In an ideal world, you’d present an amazing sales pitch, your prospective clients would be blown away by it and you’d close deals on the spot. That literally never happens!
The key to clinching a deal is, the often under-rated, follow up sales email.
A whopping 48% of salespeople never make a single follow-up attempt. They’d rather walk away from the lead than send follow-up emails and appear pushy and annoying. They’re missing a trick though. Research proves that the first follow-up email is very effective and can boost the reply rate by 49%.
So, be brave and write that email. Here’s how to do it well.
What Do You Mean by a Follow up Email?
It’s an email you send to someone you’ve contacted before. It’s the next touchpoint between your sales professional and your prospect’s company. Unlike cold email campaign messages, a follow up email is between two people who’ve already spoken and are building their relationship. You may have had a phone call, an initial email conversation, met at a networking event or had a first meeting.
Follow up sales emails are sent by sales teams at key milestones along the sales funnel. They’re a good way to nudge the potential customer into action.
Don’t immediately assume that your email won’t be welcome. According to LinkedIn, 66% of buyers prefer to be contacted via email. It means they can take in the information and respond when they’re ready, rather than the immediacy of a phone call.
What’s the Best Timing for Sending a Follow-up Email After a Sales Pitch Presentation?
Firstly, the ideal situation is to have a follow up call booked in at end of your initial conversation (sales discovery call). Don’t leave things hanging, lock in a time for your next quick call or meeting. Make sure that next step is agreed whilst you’re in conversation with your prospective client. That step may be to meet with other decision-makers in the company or to provide further information, for example.
But if that’s not the case, then do send a follow up email – and be quick about it!
Your Ideal Follow Up Sequence
Research shows that salespeople who follow up with a potential customer within an hour of receiving a query (or trigger event) were 60 times more likely to qualify the lead than those who waited 24 hours or more. Use this email sequence as a guideline for follow up communication.
1. Within 24 hours: send your first follow up email thanking them for their first meeting/ conversation. Summarise your discussion and recap on any action items raised. This first follow up sales email can increase the response rate by 49%
2. When the first action item’s due: follow up when the first action item raised in the meeting is due. Check for the best time to schedule the next meeting or send further information. Don’t forget the all important call to action.
3. 2-5 days later: if you don’t hear back from your original email, try again in the next few days. Persistence pays.
4. Use action item deadlines: schedule your next follow up efforts in line with due dates of action items. You can always email in between to recap discussions and remind of next steps raised in your meeting or previous emails. Keep nurturing the relationship, providing helpful additional information.
5. Know when to stop: don’t overstep the mark by being pushy or a pest. Once you’ve sent 10 follow ups with no response rate, it’s time to walk away. Send a final break up email or voicemail to explain that this is the last time you’ll contact them. That last email will either prompt them to act or signal the end of your follow up efforts.
Discover the key sales follow up rule
What Should Be Included in a Follow-up Email After a Sales Pitch?
Your initial email after a conversation is an important one. Don’t just circle back to check in after a meeting. Fluffy emails simply saying ‘Hey, how are you since we spoke last week? Blah, blah, blah…’ are all too easy to ignore.
Professional people tend to be busy and spinning multiple plates. Don’t add to their stress levels, provide help and solutions to their pain points. Remember these key factors:
Add value – this is absolutely vital. Show how your product/ service can benefit them. Include a helpful, relevant piece of content that demonstrates that. You could offer a discount or priority service that relates to their interactions with your business.
Ask questions – raising a specific question that relates to one of the challenges raised in your last conversation is a great way to re-engage people. It shows that you’ve listened to them, understood their needs and want to help by providing solutions.
Keep it short and simple – a 200 word email is unlikely to get a good response rate, no matter how well crafted it is. Data suggests that 50-120 words is the optimal length for a sales email. You may be tempted to take them through your step-by-step process to working together. You’re likely to lose their interest if you present all ten steps. Hook them in to step one in this email, and leave the further steps of the workflow for later.
Write punchy, concise copy. Use bullet points to break up the text and add links to provide more detailed information.
The Follow Up Sales Email Content
Email subject line
Grab their attention with a short, relevant email subject line. Using a personalised message tends to increase email open rates. Nine words is the recommended limit so you need to really consider the words you use to hook in your potential customer.
Email content
Get your key message across quickly and succinctly. For example:
Do you want to know more about how [your product/service] can help [their company name] to [value proposition]? I’d be happy to have a quick chat at a convenient time for you. Is there a good day next week?
Answer their questions – send useful information that answers any questions they raised in your last conversation. That could be pricing details, product information or another relevant piece of content.
Include social proof – a testimonial, case study or social media review – to boost trust and motivate them to reply.
End with a call to action (CTA) – be clear about what you want the person to do next by including a CTA. Do you want them to call you? Do you want them to confirm a meeting date? Be very specific when you add a CTA to your email, and don’t be too pushy.
Contact details – don’t forget to include the various ways that you can be contacted. Make it easy for them to communicate with you.
Remember, follow up emails don’t have to be done manually. You can automate the process with email marketing platforms (CRMs) rather than leaving it all to your sales reps. It’s a great idea to test subject lines, email open rates and click through rate metrics to understand how different content performs. Platforms like Mailchimp and Hubspot can help you do that easily and effectively.
Hubspot also has a variety of follow up email templates and follow up email examples that you may find helpful.
How to create a winning follow up strategy
Key Takeaways: Follow Up Sales Emails
An important part of your sales process, the follow up sales email needs to be part of your sales reps’ toolkit. Too many sales professionals choose to walk away from a potential customer relationship rather than send an effective email.
Remember that email needs to be valuable, relevant, personalised, concise and timely. Encourage your potential customer to take the next step along the sales funnel by writing a winning follow up email. Be brave, you may just see winning results!
