject].”
• “Have you had a chance to look at what [First Email Subject] could do for [Company]?
• “Looking back on my [Date] email on [First email subject], I thought that further discussion could benefit you. Are you available for a call or a meeting to answer any questions you may have?”
• “Have you had a chance to look at [Offer sent]? I would be delighted to have your feedback and to be able to define the optimal way to bring you value.”

2. Inserting added value in each reminder email

Once your prospect knows where you are, or quote the initial value that you proposed, it is time to move forward with the proposal. If the first message did not lead to the desired response, complement it by adding arguments that increase the value perceived by the prospect.

Always Prefer MECE arguments (acronym for Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive), allowing you to best define your total value offer, without constantly repeating yourself.

The idea is to bring as much “new” as possible into each reminder, whether it's more details or value related to your proposal, or a more attractive offer (such as a rebate, a free trial, etc.)

Exemples:

• Based on my understanding of [Business], we can also bring you [Extra Value #1] & [Extra Value #2].
• To give you more context, we accompanied [Known Customer #1] & [Known Customer #2] to [Inspiring Objective] in just a few weeks. We would love to do the same for [Company].
• If you are interested in the subject, I would be happy to offer you a 30-day free trial.

3. Get Out of the Batch of Emails Received

90% of emails are plain text. During your reminders, do not hesitate to play with elements to make your message stand out from the crowd:

• A personalized video presentation
• A customer case in the same field
• An Image That Highlights Your Words
• An interesting document/link

However, be careful not to overload your emails with content. It Could Affect Your Deliverability.

4. Integrate a “Call-to-Action” into your reminders

Your objective being to obtain an answer, guide your prospect as much as possible by reducing friction and cognitive effort. If you want to talk, call, make an appointment, have a coffee, tell him.

If you are offering an appointment or a telephone exchange, offer a few dates and times directly to make it easier for your prospect to choose.

If you want your recipient to perform an action at the end of your message, guide them to it as much as possible.

Think of a CTC instead of a CTA

‍If you are in the context of a “cold” prospecting, in Cold e-mailing, prefer a CTC (Call to Conversation) to a CTA (Call to Action). As long as your value offer is not perfectly clear to the prospect, it will be more difficult for them to choose a sales appointment.

If you focus on starting a discussion, thanks to a CTC, you will have 2 huge advantages:

1 ️. You can qualify your prospects much more quickly.

2 ️. The transition to an appointment will be facilitated because you have “gotten to know each other.”

Exemples:

• Is this a problem you are having?
• Is it worth further discussion?
• Would you be against discussing the subject?
• Is it a bad idea to exchange?
• Interested in learning more?
• Can I Tell You More?
• Are we talking about it?

Examples of emails to follow up with prospects to copy and paste

Now that reminders no longer hold any secrets for you. Do not hesitate to be inspired directly by our examples of pre and post-meeting reminders.

You can directly draw inspiration from it to write the reminders that best suit your needs 🚀

[Pre-meeting reminders]

Here are some examples of reminders when you are looking to get a first call or appointment with your prospect. In the following situation, he has not yet responded or mentioned his potential interest.

Providing additional context

Good morning {Firstname},

To give you a bit more context, the reason for my message is as follows: {Icebreaker/Trigger}

In summary, what I propose to you is to bring you {Value 1} And {Value 2}.

I would be delighted to have your feedback on the subject.

Is it worth exchanging 13min?

{Signature}

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The Additional Value

Good morning {Firstname},

Maybe You Never Thought About {Solution} Within {Business} ? From our experience in your industry, this can represent up to {Benefit #1} And {Benefit #2}

For example, we accompanied {Competitor #1} gold {Competitor #2} To Double Them {Result} In just a few weeks.

We would love to do the same for you.

Is it a topic worth discussing?

{Signature}

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The Wrong Timing

Good morning {Firstname},

It May Not Be a Good Time to Talk About {problem} ?

However, if you are interested in the subject, we have written a case study on the subject for our support of {Customer A}.

I would be happy to send it to you.

Looking forward to reading you,

{Signature}

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The Emotional Push

Good morning {Firstname},

I Did Not Have the Pleasure of Reading You Back...

I hope I didn't bother you.

I Was Convinced That {Topic} Was a key point in the current development of {Business}.

I must have been wrong.

I won't bother you anymore.

I Wish You All the Best for the Future {Business}.

PS: if you change your mind, I remain at your disposal to discuss the subject.

‍{Signature}

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The Short and Effective Recovery

Beispiel #1

Good morning {Firstname},

Not interested in discussing it?

{Signature}

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Beispiel #2

Good morning {Firstname},

As I understand it, this is not a problem for {Business} ?

‍{Signature}

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The Fun Relaunch

Good morning {Firstname}

I contacted you some time ago to discuss {Topic}.

I assume that if you have not answered me it is for one of these three reasons:

1. You are not interested in that.
2. You have found another solution for {Action related to the subject}.
3. You're currently being chased by a hungry T-rex, and now is a bit of a bad time to write an answer 🏃🦖

Do not hesitate to answer me by the appropriate number.

I will send you appropriate help as appropriate.

Looking forward to reading you,

{Signature}

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[Post-meeting reminders]

The Commercial Push

Beispiel #1

Good morning {Firstname},

It was a pleasure to exchange with you the {Date} About {Topic},

I am coming back to you to see if you have had time to go through our proposal, I would be delighted to have your feedback, and possibly to be able to answer your questions.

Looking forward to reading you,

{Signature}

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Beispiel #2

Good morning {Firstname},

I am coming back to you after our last exchanges. Were you able to move forward with your thinking? I remain convinced that our collaboration has great potential.

Do not hesitate if you have any questions.

Looking forward to reading you,

See you soon,

{Signature}

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Additional Information

Beispiel #1

Good morning {Firstname},

We are organizing a webinar next Thursday about {Webinar topic}. As far as I remember, this was a subject that seemed particularly relevant to our discussions.

The webinar will take place on {Platform} Tea {Date & time}.

Here is the link to register: {Link}.

Will we have the pleasure of seeing you there?

{Signature}

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Beispiel #2

Good morning {Firstname},

I just came across an article that might be of great interest to you. During our discussions, we discussed {Topic}. This article has a very interesting approach.

{Article link}

See you soon,

{Signature}

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That's all for me 🙌

The objective, as you will have understood, is not to simply copy and paste messages, but rather to be able to adapt them to your needs and your situation. Because a reminder that does not provide additional value to your recipient is not a reminder, but SPAM.

And SPAM at Leadix we eat it 🍴 (If you didn't get the joke), I invite you to discover This Article to Never Fall into SPAM Again When Prospecting)

And now it's your turn to relaunch ✉️ ✉️ ✉️

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Happy Closing ⚡️