How to write a sales follow-up email - 10 proven examples & templates

90% of buyers respond within two days of their most recent message, yet only 8% of sales reps follow up more than five times. That gap is your opportunity.

Most deals require 5-12 touchpoints before closing, but ghosting happens when sellers lack clear follow-up strategies. The right email at the right time can revive cold prospects, advance stalled deals, and prevent last-minute ghosting.

This guide provides 10 proven follow-up templates for every scenario – from no responses to demos, quotes, and trials – plus timing strategies that convert stalled deals into closed revenue.

What is a sales follow-up email?

A sales follow-up email is a message sent to a prospect after an initial interaction to continue the conversation, provide additional value, or move them closer to a buying decision. Follow-ups can occur after a cold outreach attempt, a discovery call, a demo, a proposal, or any touchpoint in the sales cycle.

The goal of a follow-up email isn't to be pushy or repetitive. Instead, it's to stay top-of-mind, address unanswered questions, share relevant insights, or provide a clear next step that helps the prospect move forward. Effective follow-ups reference previous conversations, add new value with each touch, and respect the prospect's timeline while maintaining momentum.

Below are proven templates and strategies to help you craft follow-ups that get responses and move deals forward.

10 sales follow-up email templates that get responses

The difference between a closed deal and a ghosted prospect often comes down to your follow-up strategy. Use these proven templates to re-engage cold leads, maintain momentum after key conversations, and move deals across the finish line.

1. After no response (1st follow-up)

When to Use: 3-5 days after initial cold outreach receives no response

Subject Line Options:

• "Quick question about [Company Name]'s [specific initiative]"
• "Following up: [pain point] at [Company Name]"
• "Thought this might help with [specific challenge]"
• "Re: [original subject line]"

2. Break-up email (final attempt)

When to Use: After 7-10 touchpoints with no response over 2-3 weeks

Subject Line Options:

• "Should I close your file?"
• "Taking you off my list"
• "Last note from me"
• "[First Name] - final note"

3. After demo

When to Use: Within 24 hours of demo, especially if no next steps were confirmed

Subject Line Options:

• "Great demo with [Company Name] today"
• "Next steps for [specific feature] at [Company Name]"
• "Following up on [pain point] discussion"
• "Quick recap: [Product Name] demo"

💡 Outreach Pro Tip:

Use Conversation Intelligence to automatically capture pain points and action items mentioned in demos, then insert them into your follow-up template.

4. After sales call

When to Use: Within two hours of sales call to maintain momentum

Subject Line Options:

• "Great talking with you today"
• "Next steps for [Company Name]"
• "Recap: Our conversation about [specific topic]"
• "Action items from today's call"

5. After quote/proposal

When to Use: 2-3 days after sending quote with no response

Subject Line Options:

• "Questions on the [Company Name] quote?"
• "Following up: [Project Name] proposal"
• "Thoughts on the pricing we discussed?"
• "Next steps to get [Company Name] started?"

6. After contract sent

When to Use: 2-3 days after sending contract with no response

Subject Line Options:

• "Questions on the [Company Name] agreement?"
• "Following up: [Project Name] contract"
• "Noticed you haven't signed the agreement yet"
• "Ready to finalize the [Company Name] agreement?"

7. After free trial

When to Use: 3-5 days before trial expires

Subject Line Options:

• "Your [Product Name] trial expires [date]"
• "How's your [Product Name] trial going?"
• "Quick check-in on your trial"
• "Need more time with [Product Name]?"

8. After missed call

When to Use: 1 week after failed phone connection attempts

Subject Line Options:

• "Missed you on the phone"
• "Is now a better time to connect?"
• "Following up on my call"
• "Wrong person?"

9. After sales inquiry

When to Use: 2-3 days after responding to inbound form submission with no reply

Subject Line Options:

• "Following up on your [form type] submission"
• "Re: Your question about [product/service]"
• "Can I help with [pain point]?"
• "Quick follow-up on your inquiry"

10. After product sample

When to Use: 1 week after product sample delivery

Subject Line Options:

• "How are the samples working out?"
• "Thoughts on the [Product X] samples?"
• "Following up on the samples we sent"
• "Ready to discuss next steps?"

Best practices for sales follow‑up emails

While each sales team's follow-up strategy will vary depending on industry, target buyers, sales process, etc., there are some overarching best practices that any team can benefit from implementing. Make your follow-up emails more effective by:

• Automating the process: Reps are often inundated with myriad administrative tasks that steal precious time from their days. With the right tools, your team can take the burden of following up with each prospect off of reps’ shoulders. Outreach's AI Revenue Agent, for example, automatically builds and executes personalized follow-up sequences based on prospect engagement signals – email opens, clicks, and reply patterns. The platform adjusts timing and messaging in real time, keeping your solution top of mind while reps focus on deals ready to close.
  
  Bonus Tip: If you're sending a follow-up via phone call, you can use Call Agent to create personalized follow-ups.
• Including a CTA: Don’t forget that your follow-up emails should always point prospects in a clear direction. Include a call-to-action (CTA) that acts as a clear next step to prevent confusion or neglect on the buyer’s end. Do you want them to provide more details, schedule a meeting, or direct you to someone else who’s better suited to speak with you? It’s easier for a prospect to engage with your outreach if you tell them exactly what you want or need from them.
• Anticipating needs: Part of delivering an exceptional customer experience from the jump is being as proactive as possible with prospects. This is particularly true for account executives trying to prevent future ghosting from buyers, who are themselves busy professionals and likely won’t reach back out if they don’t get a clear answer or the requested information from a provider. Implementing tools like conversation intelligence software can help by automating follow-up by capturing next steps and action items in call meeting notes, so reps remain accountable, and nothing ever falls through the cracks.
• Ensuring the next step is very easy: The buying process is often complex. In fact, 77% of B2B customers say their last buying experience was extremely complex or difficult. If sellers don’t offer a simple, direct next step, they risk irritating, confusing, or disenchanting prospective buyers. Success plans (sometimes called mutual action plans) are a great way to map the buying journey collaboratively with customers, ensuring everyone is aligned and engaged around clear next steps anchored to the buyer’s goals. That way, buyers won’t jump ship due to uncertainty or misunderstandings.
• Personalizing content: 31% of sellers say that sending one-to-one, customized messages to prospects is the most effective approach. But many salespeople struggle to find the adequate time needed to customize their outreach for each prospect. Too many reps spend an exorbitant amount of time personalizing their initial emails, but the truth is, customization at that stage isn’t nearly as valuable as it is during follow-up. Reps should spend less time on first-contact emails and more time focusing on tailoring their follow-up messages. This strategy will help them save valuable time while still ensuring a highly personalized, genuine connection that contributes to a deeper relationship with customers.
• Leveraging an omni-channel follow-up approach: It’s essential for reps to find out which channels (e.g., social media, brand website, mobile apps, review sites, email, etc.) best serve their customer engagement strategy and use a healthy mix of those touchpoints to effectively reach prospects. Remember: it’s important that these channels don’t operate in silos, so invest in technology that integrates the data between your touchpoints. That way, reps won’t risk accidentally sending salesy, first-contact ad pitches to a customer who’s already working with an account executive further ahead in the buying journey.

Automate follow-ups without losing the personal touch

Ensuring strong, consistent follow-up can feel time-consuming and burdensome for salespeople, who have myriad other tasks to complete on any given day. But neglecting to follow up in a genuine, timely, and effective way can mean missing out on deals and leaving revenue on the table.

Want to eliminate the need for last-minute deal-saving efforts altogether? Put AI and machine learning to work to unlock a better understanding of customer interactions, trends, and overall deal health. Outreach’s sales engagement capabilities help sales teams improve prospecting effectiveness and lead follow-up efficiency, so every rep can build qualified pipeline that converts to revenue.