Clever Counsel #13 - Don’t fail at follow-up
I saw a LinkedIn post this week from a consultant that said something like “you never win the client with the first email.”
Proper, persistent follow-up has been a key component of my business development strategy for the last 10 years. Without my follow-up game, I doubt my consultancy would have lasted this long.
I’d like to share a few guidelines for email follow-up with “cold” contacts (people I don’t know but want to work with), based on what’s gotten me results:
Stop worrying about “bothering” people. First, get your mindset right. You have a valuable service to offer and you’ve carefully selected this target based on what you know will help them. Dismantle your fears and anxieties around pestering people or being a nuisance. Appropriate follow-up is good business, plain and simple.
Fridays are my favorite. Fridays are my favorite day for follow-up AND initial outreach. Why? People tend to be in a better mood on Fridays, and their workload tends to be a bit lighter. You can end your note with something light like “Happy Friday!” or “Have a beautiful weekend!”
Change the subject line each time. When following up, I forward the last email and then completely change the subject line each time. I keep it very short. “Checking in” and “Following up” may seem boring, but they tend to get click through. I also like “Thoughts?” and “Hello again!”
Incorporate a value-add. With each follow up, try to incorporate a resource that may be interesting or useful to the contact. A link to a recent article or report from their industry, a professional development tool they might like, an app you’ve been loving. Demonstrate that you’re thinking of their needs.
Keep it to one sentence. The body copy of your follow-up email doesn’t need to be longer than one quick line. If you’re sharing a helpful resource as a value-add, here’s an example of what you could send: “Jenny, friendly follow up on the below - and did you spot this new report from Ragan?”
Give it a week. I like to provide one full week in between my follow-up notes. It feels long enough to provide respectful space, but short enough to show my interest. No one has ever admonished me for this frequency of follow-up.
Assume they WANT to hear from you. Until the prospective client tells you otherwise, assume that your (appropriate) outreach is welcome. When someone no longer wants to hear from you, they can easily reply with a word or two to tell you so. Until that happens, continue on with your follow-up schedule. Assume that the contact is simply busy and will get back to you when it makes sense for them.
Eventually transition to quarterly touchpoints. If I’ve sent 3-5 follow up notes spaced a week apart, I don’t just abandon ship - I move the contact to my quarterly outreach list. This is where I keep my evergreen contacts I want to stay connected to. My outreach to them is always ALL about them, and value-forward in terms of sharing new insights and resources.
