The short answer
How do you write a good sales follow-up?
Give the follow-up a job. Refer to the real conversation you had, add one useful thing, and make the next step obvious, including an easy way to say no. Never invent familiarity. A refusal or opt-out is not an objection to handle, and silence is not proof of interest.
Foreword
Why it matters
A follow-up should help the recipient decide or act. “Just checking in” may be accurate, but it asks them to reconstruct the whole conversation. Start with the agreed context, add something relevant and make the next step easy to understand.
Retrieval
61%
of a passage recalled a week later after three practice tests, against 40% after four readings2
What we’ll cover in this guide
- Part 01: Bring back the decision
- Part 02: Know when to stop
- Your practice task: a short exercise to try with Selly
- Conclusion and what to practise next
Part 01: Bring back the decision
Refer only to a conversation that happened. Relevance is not a licence to invent familiarity.
A message with a job
Before and after
If you have nothing new, a short agreed reminder may be better than an unrelated article.
One ask per message
Do not ask for a meeting, a referral and a decision in the same paragraph.
Reflection questions and how to get started
- Could the recipient understand this without the earlier thread? Add the context.
- Is the link what you said it is? Check it.
Part 02: Know when to stop
A refusal or opt-out is not an objection to handle. Honour it. Silence is not proof of interest.
Respecting boundaries
Follow permission rules
Follow your organisation’s permission and suppression rules. Do not create a sequence only because a tool can send one.
Remove guilt and invented urgency
Phrases about how busy they must be, or deadlines that do not exist, cost trust.
Reflection questions and how to get started
- Could “no” resolve the conversation? It should be able to.
- Did you invent urgency? Remove it.
Your practice task
- Write the recipient’s unresolved question at the top of your draft.
- Add one item that helps answer it.
- Ask one question whose answer would move things forward.
- Remove guilt, invented urgency and assumptions about their schedule.
Conclusion
A good follow-up carries context, adds one useful thing and makes the next step obvious, including the step of saying no.
