In the business process, one step follows another. And a follow-up email is often used to nudge a potential customer to the next step.
What is a follow-up email?
A follow-up email is, in the business world, a message you send to someone you've been in contact with in the past. In other words, it follows on from some previous event and its purpose is to move the addressee further in the business process.
There are dozens of situations when marketers send a follow-up email. For example:
- you met with a potential customer at a meeting, after which you want to summarize the result and suggest next steps,
- you send an offer to a potential client after the meeting,
- you met a potential business partner on networking and want to continue the conversation,
- the customer is using a demo version of your solution and you want to find out how it works for him or if he needs help,
- a meeting with a potential client is coming up, so you want to remind them of the date and outline the important points that will be discussed,
- a potential customer has not replied to your e-mail for a long time and you want to remind
- you have an unpaid invoice with the client and you need to send him a reminder.
As you can see, without follow-up emails, you often do not move the order further in the sales funnel. Sending them out is essential in the trade.
Follow-up emails also have the following advantages:
- they strengthen mutual trust between the trader and the client (you show that you care about the client),
- increase conversions,
- they filter irrelevant leads (if you are not sure whether the lead wants to work with you, confirm or deny it with a follow-up email).
When and how to write a follow-up email
It depends on the situation and the reason why you are sending the follow-up email. Business experts generally advise sending the first one two to three days after the event you're following up on. Thanks to this, you are not too hrr for the recipients, but at the same time they have the topic fresh in their mind.
If the addressee does not respond to your follow-up, you have two options:
- try again – experts recommend reminding yourself with additional emails on these days after sending the first follow-up: 3rd day, 7th day, 14th day, 21st day, 28th day and 38th day,
- call him – thanks to this, you will make sure whether the addressee received your follow-up at all and you will get a response immediately.
Unlike other business emails, follow-ups must:
- as concise and clear as possible – the addressee will understand what you want from him in a few seconds,
- with a clear call to action – tell the recipient what to do,
- highly personalized – it must not be confused with the pile of advertisements and spam that the addressee receives every day.
If you need advice on how to write a follow-up email in terms of form and content, we have written a separate article about it, so take a look.
How work with follow-ups is facilitated by CRM
As a marketer, you deal with a lot of follow-ups at the same time. That's why you'll need a tool that reminds you when to send which email and to whom. CRM will serve well for these purposes.
For example, in RAYNET CRM you solve follow-ups in the following way:
- You continuously record your tasks, phone calls or meetings with clients in the business calendar.
- When a follow-up comes out of a meeting, you right-click on it in the calendar and select the option to plan the next step (i.e. follow-up).
- CRM fills in part of the data for you from the event to which the follow-up follows, and you just describe it (for example, creating and sending an offer) and set a deadline by which you want to complete it.
- You don't have to keep the follow-up in your head, and CRM will alert you to it in time. In addition, it is linked to a specific lead, client or business case in the system, so you can quickly click through to everything from it.
Creating follow-ups is just one of the many activities that CRM makes easier for marketers. It provides, for example, a smart client directory, an overview of all completed orders or analytical tools for a detailed overview of how your business is doing. You can try CRM for 30 days for free, so that you can first see if and how it will help you in practice.
