The follow-up email

Email is the second thing you do each morning, after the connection requests and before you pick up the telephone. It reaches the two or three whose websites told you there was a real fit, and it costs you nothing in nerve, which is why it comes before the calls.

Later on it does a second job. When you have rung somebody and reached their voicemail, a short email landing the same morning gives them something to reply to at a time that suits them.

The rules that matter

Keep it under a hundred words. Make one point and ask one question. Write it as you would to somebody you had met once, because in a sense you have.

Mention one true, specific thing about their business that you found on their website. That single detail is the difference between a message that reads as personal and one that reads as a mailshot, and it is worth the minute it takes to find.

Never mention that they looked at your website. It is perfectly fair for you to know, and it still reads as unsettling.

The first email

This is the one you send in the morning to somebody whose website looked like a good fit.

Subject: [something specific about their company]

Hi [first name],

I run [your company] and we work with quite a few [type of business] on [what you help with].

I was having a look at your website and noticed [something true and specific]. It made me think there might be something useful for you here.

Would you have twenty minutes one day this week for a quick chat? I am happy to work around you.

Best wishes,

[Your name]

[Company], [telephone number]

After a call that reached voicemail

Send this the same morning, and use the subject line you mentioned in your message so that it is easy to spot.

Subject: [the subject you gave on the voicemail]

Hi [first name],

I rang earlier and left you a message, so I thought I would put it in writing as well in case that is easier.

I run [your company] and we help [type of business] with [what you help with]. I noticed [something true and specific] on your website, which is exactly the sort of thing we tend to be useful for.

Would a short call suit you better later in the week? I am about most afternoons.

Best wishes,

[Your name]

[Company], [telephone number]

Something worth reading

About five days later, if you have not heard anything, send something genuinely useful rather than another request for a meeting. A short answer to a question your customers always ask, a note on something changing in their trade, or a one page outline of how you would approach their situation.

Subject: [the question or the topic]

Hi [first name],

No reply needed to this one. I put together a short piece on [topic] for another [type of business] last month and thought it might be useful to you as well.

[One or two sentences of the actual useful thing, or a link.]

If it raises anything you would like to talk through, I am always happy to.

Best wishes,

[Your name]

Giving somebody something is what turns a chase into a conversation. A message that only asks whether they have had a chance to look at your last one gives them nothing to reply to.

When you decide to leave it

After a fortnight or so, if you have heard nothing at all, send one last friendly email and then leave them be. Written kindly, this is the message that gets the most replies of any of them, which surprises people.

Subject: [company]

Hi [first name],

I have not managed to catch you, and I would rather not keep filling your inbox, so this is my last one on this.

If the timing is wrong I completely understand, and I would be glad to try you again later in the year if that would be more useful.

Either way, I hope the rest of the year goes well for you.

Best wishes,

[Your name]

Then move them to a list of people to try again in a few months. They know your name now, which is worth more than it sounds.

Subject lines

The best ones name the thing you are writing about. Something like "Your Sheffield site", "Payroll at [company]", or "A question about your delivery times" tells somebody what the email is before they open it.

The ones to avoid are the ones that tell them nothing. "Following up", "Just checking in" and anything that pretends to be part of a conversation you have not had yet all get skipped, and rightly so. Capitals and exclamation marks do the same.

When somebody replies

Reply the same working day if you possibly can. Somebody who has just written to you is as interested as they are ever going to be, and everything on this site about getting there first applies twice over here.

Answer whatever they actually asked, properly and without rushing them towards a meeting. If there is clear interest, offering a time is the natural next step.

That is a good question, and the short answer is [answer]. Would it be easier to talk it through? I could give you a ring tomorrow morning if that suits.