Email tracking programs have been around for a long time, but a slew of new tracking extensions for Chrome have just started to pop up. Now that most people track emails, and they know when an email has and hasn’t been read, that urge to send a follow-up email is stronger than ever before – and if you’ve never followed up on an email, you really need to read this. While you can’t send an email and say, “hey! I saw that you read my email! Are you going to respond or what?”
You can certainly follow-up, and you should certainly follow-up. But how can you follow-up without being overly annoying? Just like anything else, there’s a way to do this that won’t get you barred from life from your ever-important contacts.
Realize That You Aren’t the Center of the Universe
It can be really annoying when someone hasn’t returned an email, but you have to remember that most people get hundreds of emails per day. So the email that you sent might not be a top priority. Instead of getting mad and saying something like, “you didn’t respond!” try something like, “I know you’re busy, so I thought I’d just send this quick reminder.” You’re acknowledging that a person is busy, and you’re also sending that follow-up note.
Don’t Send a Note Every Day
There’s following up, and then there’s being completely annoying (and a bit of a psychopath). If someone doesn’t respond the second time around, give it a few days or a week. Do not send the same email every day, no matter how tempting it might be.
Try to Connect
Guess what? You have the Internet! Use it! Spend a few minutes researching the person that you wan to connect with. Try and comment on something that you may have in common with that person. Really, it’s hard to hide from the public eye these days, so you can easily find a few details of information on forums, social networks, and in other places.
Try Different Times
Sending out follow-up emails reminds me of sending out press releases. Typically, you never want to send a press release on a Friday afternoon because most people take off early on Fridays. But sometimes the exact person that you want to reach out to is in the office on Fridays, and that person is looking for news to read. The lesson here is simple enough: if you tried to reach someone one day and you didn’t get a response, try to reach out again on another day. You never know – Tuesdays could be better for that person than Fridays.
Know When to Give Up
Sometimes, people just don’t want to buy what you’re selling. Ask someone when you should give up. If you’ve sent out four emails to follow up, but you’ve got no response, simply say, “Hey, are these emails getting annoying? Should I stop?” Keep in mind that people are human, so sometimes they are just too polite to tell you to buzz off. It never hurts to ask.
Ditch the Form Letter
This goes against everything that you may have read about email marketing, right? Well, I’m here to tell you to ditch the form letter. In fact, make every respond or follow up completely unique. Sit down, write out a personal note, add some details that you feel are important, and write like a human would talk!
Make the Last Note About Your Show
If all else fails, I have a line for you to use: “Thanks so much for having the patience to read through all of my follow up emails. This will be the last one I send, but I did want to tell you about my upcoming show at (enter name of place here), and the killer portable display we have created – it has all kinds of really neat interactive elements like (add elements here).”
You never know, that person might just respond. In the meantime, make sure that your trade show booth displays are really amazing by calling Blazer Exhibits. We’ll hook you up with an estimate, some great ideas including info about a possible portable display, and things that you can do to make sure your tradeshow booth displays stand out. Whether you’re looking for a portable display or something else, let us know!