How To Write A Follow-Up Email (+13 Templates & Examples)

The key to a good follow-up email is to not sound like a salesperson.

If you say the wrong words or phrases, then you won’t receive responses.

In this article, I teach you how to write the perfect follow-up email for your next cold email campaign.

I will cover the following:

• How to write a follow-up email
• Follow-up email sequence example
• Why you should never say “following up” in your follow-up emails
• The “break up” email
• 13 additional cold email follow-up templates

How to write a follow-up email

The most important thing when writing a follow-up email is to not sound like a salesperson.

If you use phrases like “following up” or “checking in”, then your prospects will delete your emails.

I recommend that you write the following instead:

"Hey Elon,

I just had time to get back to you.

I know I reached out about a week ago to discuss whether you were looking to get outside help with your outbound sales campaigns.

My company Emailchaser helps sales teams send emails that land in the primary inbox (not spam).

Is this something that you’d potentially be interested in discussing further?

If so, let me know, and I’ll send over some times to chat.

Best,
George"

Follow-up email sequence example

Below is an example follow-up email sequence that you can use. Simply edit it to be relevant to your particular situation.

Note: You shouldn't send more than two follow-up emails. Sending more than two follow-up emails will significantly increase the likelihood of your recipients marking your emails as spam, thus negatively impacting your deliverability.

Email 1: Original Email
This is the first cold email that you send to a prospect (this is not a follow-up email).

You can learn how to write this first email in my article How To Write A Cold Email That Gets Responses.

Email 2: First Follow Up
This is your first follow-up email. Send this four business days after “Email 1”.

Subject: Getting back to you Elon

"Hey Elon,

I just had time to get back to you.

I know I reached out about a week ago to discuss whether you were looking to get outside help with your outbound sales campaigns.

My company Emailchaser helps sales teams send emails that land in the primary inbox (not spam).

Is this something that you’d potentially be interested in discussing further?

If so, let me know, and I’ll send over some times to chat.

Best,
George"

Email 3: The Break Up Email
This is your second and final follow-up email. Send this four to seven business days after “Email 2”.

Subject: Thank you from Emailchaser

“Elon,

In reviewing some outstanding business today, I’ll be taking SpaceX out of my current follow ups at this time.

Where we initially agreed on the value of our service to help your sales team with their outbound campaigns, I’ve reached out to you on several occasions following our initial discussions. Having not received any replies to date, I assume that we’ve either fallen off your radar or perhaps the interest has diminished to the degree that my follow up is no longer warranted.

I appreciate the opportunity to work with you and wish you the best with your ongoing sales efforts. I’d be happy to speak with you when you are ready to invest resources into generating leads for your business.

Best,
George”

Why you should never say “following up” in your follow-up emails

When you send a follow-up email to a prospect, if they think that you are trying to sell them something, they will delete your email.

You need to sound natural and not like a salesperson.

If you use phrases like “following up”, “checking in” or “bumping this up in your inbox”, then your recipients will delete your emails.

The below video explains why you should never use these phrases in your follow-up emails:

The “break up” email

If you have already sent one or two emails, and the prospect still hasn’t responded, then you should send a final “break up” email.

A break up email is a final email that you send to a prospect that says that you’ve been trying to get in touch with them, and that you assume they are too busy to get back at this point, so you’re going to take them off your list, and if they ever want to get in touch, you'd be happy to continue the conversation.

This break up email is very effective at getting prospects to finally respond. It’s the perfect way to close your follow-up sequence.

The below video (22:26 to 23:30) explains the importance of a break up email:

Below is an example break up email that HubSpot used:

Subject: Thank you from HubSpot

“Elon,

In reviewing some outstanding business today, I’ll be taking SpaceX out of my current follow ups at this time.

Where we initially agreed on the value of our service to strengthen your online engagement, I’ve reached out to you on several occasions following our initial discussions. Having not received any replies to date, I assume that we’ve either fallen off your radar or perhaps the interest has diminished to the degree that my follow up is no longer warranted.

I appreciate the opportunity to work with you and wish you the best with your ongoing marketing efforts. I’d be happy to speak with you when you are ready to invest resources into generating leads from your site.

Best,
Name”

13 additional cold email follow-up templates

Below are 13 cold email follow-up templates that you can use in your next campaign:

Template 1:

Subject: Getting back to you Elon

“Hey Elon,

I just had time to get back to you.

I know I reached out about a week ago to discuss whether you were looking to get outside help with your outbound sales campaigns.

My company Emailchaser helps sales teams send emails that land in the primary inbox (not spam).

Is this something that you’d potentially be interested in discussing further?

If so, let me know, and I’ll send over some times to chat.

Best,
George”

Template 2:

Subject: Additional information

“Elon,

Would it be ok if I send over some additional information?

Thanks,
George”

Template 3:

Subject: Right person?

“Hey Elon,

Are you the right person to talk to about this?

If not, I’d appreciate it if you could please forward my original email to the right person.

Best,
George”

Template 4:

Subject: Thank you from Emailchaser

“Elon,

In reviewing some outstanding business today, I’ll be taking SpaceX out of my current follow ups at this time.

Where we initially agreed on the value of our service to help your sales team with their outbound campaigns, I’ve reached out to you on several occasions following our initial discussions. Having not received any replies to date, I assume that we’ve either fallen off your radar or perhaps the interest has diminished to the degree that my follow up is no longer warranted.

I appreciate the opportunity to work with you and wish you the best with your ongoing sales efforts. I’d be happy to speak with you when you are ready to invest resources into generating leads for your business.

Best,
George”

Template 5:

Subject: SpaceX & Emailchaser

“Elon,

Is SpaceX currently looking to expand its sales team?

If so, let me know as I’d like to send over more details on how Emailchaser can help your outbound emails land in the primary inbox (not spam).

Best,
George”

Template 6:

Subject: Elon, question about SpaceX

“Hey Elon,

I wanted to inquire about SpaceX’s sales team. Are they currently sending outbound sales emails?

My company Emailchaser helps sales teams send cold emails that land in the primary inbox (not spam), so I wanted to reach out to see if this is something that may interest you?

Can I send over more details?

If you’re not the right person to contact about this, then I’d appreciate it if you could please forward this email to the correct person.

Thanks,
George”

Template 7:

Subject: Thoughts about SpaceX

“Hey Elon,

I just had time to reach out again since I last emailed you.

I was wondering if I could send over my thoughts on how my company Emailchaser could help SpaceX’s sales team send outbound emails that land in the primary inbox (not spam)?

Best,
George”

Template 8:

Subject: Inquiring about SpaceX

“Elon,

I wanted to get back to you again about SpaceX.

I sent you an email about a week ago asking if SpaceX’s sales team could benefit from using Emailchaser to prevent their outbound emails from going to spam.

Are you the right person to talk to about this?

Best,
George”

Template 9:

Subject: Is now a good time?

“Hey Elon,

Is now a good time for me to send over more details on how my company Emailchaser can help SpaceX’s sales team send outbound emails that land in the primary inbox (not spam)?

I’m free this week to discuss further. Let me know if you’d be potentially open to doing a call and I’ll send over some available times.

Regards,
George”

Template 10:

Subject: Thanks from Emailchaser

“Elon,

I’ve reached out a few times over the last month, but I take it that now isn’t the best time to discuss SpaceX’s sales program.

If you decide to invest in your sales team’s outbound efforts, I’d be happy to continue this conversation.

I wish you all the best in the meantime!

Best,
George”

Template 11:

Subject: Who should I speak to?

“Hi Elon,

I was wondering who I should contact in SpaceX about your outbound sales team?

I’d appreciate it if you could please forward my original email to the right person, so I can discuss whether Emailchaser can help them land in the primary inbox (not spam).

Best,
George”

Template 12:

Subject: Thursday afternoon

“Elon,

Wanted to get back to you and ask if you’d be available this Thursday afternoon to discuss SpaceX and Emailchaser?

Let me know if I can send over more details and also some available times to chat.

Best,
George”

Template 13:

Subject: Thank you from Emailchaser

“Elon,

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve been trying to get in contact with you, but I take it now isn’t the best time.

I’m going to remove you from my contact list, but if you ever decide to invest in your outbound sales team, please let me know, and I’d be happy to discuss how Emailchaser can help your sales team send emails that land in the primary inbox (not spam).

Best,
George”

Frequently asked questions

Final thoughts

The key to a great follow-up email is to not sound like a salesperson.

If your prospect thinks that you are trying to sell them something, then they will be less likely to respond.

Never use phrases like “following up” or “checking in” in your follow-up emails.

I recommend that you use the follow-up email sequence mentioned above, as this will increase your response rate.

I also recommend that you send your cold email campaigns with Emailchaser because it allows you to easily schedule automatic follow-up emails.

If you are interested in learning more about follow-up emails, then check out my other articles How Many Follow-Up Emails Should You Send? and How Long Should You Wait Before Sending A Follow-Up Email?