Client Follow up Email for Freelancers
Where this matters most How to do it step by step Examples, workflows, and useful patterns Mistakes to avoid and how to improve So you've sent the proposal or h
Where this matters most
How to do it step by step
Examples, workflows, and useful patterns
Mistakes to avoid and how to improve
So you've sent the proposal or had the great meeting, and now. Crickets. The temptation is to send a "just checking in" email, but that'
How to compare options without wasting time
Examples, use cases, and decision trade-offs
The right follow-up email depends entirely on what you want to happen next. It's not about "checking in"—it’s about getting a specific response, whether that's a signed contract, a meeting confirmation, or just a simple "yes" or "no." The context is everything.
Think about the reader's situation. Are they a warm lead you just had a great discovery call with? Or a client who went silent two weeks ago? The emails for those two scenarios are completely different.
- After a good sales call: Your goal is to keep the momentum going. Don't just send a generic "great to chat" message. Instead, be specific and add value. Try something like, "Following up on our call, I was thinking about your concern with specific problem. Here’s
What to do next after choosing an approach
Automating Follow-Ups Without Sounding Like a Robot
Automation is a lifesaver. It’s also a relationship killer if you do it wrong. The whole point of a follow-up is to be personal and persistent, and most automation tools are great at persistence but terrible at being personal. So you have to be the brains of the operation.
The tools themselves are pretty straightforward. So you’ve got your big CRMs with built-in sequencing like HubSpot Sales Hub or Salesforce High Velocity Sales. Then you have more specialized sales engagement platforms like Outreach and Salesloft that are built for this.
For a simpler setup, something like Mixmax or Yesware that plugs right into your Gmail can work just fine. They all do roughly the same thing: let you build a series of emails (and sometimes other tasks like call reminders) that go out automatically until the person replies.
The trick is how you use them.
First, never, ever automate the first touchpoint if you can help it. But that first email to a high-value prospect should be written by you, for them.
It should reference their exact company, their role, maybe a recent article they wrote or a post they made on LinkedIn. Automation is for the follow-ups after that personal outreach. It’s for the boring stuff, the “Hey, just bringing this to the top of your inbox” messages.
Second, get really good at personalization tokens; and I don't just mean {{firstName}}. That's table stakes. You should have custom fields in your CRM for things like {{companyGoal}}, {{competitorName}}, or {{sharedInterest}}. Then you can build a template that feels kind of custom.
Say, a template could look remarkably like this:
Subject: Following up on Topic
Hi{{firstName}}, Hope your week is going well. > Just wanted to follow up on my last email about helping{{companyName}}with{{companyGoal}}. I know you're probably up against a lot, especially with competitors like{{competitorName}}in the space. What does that mean in practice? > Do you have 15 minutes next week to discuss this?; > Best, Your Name
See? It’s a template, but it doesn’t feel like one. It takes more work upfront to gather that info, but it makes your automation 10x more effective.
The biggest mistake people make is letting the sequence run after someone has replied. I can't tell you how many times I've replied to a salesperson, had a whole conversation, and then two days later I get an automated "Just making sure you saw my last email!" It's an instant credibility killer. A good system will automatically un-enroll a contact from a sequence the second they reply. Make sure yours does. If it doesn't, get a new system.
My rule of thumb is to automate the structure, but not the soul. Build the sequence with 3-5 email steps and 2-3 other tasks (like "View LinkedIn Profile" or "Call and leave a voicemail"). But for your top 20% of prospects, go into that sequence and customize one or two of the steps by hand before they go out. Let the machine handle the timing, but let your brain handle the message for the people who matter most.
The Psychology of Getting a Reply
Let's get real for a second. People don't reply to your emails because they're sitting around with nothing to do.
They have 157 other emails in their inbox, their boss is messaging them on Slack, and their kid's school just called. Your follow-up is an interruption. To earn a reply, you have to cut through that noise, and you do that by understanding a little bit about what generates people tick.
It’s not about manipulation. It’s about aligning what you want (a reply) with what they want (to solve a problem, look smart, or get something done).
Reciprocity: This is the simplest one. If you give someone something, they feel a slight social obligation to give you something back—even just a reply. Don't make your follow-up just an ask. Make it a give. Instead of "Just checking in," try "I saw this article about their industry and thought of our conversation. Here's the link. No need to reply, just thought you'd find it handy." Nine times out of ten, they'll reply with a quick "Thanks!" and now you have a conversation going. You gave first.
Social Proof: Nobody wants to be the first one to try something. We're wired to follow the herd. So, if you can, drop some social proof into your follow-up. It could be subtle. "When I worked with Competitor they respect, they had a similar challenge.." or "I noticed we're both connected to Jane Doe from Well-Known Company. She's great." This instantly de-risks the conversation for them. You're not some random person; you're part of their world.
Curiosity: Our brains are wired to want to close open loops. A little bit of mystery can be incredibly powerful. This is why a subject line like "Quick question" performs so well. What's the question? I have to open it to find out. You can also use this in the body of the email. Can be great for this. "P.S. I've one other idea for how you could handle problem that's a bit unconventional, but I think it could work." Who isn't going to reply to that?
A P.S.
Likability: This is the most underrated element. People do business with people they like. It’s that simple. Or don't be afraid to sound like a human being. Your email shouldn't read like it was written by a committee of lawyers. Be professional, sure, but be personable. If you see on their LinkedIn that they went to the same college, mention it. "I saw you're a fellow Badger—On, Wisconsin!" It's a tiny thing, but it creates a moment of connection. It shows you did your homework and you see them as a person, not just a prospect.
Don't try to cram all of these into one email. That would be a mess. Pick one. For the second follow-up, maybe you lead with reciprocity. For the third, you try a little social proof. Mix and match. The goal is to make your email feel less like an obligation and more like an interesting opportunity.
Beyond Email: The Multi-Channel Follow-Up Strategy
If your entire follow-up strategy lives in an email inbox, you're fighting with one hand tied behind your back. People are drowning in emails. Sometimes the best way to get noticed is to show up somewhere else. But there's a fine line between being professionally persistent and being a creepy stalker.
Here’s a simple, effective multi-channel approach that I’ve seen work wonders. I call it the "Trifecta": Email, LinkedIn, Phone.
Step 1: The Email
This is your home base. Your first follow-up goes here. It's plain, concise, and has a specific call to action. So we've already covered this.
Step 2: LinkedIn
Two days after you send the email, don't send another email. Instead, go to their LinkedIn profile. A simple profile view is often enough to get their attention. They'll get a notification: "Michael Scott viewed your profile." Their natural curiosity will make them click on your profile. If your headline is well-written (e.g., "Helping B2B SaaS companies cut their churn rate by 15%"), you've just delivered your value proposition without sending a single message.
If you want to be more direct, find a recent post they shared and leave a thoughtful comment. Not "Great post!" but something that adds to the conversation. "This is a great point about customer onboarding. We've seen that tying it directly to the user's first 'aha' moment can make a huge difference." Now you're not a salesperson; you're a peer.
The absolute worst thing you can do is send a sales pitch in a LinkedIn connection request. It’s the new cold call, and everyone hates it. Just connect. If you must add a note, make it simple: "Hi Name, our companies work in a similar space. Thought it would be good to connect." That's it.
Step 3: The Phone Call
A day or two after the LinkedIn touch, it's time for a call. Yes, a phone call. People are so afraid of the phone these days, which is exactly why it works. Nobody else is doing it.
You're probably going to get their voicemail. That's fine. The goal isn't necessarily to have a conversation; it's to show you're a real person who is serious about connecting.
Leave a simple, low-pressure voicemail. Something like:
"Hey Name, it's Your Name from Your Company. I just sent you a quick email about Topic and wanted to put a voice to the name. No need to call me back here, feel free to just reply to that email when you get a chance. Again, it's Your Name. Thanks."
It’s calm, it’s not pushy, and it directs them back to the email where the call to action is. You've now hit them on three different channels in about five days. You've been persistent, but you haven't been annoying because each touch was different. So you're not just another name in their inbox; you're a person who shows up.
Handling Silence, Rejection, and the "Not Right Now"
This is the part most people get wrong. They send a few emails, get nothing back, and just give up. Or they get a "no" and take it personally, slinking away in defeat. This is where the real professionals separate themselves. So how you handle the end of a sequence is definitely just as important as how you start it.
The Silence: This is 90% of what you'll get. Radio silence. It usually doesn't mean "I hate you and your company." It usually means "I'm busy, and this isn't my top priority right now." Your job is to stay on their radar politely. After 4 or 5 attempts, it's time for the "breakup email."
This email works because it flips the script. Instead of asking for their time, you're giving them a painless out. It looks like this:
Subject: Closing the loop
Hi {{firstName}}, I've reached out a few times about Topic but haven't heard back, so I'm going to assume this isn't a priority for you right now. > I'm closing your file on my end. If I'm mistaken, just let me know. > All the go-to, Your Name
The psychology here is powerful; it uses the fear of missing out (FOMO). Suddenly, they might think, "Wait, what file? Should I be paying attention to this?" I've seen this single email get response rates of 30-40% when the rest of the sequence got zero.
People who were completely silent will suddenly reply with, "Sorry, been swamped! Yes, I'm still interested. Can we talk next week?"
The "No": A clear "no, not interested" is a gift. Don't argue with it; don't try to change their mind. It's a waste of your time and theirs, and it burns the bridge. Instead, be gracious.
Reply with something simple:
"Thanks for letting me know. Is it okay if I reach out in about six months to see if anything has changed? Priorities can shift, and we might be a better fit then."
I appreciate the honesty.
Most people will say yes to this. Now you have permission to follow up in the future. For six months from now, put a task in your CRM and when you reach out then, you can reference this conversation. "You asked me to check back in around this time.." This is how you build a long-term pipeline. A "no" today is often a "yes" a year from now when they have a new budget or a new boss.
The "Not Right Now": This is a fantastic outcome. It's a delayed yes. The absolute worst thing you can do is say "Okay, sounds good!" and then never follow up. You need to lock down the next step.
Your reply should be:
"That's completely understandable. When would be a better time for me to circle back? Happy to put something on the calendar for Q3 if that's easier."
Get a specific timeframe; "The fall" is not a timeframe. "The first week of October" is. Once you have that, send a calendar invitation for that future date. Not for a meeting, but as a placeholder. Title it "Follow-up: Your Name / Their Name" and set it for 15 minutes. In the notes, write "As requested, checking back in on Topic." This does two things: it puts you on their calendar so they don't forget, and it shows you're organized and professional.
Handling these scenarios correctly is what turns a one-time sales effort into a sustainable business development process.
Metrics That Actually Matter: How to Know if Your Follow-Ups Are Working
If you're not measuring, you're just guessing. But most people measure the wrong things. They get obsessed with vanity metrics that make them feel good but don't actually tell them if their strategy is working.
Let's start with the one everyone loves: Open Rate. I'm going to be blunt: open rate is mostly garbage now. With Apple's Mail Privacy Protection, a huge chunk of emails are automatically marked as "opened" the second they hit the server, even if the person never looked at it. If you're making decisions based on open rates, you're flying blind. It can give you a very rough directional sense of whether your subject lines are completely off, but that's about it.
Here's what you should be tracking instead.
1. Reply Rate: This is the king of all metrics. It's the only one that proves a human being engaged with your email enough to take action. A typical reply rate for a cold outbound sequence might be anywhere from 2% to 10%. If you're below that, something is wrong with your messaging or your audience. For follow-ups to warm leads, your reply rate should be way, way higher—think 50%+. If it's not, your next steps probably weren't clear.
2. Positive vs. Negative Reply Rate: A reply is good, but the sentiment matters. You need to categorize your replies. A "Yes, let's meet" is a positive reply. A "Not interested, please remove me from your list" is a negative reply. A good sales engagement tool will help you track this. This tells you if your message is resonating. A high reply rate but a high negative sentiment means you're reaching people, but you're annoying them.
3. Meetings Booked: This is the bottom-line outcome for most follow-up sequences. How many emails does it take to get a meeting? What's your email-to-meeting conversion rate? If you send 100 emails and get 2 meetings, that's a 2% conversion rate. Knowing this number is critical. It tells you how much activity you need to do at the top of the funnel to hit your goals.
4. A/B Testing: You should never stop testing; but do it scientifically. Don't just change things on a whim. Create a hypothesis. For example: "I believe that using a question as a call-to-action instead of a statement will increase my reply rate."
Then, create two versions of your email that are identical except for that one change.
- Version A : "Let me know if you'd like to schedule a call next week."
- Version B : "Do you have 15 minutes to connect next week?"
Send each version to a statistically significant number of people and measure the reply rate for each. Whichever one wins becomes your new control, and you test something else against it. You can test subject lines, the length of the email, the offer, the P.S., anything. But only test one variable at a time, or you'll never know what actually made the difference. This is the part most people skip, but it's how you go from good to great.
Subject Lines: The 5 Seconds That Determine Everything
Your entire email—all the clever writing, the valuable insights, the perfect call-to-action—is sitting behind a locked door. The subject line is the key. If it doesn't work, nothing else matters. Worth noting.
The person on the other end is making a split-second decision: "Is this spam, is this work, or is this something I need to read?" Your subject line's only job is to get them to click. That's it. It doesn't need to sell the product; it just needs to sell the open.
Here are the principles I live by for subject lines.
Keep it short and boring. I'm serious. The best subject lines often look like internal emails from a coworker. They're not flashy. They're not clever. They're simple and direct. Most people read email on their phones, which will cut off your subject line after about 5-7 words. Anything longer is wasted.
Personalize it. The easiest method to make an email feel relevant is to put something in the subject line that could only apply to the recipient. Their name, their company name, or a reference to a prior interaction.
Spur curiosity, don't be clickbait. There's a major difference. "Quick question" spurs curiosity. "You won't BELIEVE what we can do for your business!" is clickbait, and it makes you sound like a late-night infomercial. One feels human; the other feels like a marketing blast.
Use lowercase. This is a genuinely small thing, but it can make a big difference. quick question feels a lot more personal and less corporate than Quick Question. It looks like you just quickly typed it out, which is exactly the vibe you want.
Let's look at some examples.
Good Subject Lines for Warm Follow-Ups :
our chat about Topic - Simple, direct, reminds them of the context. next steps - Assumes the sale, creates a sense of momentum. Following up - Yes, this can work. It's boring, but if they know you and are expecting to hear from you, it's perfectly fine. It's familiar. Your Company + Their Company - e.g., "Acme Corp + Stark Industries". Feels like a project or partnership.
Good Subject Lines for Cold Outreach or Re-Engagement:
* quick question - The undisputed champion.