(source: freshspectrum.com)

I hate following up and I try to avoid it whenever possible (See the script I use below). But when you do have to follow-up,  you might as well use an email that’s proven to work.

Recently, I was connected with Hubspot. And by connected I mean I cold emailed them.  

If you haven’t heard of Hubspot let me give you the highlights.

• Inbound marketing and email platform with 10,000 customers in 65 countries
• Raised $100.5 million from Google and Salesforce

Think of them like B2B landing pages and blogs on steroids.

To grow the business to 10,000 customers they’ve needed to send a lot of emails. Today they are going to share three of the best emails they’ve used to follow-up.

Additionally, you’re invited to our upcoming free webinar – How To Follow Up: Proven Strategies and Email Templates (More on that later)

Enter John Sherer from Signals by Hubspot

There’s nothing worse than when a person suddenly goes cold – they won’t get on a call and aren’t responding to emails.

Obviously you need to follow-up, but you can’t afford to lose them with below average email skills. Sending crappy emails won’t make them suddenly think, “Oh yes, I’ve been waiting for the day this salesman reaches out to me to buy their product!”

Below I deconstruct three terrible (yet surprisingly common) follow-up emails. I look at what’s wrong with the email and provide 3 email templates that have worked for us.  

Terrible Follow-Up Email #1

What’s wrong with this email?

• The first two sentences are fillers. Adding familiarity doesn’t come off as genuine. Show UNIQUE interest in the person you’re emailing.
• The call-to-action at the end just asks for an update. If your objective is a meeting, request a meeting.

How do you fix this email?

Google Alerts really can give you a window into your prospects world. When I meet with a prospect I typically set up a Google Alert for my prospect’s “company name”, “competition”, and “industry keywords.” That way, Google can email me whenever new links on the web match that information. I use those triggers to customize my follow-up emails.

So instead of the email above — here’s an example of what I use.

Follow-Up Email Template #1

Here’s why this email works –

• The email immediately opens with news about the prospect – very recent information on a competitor.
• The second paragraph transitions the new announcement to how I can uniquely help them.
• We have several more examples in the follow-up email webinar.

Terrible Follow-Up Email # 2

What’s wrong with this email?

• The reason for reaching out is weak – if someone didn’t care six months ago, they aren’t going to magically care now.
• What’s the purpose of the meeting? There’s no clear reminder of the challenges they have that you help solve.
• Speaking tomorrow is an aggressive timetable – if someone hasn’t heard from you in six months, why are they going to jump on a call with you immediately?

How to follow-up with a trigger-event

Rather than checking-in periodically, check-in when relevant. One way to peek into your prospects brain is by using Signals — it sends you notification when your emails are opened and clicked.

If someone asked me to follow-up in three months but just opened my email or clicked a link on my website those are triggers that they me interested in a conversation.

So even though the prospect said to connect in three months, if I see that they’ve been opening my email 2-3 times in one day and it’s only been two months, I’m going to reach out right there and when I’m top of mind. Here’s a sample follow-up email –

Follow-Up Email Template # 2

Using Signals to track my emails helped me in a couple ways –

• Although the email looks generic, I know the prospect opened my previous emails 2-3 times. So now I’m catching them when our business is top-of-mind.
• The next-step isn’t to force more information, but to have a short call.
• The email as a whole is brief and gets right to the point without wasting the prospect’s time.

Terrible Follow-Up Email # 3

What’s wrong with this email?

• Insincere opening with no relevance.
• There’s no clear request.
• The prospect doesn’t care about your business or your awards.
• The relationship sell can work, but it can also backfire.

How do I fix this email?

With the paid version of Signals I can track website visit alerts. I set alerts to see which pages the prospects are viewing on my website. I then use that information to follow-up like this —

Follow-Up Email Template # 3

Here’s why this email works – 

• The email immediately opens with activity or information from the prospect.
• There’s visual proof that people from their company are interested.
• The next step is relevant to what they are researching.  
• By sending the follow up email when their team is curious, we increase the likelihood that they’ll respond.

In recap:

• Stop wasting your prospects time with unrelated small talk… it’s not going to work.
• Be clear in your request.
• Leverage timeliness — whether its something big happening in your prospects market or they have opened your email several times.
• Follow-up should be short and simple.
• Above all, try to eliminate follow-up altogether. When you have a conversation, schedule a tentative time to talk again.

These templates are what have worked for me, but I’ve loved to hear what else has worked for you.

Bryan here. I mentioned we have an upcoming webinar.  Here are the details – How To Follow Up: Proven Strategies and Email Templates

We’re going to share…

1. What to do when someone never responds — the two proven emails to send (that get a 70% response rate)

2. How to follow-up in a way that predictably translates to sales

3. The one thing that prospects actually care about and how to use it to ensure you get a response (including email templates)

4. The 7 most common follow-up mistakes salespeople make and how top performers avoid them.

Click Here To Register For The Webinar Now.