Salespeople often assume that if they have not heard from the prospect in a while, it is because their follow-up emails are falling on deaf ears.
However, many customers may be busy and unable to respond for days or weeks at a time without any intention of ignoring you completely.
Follow-up emails should be sent as naturally as possible and without any hint of annoyance or frustration.
Get ready to start sending those perfect follow-ups because we're going over the alternatives below.
10 Reasons Why You Should Not Use - “I Haven't Heard From You” In Your Emails
- This kind of follow-up line can turn off potential customers since they are not interested in receiving such messages from an unknown sender
- It is not a welcoming gesture
- It creates guilt, and you might lose the game
- The service you provide might be helpful to prospects, but this kind of follow-up can have a negative impact
- Using guilt in emails is big mistake
- It doesn't make your prospects ask further questions
- It ditches your sales pitch
- It disconnects further communication with a prospect
- Prospect might not respond right away because they're receiving several other calls/ emails simultaneously
- Prospect might not reply to this email if they think that there's nothing in it for them
20 Alternatives To "I Haven't Heard From You"
- Are you still interested in the [product/service] we discussed a month ago?
- Your recent article [photo/ blog/ social media post] was fantastic
- Is it okay if I close your file?
- I was giggling about [internal joke] the other day
- Howdy … It's me, once again :)
- [Shared memory] came to mind when I was thinking about you
- Is there anything I can help with?
- It was great seeing you at [event]
- This article reminded me of you
- This video reminds me of you
- Thank you for your assistance
- Thank you for providing this information
- Thank you for contacting us
- Hope you had a wonderful weekend
- I hope you're having a good time today (or a fantastic week)
- It's terrific to hear from you
- I'm writing to inquire about...
- Next steps to work on
- What else can we be doing right now to help move things forward?
- Is there anything else I can do?
The Difference Between "I Haven't Heard From You” & Its Alternatives With Examples
1. Example Email Template: "I haven't heard from you"
Subject line: You must have missed my last email / I haven't heard from you
Hi John,
I haven't heard from you since last week about our proposal. Do you have 10 minutes to discuss this?
I want to discuss our product promotion with you. We launched [X product] last week, and it is doing good.
Have a look at the product details.
[Product details]
Hope you are interested & looking forward to this.
You can reach me @ [Contact No]
Thanks,
2. Alternative To "I Haven't Heard From You"
The prospect has been avoiding you and your attempts to sign them up for a while.
You have one last attempt at it by sending an email asking if they're interested in signing up or even closing the account (if that is something they are considering).
It's more likely that this will get you some straightforward answers from your customer rather than another round of avoidance tactics.
Subject line: Is it okay if I close your file?
Howdy .. [Prospect’s name],
I am so sorry for the inconvenience; we have been closing files each month, and I just wanted to double-check that you were still interested in our services[service name].
Is there anything else we can do on your behalf? If not, please let me know, as it would be a pleasure helping you find the right person!
We appreciate everything & Thanks again for your time.
Best wishes
If you are looking for more ways to tailor your emails? Check out Videoform's sales email templates and build relations with prospects.
I've had many prospects use these templates with great success. Although you should personalize the content, I recommend not straying too far from the original messaging as it has worked for so many people in my practice and others like me.
How To Build Relationships With Prospects ?
Relationship management and prioritization are pinpoints to success in any sales environment, especially for B2B companies. As more prospects come on board each day, it can be overwhelming to keep up with all the different needs of these individuals at once.
By utilizing a series of structured processes, you can prioritize business relationships. Here's how:
1. Do The Research
Salespeople should research their prospects (webpage/ products/ services) in the same way prospects do.
Practically every product or service now has a review site. Almost every business publishes information about themselves online. So do your research before approaching a prospect.
Do some research about the prospect's interests in LinkedIn as well. Then, send videos explicitly tailored towards those things. This will show a positive impact.
2. Change Your Goal
The days of initiating contact with cold email pitches are over. Instead, prospecting emails should be used to build relationships, not sell your product or service right out the gate.
Click here for some best sales email templates that will help you connect with potential customers.
You won't need long-winded features recitations; research-focused messages can inspire positive emotions like pride and appreciation, especially when you show clear understanding for your customer's needs!
3. Offer Value Before You Ask For Anything
Your prospects are overwhelmed and drowning in email, so find a way to make their lives easier. One way to do that is through personalized offers on products/ services. This will establish a healthy relationship.
4. Be Genuine, Be Yourself
The key to building the relationship with your prospect is real. Be genuine, be yourself and talk about things they can relate to. Because you never know when a bond might form between you & the prospect.
5. The Rescheduling
If a prospect reschedules, you know the chances of them rescheduling skyrockets again. So when your prospect sends an email asking to push their meeting or trial because they need more time, pick up the phone immediately and say, we can reschedule.
Be flexible with their schedule but firm on slotting a new meeting within one week of the original date. You'll save time in this process, prevent endless emails resulting in no scheduled meet-up, and mitigate risk for prospects that may be ghosting.
How Does Guilt Work In Sales?
It is well documented that guilt works in sales, but it all depends on the context. For example, in some cases, you can evoke a sense of guilt to get prospects to purchase a product they didn't have any intention of buying before.
Other times this approach will not work and might even be counterproductive as prospects could feel bad. Again, this is because you are trying to manipulate prospects by trying too hard to sell your product/service.
Humans still respond more favorably when we're feeling guilty than at other times. This was established long ago by psychology research into both motivation and consumer behavior alike.
Videoform recommends Video Email: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners to improve your sales techniques.
There are many reasons why prospect's may not respond to your email, so don't take it personally. Don't get caught up in the idea that they're intentionally ignoring you or taking anything personally. Instead, focus on what matters the most: getting an answer and moving forward from there.
Prospects appreciate it when you are open and honest with them. Because you haven't heard back from them, it can be helpful to ask when would work best for meeting up next instead of just bluntly saying, "I Haven't Heard From You! What happened? Did we get disconnected?”
Use the Alternatives and make your email stand out from everyone else!
Conclusion
These alternatives will help you to take a new approach when following up with potential clients. Use these alternatives to "I haven't heard from you" and re-engage with your prospects.
Before writing another text email, ask yourself, are you gaining the prospect's trust and engaging them virtually in your sales? If your answer is anything less than 90%, your virtual selling process needs a makeover with video emails.
A video email is exactly what it sounds like... an email with a video showing instead of plain text. While the concept of a video email is in its very early stages, many companies have started to experiment with using this technology and are experiencing great success. It is much better than video calls or virtual calls.
Use Videoform to connect with prospects in a more personal way. It is better than sending blank text-only messages that just get ignored. If you are ready for the makeover, sign up for VideoForm with a free trial and see if it fits your sales needs.
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