Use this about a week after a first email to a business that hasn't replied: a property manager, strata manager, venue, accountant or anyone else you've written to about work. Send it as a reply in the same thread, so they can see your first email underneath without searching for it.
The follow-up is shorter than the first email and adds one thing you didn't say before. It doesn't guilt them for not answering. If they still don't reply, stop. Make a note of the business and a month to try again, and only write then if something has genuinely changed. If anyone asks you to stop, at any point, take them off your list straight away and keep them off. The cold email legal guide covers why every follow-up still needs your details and an unsubscribe line.
The template
Hi [First name], Just a quick follow-up on my email last week about [One-line reminder]. [One new thing] If now isn’t the right time, no problem. [Simple question] Thanks, [Your name] [Business name], ABN [ABN] [Phone] If you’d rather not hear from me, reply ’unsubscribe’ and I’ll take you off my list.
What to put in each part
| Part | What to put there |
|---|---|
| [Original subject] | Leave it as your email program sets it when you reply to your first email. Only use ’Re:’ on a real reply. |
| [First name] | The same person you wrote to first. |
| [One-line reminder] | What you offered, in a few words: ’common area cleaning for your buildings around Carina’. |
| [One new thing] | One or two sentences they didn’t get the first time: a nearby job, a day you’re already in their area, a document you can send, a small first job you’d take on. |
| [Simple question] | One question they can answer in a word: ’Should I send our insurance for your files?’ or ’Is there someone else I should write to?’ |
| [Your name] | Your first name. |
| [Business name] | Your registered business or trading name. |
| [ABN] | Your ABN. |
| [Phone] | A mobile you answer. |
Filled in, for a made-up business
Hi Jo, Just a quick follow-up on my email last week about common area cleaning for your buildings around Carina. We’re already in Carina every Tuesday, so a one-off clean of a bin room or car park before an AGM is easy to fit in. If now isn’t the right time, no problem. Is there someone else on your team I should write to? Thanks, Mel Eastside Common Area Cleaning, ABN 00 000 000 000 0400 000 000 If you’d rather not hear from me, reply ’unsubscribe’ and I’ll take you off my list.
Tips
Wait about a week
Sooner reads as pushy. Much later and they’ve forgotten the first email, so the follow-up has to do all the work again.
Add one thing, don’t repeat yourself
Pasting the first email again tells them nothing new. A nearby job or a day you’re in their area gives them a reason to answer now.
Make the question easy
Asking who else to write to is a question even a busy person can answer, and it often gets you to the right name.
Stop after one
One follow-up is ordinary practice. A third and fourth email starts to read as spam, to the person and to their email filters.
Or have it done for you
Curlew writes and sends emails like this in your business name, answers the replies, and passes on anyone interested.
Mistakes to avoid
’Just bumping this to the top of your inbox’
It says you have nothing new to add. The email gets the same answer as the first one: none.
Faking a ’Re:’ on a new email
Making a first email look like a reply to a conversation that never happened is misleading. People notice, and it costs you trust you can’t get back.
Missing a ’stop’
A ’please don’t email me’ tucked into a reply is still a request to unsubscribe. Missing it and writing again is the fastest way to a complaint.