followup-email-writing
Follow-Up Email Writing
A follow-up email is not a reminder that you sent a previous email. It's a new email with a new angle that gives the prospect a new reason to respond. "Just following up" is the most ignored phrase in cold email. It adds nothing. It tells the prospect "I have nothing new to say but I'm emailing you anyway." Every follow-up must stand on its own as if the prospect never saw the first email.
The principle: treat every follow-up as a standalone email. Different opener. Different proof point. Different angle on the same problem. If you removed the prospect's name and shuffled the emails, each one should be clearly distinguishable from the others. If they're interchangeable, they're bumps, not follow-ups.
The Bump vs Follow-Up Distinction
| Bump (never send) | Follow-up (send this) |
|---|---|
| "Just following up on my last email" | New angle: question, proof point, or resource |
| "Bumping this to the top of your inbox" | New evidence: peer story, stat, or teardown |
| "Wanted to circle back on my previous note" | New opener: different pattern from Email 1 |
| "I know you're busy, but..." | New value: something they didn't have before |
| "Did you get a chance to read my last email?" | Standalone: reads naturally even if they never saw Email 1 |
| Same message, slightly reworded | Completely different message, same underlying problem |
The test: Delete the first two words. If the email still makes sense, it's a follow-up. If it only makes sense as a reference to a previous email, it's a bump.