How to Write a Post-Interview Follow-Up Email That Will Get a Quick Response
Craft an email any recipient will take the time to read AND respond to.
Photo: Anna Shvets for Pexels
Whether it’s with a sense of excitement or dread, sending out the occasional follow-up email is an aspect of adulting most of us simply can’t avoid. And what we’re looking to get out of these messages most of the time is—at the very least—a response.
It seems straightforward, right? But the art of sending a follow-up that actually inspires the recipient to take the time to read AND respond? Now that can be tricky.
Let’s ensure your next follow-up is a success. Keep reading for everything you need to know to craft a follow-up email that warrants a response.
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When to Send a Follow-Up Email
When you send a follow-up email will be unique to your individual situation. However, there are a couple of general guidelines to consider when sending your message so that it remains relevant and has the best chance of being opened.
HubSpot recommends the following timeframes for sending follow-up emails:
Within 24 hours: Sending a “thank you” after a meeting, sale, interview, event, or occasion that justifies an immediate sentiment of gratitude or those follow-up messages that contain time-sensitive info or requests.
Within 48 hours: After submitting important info (for instance, follow-up emails for job applications or other formal document submissions) or, if your follow-up still contains fairly urgent info or requests (those that can’t wait 1-2 weeks).
Within 1-2 weeks: Messages following up on a meeting request or those that go unresponded and require a confirmation from the recipient (maybe a job offer or an email requesting feedback).
Every 3 months: Emails sent as a way to catch up with a past connection or those requesting updates (can be for both business and personal life).
How to Write a Follow-Up Email
1. Identify Your Primary Objective
Before putting your fingers to the keyboard, the first step of writing a follow-up email is to determine the objective of your message.
What’s the end goal you’re looking to achieve from sending this email?
Take a second to ask yourself, are you trying to…
Obtain more info?
Schedule a call or meeting?
Remind someone to do something?
Close a sale?
Say thank you?
Or, something else?
Regardless of what your goal ends up being, this step is necessary to allow you to craft a strong follow-up and include a specific call-to-action (CTA).
2. Provide Context
Discounts and deals, order confirmations, bill payment reminders, and those random messages from Grandma checking in—we are constantly bombarded with emails.
And if your inbox is anything like mine, it’s not hard to find one of many of those messages that make you stop and think—“wait, who is this sender??”
If you’re nodding along, you probably already know that step #2 to writing a follow-up email is critical: provide context around who you are and how they know you. This is especially important if it’s been a while since your most recent interaction or if you don’t have a very close relationship with this person.
Don’t leave any room for confusion that will deter your recipient from responding. Provide context early on in your email by emphasizing your initial conversations or interactions to jog their memory.
Here are a few solid openers you can test out in your follow-up emails:
I wanted to follow up on the message I sent on [date or day if it’s still the same week] about [subject of the first email].
I just wanted to follow up to get your thoughts on [subject of the first email]. Have you had a chance to check out my last email?
Just checking in to see if you’ve had a chance to read my email from [date or day if it’s still the same week].
Just following up to see if you have any questions about my email from [date or day if it’s still the same week] about [subject of the first email].
Quick Tip: Include the subject line of your initial email in your opener to make it easy for your recipient to go back and locate that first message.
3. Make the Purpose Clear
After providing context to refresh your recipient’s memory, move straight into making the purpose of this communication clear.
This portion of the email should be direct and straightforward. Remind the recipient of what you mentioned wanting/needing from the last email or letting them know if that want/need has since changed.
Quick Tip: If this is a follow-up email aiming to make a sale, keep the focus on the recipient here and reframe any statements using “I” to address the benefit or relevancy to them. You might be tempted to throw in an “I think” or “I believe” statement here, but I promise, it’ll be much more effective to keep the reader believing this is all about them.
Here’s an example:
Rather than including: “I think my/our [product or service] could really help you accomplish [benefit]. I would love to hop on a quick call to chat about [opportunity].”
Try something like: “Your [aspect of their business or life] would really benefit from [purpose of product or service]. Would you like to hop on a quick call to chat about this opportunity?”
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This story was originally published on April 20, 2020, and has since been updated.
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Here's Why You Should Never Ask a Busy Person to Lunch (and What to Do Instead)
The secret to getting ahead.
Photo: ColorJoy Stock
Networking is every successful person’s middle name—but meeting with a busy person is a challenge. Although we can’t give you the secret handshake that will land you a meeting with Sheryl Sandberg (there’s a secret handshake, right?) we can dole out successful networking tips and tricks that will get you in the door with someone high-ranking who has the potential to advance your career.
Just because networking can feel impossible, doesn’t mean it is. Meeting your career heroes isn’t unheard of and landing that crucial meeting can be done, but you’ll have to get creative. Your career crush didn’t make it where they are by taking every lunch meeting they were cold emailed about. So, here are some ways you can stand out and get your foot in the door.
Try Getting in Touch With Their Assistant First
There are some who claim that a cold call or cold email shows bold initiative. And sometimes, when the work powers that be are acting in your favor, a cold email will launch your career in a way you can’t imagine. There are always outliers.
Case in point: Jaclyn Johnson, CEO and founder of Create & Cultivate, cold emailed Garance Doré, and she responded and then spoke at C&C Chicago. You never know what will happen until you put yourself out in the universe. But if after a cold email and a follow-up you’re still not getting anything, you should try a new road before either, a) giving up, or b) hounding someone to the point where they will never meet with you.
When you are just getting started, don’t assume that you are the exception. Assume you are the rule. (That’s not to say you shouldn’t be confident. There is a difference.) Most busy people will not appreciate you clogging up their inbox. It’s not uncommon for a CEO to receive 1000+ emails a day, and wading through those can feel like torture.
Think of the assistant as Saint Peter at The Gates. You’re not getting in unless you make good with Pete. Many CEOs and executives will have their assistants linked to their inboxes. Meeting with them could be a great inroad. Offer to take them to coffee or lunch. Ask for 15 minutes of their time before you try and meet with their boss. Assistants are overworked, overtired, and often under-appreciated. Get on their good side and it just might land you on their employer’s schedule.
Skip the Standard Cold Call and Email Vernacular
There is a story in Silicon Valley about Tristan Walker, who recently raised $24 million for personal care products for POC. Before branching out on his own as CEO of Walker and Company, he worked for Foursquare—a job he got from cold emailing the founders eight times. Two years after landing the position, Walker posted the correspondence that landed him a meeting on his blog. You can read it here. There were many, including IA Ventures’ Ben Siscovick who said, “If you are outside StartupLand looking to get in, read this then read it again—this is how it’s done.”
However, despite his success, Walker’s original email is exactly what we would warn against. There is passion in his voice, yes, but he notes nothing concrete that he would bring to the Foursquare team. It worked for Walker, but in most cases, this will not work. Don’t tell a company how awesome they are. Don’t tell someone you’re “hungry.” In a few short sentences, you should be able to explain exactly what you can bring to the table. Be as specific as possible.
For example, if you want to meet with the CEO of a marketing company, convey in two sentences how you’ve helped another company grow, or an idea you had for a client that performed on social well. When applicable, give stats.
If You’re Asking Them for the Meeting, You Go to Them
This is really simple. Don’t ask someone to coffee and then suggest a place to meet. Bring them coffee. Show up where they are and make it easy.
By Failing to Prepare, You Are Preparing to Fail
Come with questions. If person X is giving you 15 minutes of their time, you should be prepared to make use of every. single. second.
I recently had someone tell me, “I have three.” As in minutes. You better believe that I wrote down what I needed and made those three minutes count. If you waste three minutes of someone’s time, you can be sure that they won’t give you ten in the future.
You don’t need to print out your resume. Honestly, it’s a little dated and most people are more interested in getting a read on you, not reading what you print on paper.
While You’re There…
If you shake their hand and walk out of the office thanking them for their time, you’ve biffed it. LEAVE WITH NEXT STEPS. Let’s repeat that. LEAVE WITH NEXT STEPS. Ask for something concrete that you can do that, a) keeps you in contact, and b) is actionable for you. You’re not taking a meeting to schmooze, you’re taking a meeting to move the needle on your career. So move it.
Once You’ve Left…
Don't ghost. Follow up. Send a thank-you email, at the very least. Pro tip: Send a thank you with cupcakes for the office. Or send something that says, I paid attention to what you said, and I’m working to take the next steps.
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This post was published on February 16, 2019, and has since been updated.
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One *Very* Successful CEO's 4 Hacks for Cold Emailing
She built an entire business from it.
Photo: Liza Summer from Pexels
Let’s talk about cold emailing.
Katia Beauchamp, the co-founder of the wildly successful beauty company Birchbox, has said that she and her co-founder started cold emailing CEOs in the beauty industry to get the idea in front of them. Now she's one of them. Beauchamp shared, "I cold emailed several presidents, CEOs, and brand managers in the beauty industry and the majority of people responded!"
So we asked: What are a few things that every cold email should include?
She divulged below.
1. Have a compelling subject line.
“It needs to motivate the reader to open the message. At the very least it should say something more than, ‘Hello,’ or ‘Looking to get in touch.’ I used, ‘Reimagining beauty online.’”
2. Keep the email concise.
“The email should be short enough so that a person can read it without having to scroll down on his or her phone. The less time and energy it takes to read it, the better.”
3. Don't attach a business plan to explain the idea.
“That's asking a lot. Try a one-pager that briefly describes the idea/value proposition. We framed our one-pager by introducing the brands as the stakeholder and how Birchbox could help that brand.”
4. Ask for something that’s easy to say yes to.
“I asked CEOs and brand managers for five minutes of their time to give me advice. Those emails eventually turned into a meeting and the meeting turned into a pitch. Those pitch meetings ultimately led to partnerships with massive brands, early on.”
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This story was originally published on May 25, 2017, and has since been updated.
How to Spring Clean That Overflowing Inbox
Prevent yesterday's emails from becoming tomorrow's to-dos.
According to internet memes there are two kinds of people in this world: those who keep their inbox at zero, and those who don't.
If you happen to fall in the latter camp of "I'll get to this later" but never do, your email inbox probably feels like an exponential problem — the number rising every day a massive source of anxiety. But thank goodness it's spring, a season for showers, flowers, and cleaning. A season that, without which we might not ever get anything clean.
If your inbox needs a major overhaul here are four steps to slaying this spring cleaning and preventing yesterday's emails from becoming tomorrow's to-do list.
COMPARTMENTALIZE
You need to set aside some time to do this. No one said spring cleaning was easy, but write down the most important categories. For example:
ACCOUNTS>IMPT TO DO*>BOSS**>COMPLETED PROJECTS>FREELANCERS>SYNDICATION PARTNERS>HOLDING***
People tend to overcomplicate their filing system, and they never end up using it. Try to keep the number of folders you create to under 10. That search bar in your email? It's actually incredibly efficient and more advanced than ever before. It does the work of all those sub-categories you're unnecessarily creating.
* By creating a folder like "Impt. To-Do" you can stop using your inbox as a to-do list. You know what we mean — those emails you send yourself with tasks that need to be completed. Use a different program for this, and create a folder to help you manage projects.
** By creating a folder like "Boss," you can easily search your boss’s name and drop all emails in this folder.
*** By creating a folder like "Holding" you can drop cold pitches and emails that you're interested in responding to, but don't have the time to do so in the moment. But then when you do have the time, it's easy to find. You waste so much time searching for that one email, where you can't quite remember the idea, the name, the company... create this folder and start dropping those stray emails in.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO TAKE ACTION
We tend to think of online space as unlimited, and as such, we never delete anything. But there is no reason why you have to keep every email you receive.
If it's just taking up space, donate it to the delete button.
DEVELOP A SYSTEM
Once you get it cleaned out, the most important task at hand is developing a system you can stick to — that way you don't find yourself in the same mess all over again. Jaclyn Johnson, Founder of Create & Cultivate likes her inbox at zero when her head hits the pillow — so she developed this attack plan:
"I get anywhere between 900-1200 emails per day, 1/4 of which I can delete. The rest I put through a tried-and-true system, where I sort my inbox based on a few different categories. Namely: urgent, where I respond right away; non-urgent, which I typically forward to someone else to answer; important and in need of a thoughtful response, which I mark as unread; and inquiry, which could be new business, press, or general questions which I drop and drag into a marked folder. Twice a day (noon and 4pm) I will answer the thoughtful emails, taking time to craft a response. At the end of the day, I will go to the marked folder and answer the less urgent emails. While I strive for a zero unread inbox, it’s unrealistic. The important part is prioritizing and organizing as to not let anything slip through the cracks."
You know what system will work for you. (Email hack: Use the color-coded flags, they are so unbelievably useful.) The best thing you can do is create it and follow through.
FOR FUTURE ISSUES: CREATE A SPAM EMAIL
We give out our email to a lot of sites. From Netflix to Staples, to sites we can't even remember signing up for. Create a second gmail account where you send all product offers, spam — anything that you know you won’t need to check on a daily basis. If you ever feel like you need 40% off at the GAP, head to your spam email and you'll be sure to find a code. Otherwise, that bulk of AM emails from companies you have no desire to hear from is clogging up your inbox, space in your brain, and might even be causing a few too many unnecessary purchases. This is one tip that will save you time, space, and money.
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Our 5 Favorite Email Marketing Platforms
Send, convert, profit.
Whether you have a business in place or just the inkling of an idea, it’s never too early (or late) to beef up your communication with customers. Long gone are the days of spending money on print ads. With the creation of email, it has never been easier to find someone looking to buy what you’re selling.
These five email marketing sites are just waiting to help you and your business connect with that next dream client.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp was made for getting your feet wet. You can start using the site free of charge if you have 2000 subscribers or less. As your contacts list grows, you can upgrade your account at any time to either the Grow or Pro Plan without affecting your existing account. Mailchimp offers unique and easy-to-use design templates as well as Facebook and Instagram ads to match. If you’re still into physical mail, they also have a postcard option, so your customers’ mailboxes can get some love, too.
HubSpot
HubSpot believes in businesses building better relationships with their customers, which is why they offer a completely free option known as HubSpot CRM (customer relationship management). It offers the ability to email up to one million contacts, so you never have to worry about outgrowing it. While HubSpot CRM remains free forever, you can build upon it with any (or all) of the three extensions: Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, or Service Hub. HubSpot also offers Instagram and Facebook ads along with their emails.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact not only formats emails for desktop, they also have your phone in mind (because let’s be honest, we all check email on our phones). With templates for both desktop and phone, you can easily personalize your emails to look professional and enticing on all sorts of devices. While it only offers a 60-day free trial, the most basic plan on the site starts at $20 a month. Want to make your subscribers feel like family? There’s also the option of sending out specialized emails for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions.
Drip
Drip sells itself as the first e-commerce customer relationship manager, and it focuses on how best to get a customer to buy your product. With multiple app integrations, Drip can be tailored to meet your needs. Individualized messages can be sent to customers to help build meaningful relationships, as well as specialized Facebook ads and postcards. Drip’s basic plan starts at $49 a month and can support up to 2,500 subscribers.
SendinBlue
SendinBlue will help you create the professional newsletter of your dreams. Simply drag and drop the sleek and clean design blocks to create your own template. The system uses an algorithm to help you send emails out at the best time for each of your customers, so you reach them when it’s most convenient for them (and effective for you). SendinBlue’s free plan allows you to send 300 emails a day and is GDRP compliant as of May 2018.
Do you have another favorite email marketing service? Share with us in the comments!
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