There is no magic number of times to follow up with a client. Use a count for the situation. A new enquiry or a quote gets up to three chases, about a working week apart. A client who said later gets one message on the date they gave. A past client gets one about every three months. After the count, stop and park them with a date.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| New enquiry or quote | Up to 3 chases, about 5 working days apart |
| They said later, and gave a date | One message on that date, then up to 2 more |
| Past client | About every 90 days, for as long as they answer |
| After the count with no reply | Stop, and park with a date three months ahead |
The method
“a daily 10 minute 'follow-up queue' view filtered to next action date <= today.”An owner in r/smallbusiness, in a thread on how to stop dropping the ball on leads. A count and a date for each row, then ten minutes a day.
- Add a "Chases so far" column to your list. Whatever your tools say, the count is yours.
- Pick the count from the situation. You will find "five touches" and similar figures on software vendors' pages. We found none we could trace to a source, so this page does not use them.
- Make each chase carry something new: a question, a fact or a date. The same message again does not count as a second chase.
- Say it in the last message: "I will leave it with you." A stop rule is kinder than silence.
- Park, do not delete. Put a date three months ahead in "Don't chase before" and leave the person alone until then.
- Once a day, spend ten minutes on everyone whose date is today or earlier. Nobody else.
3 messages to adapt
Replace every [BRACKET] with a real fact. If you cannot, delete the line.
- First chaseHi [NAME], you asked about [THE JOB OR PRODUCT] on [DATE]. Is it still something you want to do? If it is, tell me what would help you decide.
- Second chase, a different angleSubject: [JOB OR PRODUCT]: one questionHi [NAME], One question so I do not keep guessing: is it the [PRICE / TIMING / SCOPE] that is holding it up? [ONLY IF TRUE: I can [ONE REAL OPTION].] [YOUR NAME]
- The last one, and parkHi [NAME], I will stop chasing [THE JOB OR PRODUCT] now so I am not in your way. If it comes back up, reply here. I will check in once around [MONTH].
When to send them
- In the free tool's sales preset, a person comes up after 5 working days of silence and is dropped from the list after 3 chases, if you count them in "Chases so far".
- In the estate agent preset a past client comes up after 90 calendar days and a lead after 30.
- For a client who said later, put the date they gave in "Don't chase before".
- After the last chase, put the park date in the same column.
What to avoid
- Three chases in three days. It reads as pressure, and you have used your count.
- The same message each time.
- Counting a reply to a question they asked as a chase.
- Chasing someone who has said no.
- Trusting a number from a blog that does not say where it came from.
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See who is due today
Who to chase today
Paste the people you are waiting on, or type them in. It shows who to chase today, and why, and who can wait. It runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.
Prefer a spreadsheet? The free follow-up desk works in Excel and Google Sheets.
Questions people ask
Is five follow-ups the right number?
It is repeated often, but we found nothing we could check behind it. For a quote, three chases and then park is our advice. It is not a rule, and a client who keeps answering needs no limit.
What counts as a follow-up?
A message you send because you have not heard back. A reply to something they asked does not count.
When should I stop?
When they say no, when they ask you to, or when you reach your count with no reply. Write the date in the sheet so you can try once more later.