Getting ghosted is every sales professional’s nightmare.
You think everything is going right—the prospect is the right fit for your target audience, your product is within their budget, and they are genuinely interested in buying it—until it’s not.
No response. Missed calls. Just pin-drop silence.
You can’t understand what the hell went wrong. Don’t worry, though. You have to up your follow-up game.
To help you out in these tricky situations, we’ll show you how to write a follow-up email after no response and get the deal back to track.
So let’s get started!
Why Should You Send a Follow-up Email After No Response?
The whole point of sending up a follow-up email is to increase your chances of getting a response from your prospect.
According to research, you can boost your reply rates by 65.8% when you send a single follow-up. What’s more, the first follow-up email has a 40% increase in reply rate compared to the first sales email. This means your prospect is 40% more likely to reply to your email.
What’s more, no response doesn’t mean any interest. Tons of factors affect a prospect’s decision to not respond to your email:
- You may have caught them at the wrong time
- They may not have seen your email
- They may have seen your email but forgot to reply
- Your email may be deeply buried in their inbox
- They may not be interested now but can be later if you stay in contact.
Even after getting zero response, sending up follow-up emails may give you the leverage you need to close a deal.
The moral of the story is to never skip on following up—you might just lose a closed-won deal.
When Should You Follow Up After Getting No Response?
Sending follow-up emails is an art. In addition to the contents of your follow-up email, you also want to get the follow-up timing right.
A week is too long, and sending a follow-up on the same day is—for the lack of a better word—desperate. That’s why we recommend waiting three days before following up after no response.
You can send 2-3 emails in your follow-up email sequence to urge the prospect to get back to you. And while you should leave the prospect after sending a few follow-ups, don’t send them a breakup email. Instead, leave the conversation open and return to it sometime in the future.
How To Send a Follow-up Email After No Response
No response means you’ve already sent your first follow-up email after talking to the prospect. So here, we’ll give you suggestions on how to write an email after your first follow-up.
A) Send a Fresh Follow-up Email
If following up after no response involves you cutting and pasting—or forwarding—the original email, we’ve got to stop you right there.
First and foremost, your prospect will feel you’re trying to guilt them for not responding. Secondly, it’s also possible for your second follow-up email to get filtered by spam or even get blocked by the prospect.
That’s why every follow-up email should be a blank slate. Instead, try new and witty subject lines, opening lines, and calls to action. And not only your second follow-up email, but all subsequent follow-up emails should be fresh.
Think about it: why limit yourself to one email thread that already has several old messages weighing it down?
B) Maintain a Friendly and Cordial Tone
Following up after no response can feel personal. But sales professionals need to have thicker skin.
Don’t waste precious email real estate by using passive-aggressive lines like “I know you’re busy, I’m busy too, “or “Was waiting for a reply to my previous email but to no avail.”
It’ll do more harm than good. Your prospect might feel offended, and if they do respond out of guilt, their answer won’t be one you want to hear.
Keeping your tone positive is your best bet. Use phrases like “Wanted to touch base on our last conversation “or “Do you have any questions about our last conversation?”. The idea here is to acknowledge your prospect might be busy and give them a gentle nudge to take the conversation forward.
C) …But Be Persistent
While you want to stay polite, you also want to be persistent. Be politely persistent.
Of course, some people will say “no “along the way, but there are also those who will say “yes. ”
Following up will help you get ahead, but you have to be consistent about the whole process and create a repeatable, scalable process. So focus on providing continuous value and send multiple (and well spaced-out) follow-up emails within the span of the next few weeks to see results.
D) Provide the Prospect Clear Value
To get a response, you have to have a crystal-clear “ask.” So, before hitting ‘Send,’ see whether the email answers the following questions:
Is the follow-up email relevant to the recipient? If yes, why?
Does the prospect know why you’re contacting them?
People usually skim through emails quickly, especially those sent by strangers. So if your follow-up email doesn’t have a clear value proposition, they won’t be interested in responding.
The easier you make it for them to know what you’re hoping to achieve, the better your chances of securing a response. Transparency is valued, so don’t make the prospect read between the lines or try to translate.
E) Consider the Time and Day of the Week
You want to leave a good first, second, third—maybe even fourth impression on your prospect when following up.
When following up multiple times, it’s best to send your email at an optimal time. For starters, consider the day of the week and how that might affect their schedule. For instance, people generally catch up with work on Mondays and solve problems. That’s why sending follow-ups on Tuesdays or Wednesdays makes more sense.
You also want to consider your prospect’s time zones. Better to pop up in their inbox after they’ve settled in the office than when you’re just starting out the day or ending it. This will differ based on your industry, too.
Think from your recipient’s viewpoint.
F) Make It Easier for the Prospect to Say “Yes”
Think about it: it’s easier to say “yes “to a request for a 5-20 minute chat compared to, say, an hour-long meeting.
Ask for as little of your prospect’s time as possible. This shows them you respect their time, which will make them more likely to say “yes. ”
Also, if you notice, attending a “meeting” sounds more daunting than setting up a “quick chat.” That’s why you should use words that have positive associations—words that sound like much less of a commitment, and therefore, easier to say “yes “to.
Trust us; even the smallest of changes can make a big difference in the long run.
Follow-up Email After No Response Examples
Sending a follow-up email after no response can seem too much. To help you get started on the right track, here are a few follow-up emails after no response examples for inspiration.
Follow-up Email #1: Show Belief in Your Product
Hi {prospect’s name},
Hope you’re doing well.
I understand your position, but I wouldn’t follow up with you if I didn’t firmly believe {your company} can help {prospect’s company}.
{your product’s name} ‘s {product benefit 1} and {product benefit 2} features can help solve the {prospect pain point} you’re facing and improve workflow efficiency in just 28 days.
Let me know if you’d be up for a quick chat about what we do.
Regards,
{your name}
Follow-up Email #2: Use a Clear CTA
Hey, {prospect name}
I am reaching out again to ensure that you had a chance to review my last email.
I’d love to schedule a short call to discuss further details about {topic A} and {topic B}, as I’ve been talking to other market leaders and would love to get your perspective too.
Let me know when you’re available for a quick 15-minute chat. You can book a slot on my calendar here {calendar link}.
Kind regards,
{your name}
Follow-up Email #3: Show Social Proof
I hope you’re having a great day!
Reaching out again to let you know I’m available to show you a few {topic} best practices and {another topic}, which is something we discussed in our previous conversation.
We’ve had success with a few clients in the {prospect niche}, and I believe we can create a great plan to help you increase lead generation and sales conversion, too.
Let me know when you would be available for a quick call.
Thanks in advance,
{your name}
