What is Follow-up Email: Definition & Examples

When you apply for a job, interview, or send your resume to put yourself on the market, you never know what can come next. Usually, that is an email from the company that you are applying to. However, it is not always so simple and straightforward. While some companies will get back to you right away with a rejection letter or an invitation for another interview, others will not respond at all. In some cases (and this is much worse), they might even forget about your application and leave you hanging in limbo forever. Fortunately, though rare, there are some people who work in HR who have great intentions and care about their job enough to reach out to applicants if they are interested in them. If this happens to you, keep reading because this article will tell you what a follow up email is and how to write one. 

What Is a Follow-up Email?

There are lotfs of types of email marketing; newsletter emails, survey emails, welcome emails and many more. One of the important among these is follow-up email! A follow-up email is a kind of email that you send to someone after meeting them or interacting with them online. It is sent to let the recipient know that you’re interested in continuing the conversation, and it usually mentions some sort of call to action. For example, if you want to continue the conversation with someone, your follow-up email should ask them to get back to you or schedule a time to meet again. It is also known as a ‘Re-engagement Email’ which is an email sent by businesses or individuals to their previous contacts in order to re-establish contact and encourage further communication. Follow up emails are one of the most effective ways to keep your business top of mind with your contact list and potential leads. These emails help you stay relevant in their minds without being too pushy. Polite follow up email keeps the relations warm for longer periods after a meeting, a phone all or an interview. 

Besides, writing a follow up email may be a compelling task if you are unsure how to address the people you are writing to. Firstly, you should clear your mind and focus on the main subject, keep the mail body simple & clear to create a kindly follow up. Professional follow up emails should have a sense of personal addressing and personalization as well. In some businesses, for instance marketing & sales automated follow up emails are a part of the daily routine. However, as email marketers you should make the clients feel unique & special in every circumstance. A good follow up email is the one that gets responses, relevant feedback etc. Through the article, we will explain the importance of follow up mails, the categories of them such as follow up email after applications, networking follow up emails with examples, sales follow up emails for customers, meeting & phone call or networking follow up emails, interview response emails and the last but not the least sending follow up email after no response. For the most gentle follow up letters please keep reading our blog post… 

3 Crucial Tips for Creating Follow-up Emails

People may have doubts on “how to write an effective follow-up email” even though they have been using emails over a decade. Because crafting a successful follow-up email needs communication skills as well. The tone of your email should be polite and gentle, whereas you should also define exactly what you are writing for. We created quick lists within the article in order to make the process easier for the beginners. Below you can find some essential points to consider before crafting a follow up letter: 

1. Follow-up emails are distinguished from other email campaigns by the frequency at which they are sent, as well as the sequence in which they are sent. Don't send them too frequently or too seldom, as that could leave the customer's attention empty. Remember that you may be (and possibly) sending follow up email to a busy person; however you should take their attention somehow. Therefore, it is critical to determine the frequency that allows your company to be seen by your customers but is not too burdensome. 
2. Every new follow-up email should be distinct from the previous one, but the same idea and benefit should be conveyed. Make the structure of every new  cold email follow up distinctive, but convey the same message and benefit in other ways. You must describe the benefits in various ways to appeal to the customers. It is essential to address the advantages in various forms so as to provide the same value as the previous email. 
3. It should be brief and straightforward. No email newsletter, on the other hand, is unlimited in length. The main objective of follow-up emails is to reach decision-makers, so they must be brief and straightforward. It is crucial to be transparent and honest in B2B communication, where the main idea is to contact a decision-maker.  

In order to check the differences between follow-up mails and other email marketing templates you can read our blog post on Best Email Marketing Templates for 2022.

How to Write a Follow-Up Email After No Response

It’s one of the most nerve-wracking and time-consuming aspects of any business plan. How do you follow up with people who left you unanswered? It can be difficult to know whether or not your efforts were successful. After all, how can you possibly know if you weren’t even heard? This is especially true if your message was ignored or was not even received. This can happen for a number of reasons, but in all likelihood, it stems from poor follow-up. If you are fighting an uphill battle and no response seems to be forthcoming, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of success. For email marketing working out these tips will ultimately lead to more opportunities being given and a final decision being made.

Clearly and effectively communicate your offer

Business follow up emails after sending proposals seems to be stressful especially for email marketers, proposal engineers or mid-level directors. 

When you write a follow up client email, you need to be crystal clear on reminding the offer. If there is a deadline for the process, always remind it in a polite way and establish a stage for further information about the proposal if needed. You may build a strategy for the best sales follow up emails with a clear body part and always include CTAs to create action. Here is a short and smooth example: 

Hello Mr./Mrs. [Name],

I just wanted to make sure you received my proposal from last week. I’d love to discuss it with you further and answer any questions you may have.

Please let me know if you have any availability in the next few days.

Kindest Regards, 

[Name-Surname/Signature]

Create a Value or Remind Yours

If you are sending the follow up email after the interview with no response, you may need to remind yourself of your value and capabilities that will add value to the firm or department. 

 Make sure to remind the person you have interviewed about the value you will bring, and how excited you are to use the skills you discussed during the interview, in your job follow up letter. It is important to remain friendly and humble, but be confident and persuasive about why they should select you for the position. Reminding them of your abilities and value might help you achieve the job position. At below example you can check the critical points as well: 

Hello [name],

Thank you for taking the time to interview me. I enjoyed learning more about the company and the team. I am confident that I have the skills and experience that you are looking for in a candidate.

I would appreciate it if you could let me know if there are any other steps in the interview process. I am eager to move forward and excited about the opportunity to join your team.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Name-Surname/Signature]

Make it a habit to check-in with recipients

As tempting as it is to skip check-ins with your contacts, it’s better to be safe than sorry. After all, not everyone responds to emails in the same way. For instance, it’s perfectly fine to check in with your contacts once a month, but do so more often if they are interested in what you do. It’s also a good idea to keep in touch with your past customers and let them know what you’ve been up to. Below you can find a good example for keeping up the communications for the future. 

Hello [name of customer],

Thank you for your purchase of [product or service]. We hope you are enjoying it.

If you have any questions or feedback about [product or service], we would love to hear from you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at [contact information].

Thank you for your business, and we hope to serve you again in the future.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback on your message

When you send an email, there is always an instance where you won’t receive a response. In fact, it’s quite possible that your email may be completely unread and in that case, you can ask for feedback. It’s important to remember that no one is guaranteed to like or appreciate what you have to say or offer. Plus, keep in mind that people are busy. It’s generally a good idea to plan ahead and ask for feedback a couple of days after your first contact. 

Hi There!

I hope you had a chance to check out the product I sent you last week. I would love to get your feedback on it.

If you have a minute, please let me know what you think.

Thanks,

[Your Name]

Be empathetic towards recipients

When you have doubts about a follow-up job email, it can be difficult to know whether or not your efforts were fruitful. It can be a very effective and brave strategy to be direct and to ask for feedback on your initial message. 

For more details, you can check out the below example: 

Hello [name],

When you said you have time for a short interview, I was excited to hear that you were interested in expanding your team. However, it has been some time that I couldn’t hear from you. So, I assume you couldn’t create a specific time slot for an online meeting? 

If you could give me some feedback on what I could do to make your decision-making process easier, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’m also open to constructive feedback on my business plan, sending my portfolio beforehand. 

Best regards. 

[Your Name]

For more templates you can also check one other blog post  Best Email Examples & Templates as well. 

Use That Checklist Before Sending A Follow-up Newsletter 

When you send a follow-up email, you want to make sure that you’re sending a targeted email. If you send a follow-up email that is too similar to the original email, people will feel like you’re trying to steal their precious time. On the other hand, if you send a follow-up email that is too different from the original email, people will feel like the second mail is off topic and lose focus.  Here is a quick checklist for writing a follow-up email and sending it : 

• First, make sure that your email is relevant to the person who received the original email. 
• Second, grant that your email is short and focused on the point. 
• Third, make sure that your email is clear and easy to read. 
• Fourth, always confirm that your email includes a link and a CTA so that people can easily find out more information about your product or service. 
  

  

Certain Mistakes To Avoid While Crafting A Follow-up Mail

Through the whole article we tried to explain “what-to-dos' to craft a successful follow up mail. In this section we will give some more tips for “do-nots'' . These seem to be simple tips however applying them is going to help create relevant emails which have more chances to get responses. 

1. Do not use the wording “follow-up” in the email subject line; this will probably irritate the receiver by causing a feeling of being pushed-up at the very beginning of the process. 
2. Do not begin your email body with the phrase “I just wanted to follow up” and shortly remember the meeting, phone call or the interview. Always add value to the interactions to create differences other than an automated calendar.  
3. Do not skip CTAs. People are often timid about creating an action within their mailings. Do not be afraid to add call to action remarks in order to engage with your recipients. 
4. Do not put a long time after the first interaction. Please remember, timing at follow-up mails is crucial; you should not be so pushy. On the other hand, waiting for 2 weeks is such a long term to remind oneself. Send a smooth and delicate follow-up mail to organize or fix  time spots or a confirmation request for the awaiting  processes etc. 

For more information about email templates, please read our other article, namely What is An Email Template?

Conclusion

To sum up, there are a great number of ways to work for following up with people, organizations or customers. Although crafting follow-up mail seems to be challenging, there is always a chance to increase the number of responses by adopting these tips. The key is to clearly communicate your offer, be specific in your follow-up mail, and make it a habit to check in with your contacts. 

Use Mailsoftly’s email templates to create a coherent follow up email right now with the aim of achieving your interactions in the most reliable way!