How often to follow up on sales leads?

You might have heard the adage, “The fortune is in the follow-up.” This is definitely true in sales. For converting leads into sales, you need to follow-up consistently. 

Prospects have a lot on their plate, so they might not remember your product. They are like those busy neighbors who are lost in their world. You need to knock on their door and remind them that you exist. 

“Not following up with your prospects is same as filling up your bathtub without first putting the stopper to drain” – Michelle Moore 

Do you know there is a 25% chance of hearing back from a prospect if you send more emails? 

So, whether you want to get a confirmation for scheduling a meeting or need some information from the prospect, ensure you follow-up frequently. 

A follow-up email is the most effective way to get a response and move the prospect forward in the sales pipeline. 

But how often should you send sales follow-up emails? Well, let’s find that out through this blog. 

Before focusing on frequency, you need to give attention to two things

Follow-up isn’t just about sending a reminder email and nudging the prospect. There are two essential things you need to focus upon while sending follow-up emails.

1. Ensure your Content is compelling

An average full-time worker receives 120 emails every day – TechJury

Your potential prospect’s inbox is crowded. Your competitors might have occupied a space in your potential prospect’s inbox. So, you need to break through the noise with a compelling follow-up email. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any point in sending multiple emails. You’ll feel like your words are falling on deaf ears.

So, wear a creative hat while drafting follow-up emails. Your subject line itself should be interesting enough to get a click.

Your content should give the prospect a strong reason to reply. Put yourself in the prospect’s shoes and think, would you leave your work and give your precious time to a follow-email with the same boring message.

It is no fun to receive an endless chain of dull emails. Prospects delete such emails without a moment’s hesitation. 

Engaging content can help you in saving time. You might get a response on the second or third follow-up only. So, pay attention to the content of your sales follow-up emails.

2. Make sure your timing is perfect

Be strategic about your timing. Don’t just draft a follow-up email and send it. Choose the right time and keep proper gaps between the follow-up emails. Don’t just shoot continuous follow-up emails.  

Nobody likes interruption while they are working. 

It takes around 23 minutes or more to refocus after an interruption – NexaLearning

So, ensure you don’t disturb the prospect. Research and find out the ideal time to send sales follow-up emails to your prospects. 

As per the data provided by CoSchedule, Tuesday is the best day and 10 am is the best time to send an email.

Besides, ensure you plan your follow-up. Keep a few days gap after sending the first follow-up email and then send the second email. 

But what if you forget to send the next follow-up email? 

Well, there is a solution for that too. Most of the CRM software allows you to create sequences. So, you can easily set up the stages (the number of follow-up emails you want to send) to follow-up effectively. 

Add the time and date of execution and relax; the CRM will do the rest for you. The follow-up emails will be sent in real-time automatically. However, you just need to ensure you’ve set proper time intervals, or you might end up infuriating your prospects.

Deciding the sales follow up frequency 

Now comes the main question ‘What should be the frequency of your sales follow-up emails?’

Well, it depends on the interaction you’ve had before. If you are trying to establish a relationship with cold leads, then it shouldn’t be more than three follow-up emails. In case of warm leads, you can extend the limit of follow-up emails.

However, here are a few things you need to consider:

1. Don’t hesitate in sending more than two follow-up emails

Most of the sales reps send one or two follow-up emails and stop, thinking that the prospect might not be interested. Therefore, most of the leads aren’t converted into sales. 

44% of sales reps give up after 1 follow-up – Salesmate

Like you, even the prospects are busy trying to reach their business goals. So, there are chances they might miss your follow-up emails. Therefore, don’t stop after two follow-ups, make another few attempts to capture the attention of your prospects.

2. Don’t irritate by sending more than six follow-up emails 

Yes, you must not give up after two follow up on leads, but you shouldn’t even exasperate the prospect by sending 8 to 10 follow-up emails.

Anything more than six is too much. It’s good to be persistent. But be pleasantly persistent. Don’t be pushy. There is a fine line between the two. 

Your prospects might be occupied with some important tasks. So be patient. Few emails are enough to remind a prospect about a specific message. You don’t need to spam them with too many follow-up emails. 

3. Something between 3 to 6 would work 

Neither should you send too many emails nor should you stop after two. 

Then how many emails should you send before you call it a quit? 

Well, something between 3 to 6 follow-up emails should be enough. Make sure you cut the tie at the right time after a few reminders. 

Here is an example of a follow-up email sequence (I have created a short sequence of 4 follow-up emails. You can add more follow-up emails if required. But as I said don’t send more than six follow-up emails as there are chances the prospect might get annoyed) 

Email 1

Email 2 

Email 3 

Email 4

Wrapping up

Buyers feel good when you care about their requirements and challenges. Following up is surely a way of showing that you care. So, don’t hesitate in sending sales follow-up emails. However, don’t irritate them with too many follow-up emails. Be persistent without being annoying. 

You can put your follow-up on autopilot with the CRM Software. Salesmate is one of the best CRM software that not only allows you to create an automated email sequence but also gives you the flexibility to create text (SMS) sequences for following up. 

Besides, you can even merge the email and text (SMS) and create a single sequence. It is the best way to get a response from your prospect to move them ahead in the sales cycle.