How Soon Is Too Soon: Our Take on Email Follow-Ups

Follow-up emails come with the territory when working at an agency. When I’m scheduling appointments and don’t hear back from someone within a week, I always reach out again. While it’s always possible that the person on the other end is ignoring me, it’s also likely that the email got lost in their inbox. Either way, following up increases your chances of getting a response. Here are some tips and best practices to keep in mind when crafting the perfect follow-up email.

Have Patience

Things come up and people are busy. Maybe the email was sent at a time when the recipient was slammed and forgot to respond. The lack of response could be because the email was misplaced.  Perhaps there was a glitch with the first email and it went to spam or was accidently deleted. We need to have patience and understand that everyone is human. Just because you didn’t get a response the first time does not mean that you are being intentionally ignored. Try again and don’t get frustrated.

Create a Follow-up Schedule

The follow-up schedule will vary based on what you’re emailing and how high of a priority it is. Some people require a follow-up once a week and others once every two weeks. Remember there is a fine line between being annoying and being persistent with follow ups. Don’t send an email every day. Make sure you keep track of who you need to reach out to and when. This will make a huge difference and keep you organized. 

Be Unique

If you’ve reached out to someone a few times and haven’t gotten a response, it might be time to switch tactics. If your follow-up email feels impersonal or unimportant, it is likely going to be ignored. Sometimes you can get someone's attention by being out-of-the-box and having fun. Switch up your message and abandon your dry email script. You can do this while still being polite and maintaining email etiquette. 

Keep It Short and Sweet

Avoid writing a lengthy follow-up email. Your recipient is more likely to read and respond to your email if you’ve kept the body short and get to the point with your message. No one wants a novel in their inbox. I’ve found that adding a question in a follow up email leads to a much higher response rate. Try to keep your emails a few sentences long and include a question at the end.

Eryn Pendergast, Executive Assistant
Elevate My Brand