The Right (And Wrong) Way To Follow Up With Prospects

This one mistake is easily costing most freelance marketers tens of thousands of dollars.

You see, most freelancers know they need to nurture a LOT of leads to close one, but what they don’t realize is that successful freelance marketers don’t just reach out once.

They keep following up with their prospects until they hear a yes or a no.

The reality is if you’re using cold outreach or applying for roles, you NEED to have a solid follow up system in place to maximize your chance of success.

Just recently, I spoke to a freelance marketer who was using cold email to close clients. He’d been in business for less than 6 months – and both his current retainers came from cold email.

You probably already know that it’s NOT easy closing clients with cold email in 2024. Most freelancers strike out. So what did he do differently? 

He kept following up.

His first client responded to him only after 3 follow ups. And he closed him for a $3,000 per month retainer.

And his second client responded after 5 follow ups. He ended up closing him for $4,500 per month.

That’s $90,000 per year in revenue! Imagine if he didn’t follow up - he would have left almost six figures on the table.

That’s why it’s crucial to have a solid follow up system in place.

In today’s article, I’m going to show you exactly how to do this.

Including how to craft effective follow up messages (No, ‘Just checking in’ doesn’t count.)

When & how to follow up with prospects.

And how to use a simple tool that will make your life SO much easier by helping you keep track of everything.

But first, we need to talk about the psychology behind follow ups.

‍

You’re Not Chasing Deals, You’re Building Relationships

When it comes to follow-ups, it's crucial to shift your mindset from "chasing deals" to "building relationships."

This approach can make all the difference in your success rate and long-term business growth.

First off, consistent follow-ups aren't just about pestering someone until they cave. They're about building familiarity and trust. 

Each time you reach out, you're reinforcing your presence in the prospect's mind. 

You're showing them that you're reliable, persistent, and genuinely interested in working with them.

This leads us to a crucial concept in marketing: "top-of-mind awareness." 

It's all about being the first name that pops into a client's head when they think about your service. 

By following up consistently, you're cementing your place at the forefront of their mind. 

So when they finally need your services, guess who they'll call first?

Plus, when you follow up this way, it also makes people want to reciprocate. So even if they’re not currently looking for help, they might refer you to someone in their network who is. 

With that said, let’s get into how to build a solid follow up system.

‍

How To Craft Follow Up Messages That Actually Get Responses

There are 2 ways to go about this: 

1. Personalized follow ups for each prospect
2. Standard follow ups that go out to every prospect

My personal recommendation is to use personalized follow ups for your ideal dream clients – and standard ones for everyone else.

Here’s why: personalized follow ups are WAY more effective. 

But… crafting each one of these takes time. 

And if you’re reaching out to 5 prospects per week, which is 20 per month…

Suddenly, that turns into having to write 20 follow up messages for each of them.

And remember, this compounds the more prospects you reach out to.

That’s why a balance between both these approaches is best.

Now that we have that out of the way…

What do you actually WRITE in your follow up message? 

Here are a few ideas:

1. The Resource Follow-Up: "I came across this interesting [article/podcast/newsletter] about how Gen Z tend to convert 50% higher after being retargeted by Tiktok style content on Meta. I know you haven’t explored that channel yet, and thought you might find it interesting!"
   
   
2. The New Strategy Follow-Up: “I just attended a marketing summit and learned a great strategy that seem to help brands in your niche cut CPAs by 20%. It’s super relevant to your business. Would you be interested in discussing it?"
   
   
3. The Social Proof Follow-Up: "I recently helped [Company] in your industry achieve [specific results]. The strategies I used to get them there are very replicable to your business. I'd love to explore how we could make that happen"
   
   
4. The Urgency Follow-Up: "With the holiday season approaching, I wanted to touch base about optimizing your email marketing strategy so we don’t miss out on the buzz from Black Friday and Cyber Monday.”

Your Action Step: Write a sequence of 5 follow up messages that you’ll send to clients. Do it now, so you have it ready to go and only need to copy, paste, and tweak when the time comes.

‍

When And How Often You Should Follow Up

Alright, now that we've covered the 'what' of follow-ups, let's tackle the 'when' and 'how often'. 

First things first: there's no one-size-fits-all answer. But, here’s a general guideline of what works: 

• Initial outreach
• 3-4 days later: First follow-up
• Another 3-4 days later: Second follow-up
• Another 3-4 days later: Third follow-up
• 1 week later: Fourth follow-up
• 2 weeks later: Fifth follow up

After that, follow up every month until you get a response.

And here’s a pro tip: schedule your follow ups for Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

People are too busy catching up with work on Mondays – and they’re already in weekend mode on Fridays.

Now, you might be thinking, "Whoa, that's a lot of following up!" And you're right. 

But remember the freelancer who landed $90k worth of deals? This is how it's done.

‍

Leverage Multiple Channels To Get A Response

Now, let's talk about becoming omnipresent in your prospect's world.

No, we're not talking about stalking – we're talking about strategic visibility across multiple channels.

Why is this important? 

Because by using multiple channels, you increase your chances of catching your prospect's attention when they're most receptive.

This means that if you’ve been reaching out via email, find them on LinkedIn. Send a follow up message or two here. Didn’t work? Maybe they’re active on X.

The key is to be proactive and build top of mind awareness in your prospect.

(And if you built your social media presence the way we discussed in our previous article… you’re going to increase your chances even more.)

Now, I know you’re probably thinking this is going to be overwhelming…

BUT you can leverage tech to help you keep track of everything and send you reminders.

‍

Build A CRM To Keep Track Of Your Follow Ups

A Customer Relationship Management Tool (or a CRM) helps you keep track of everything. 

Because let’s face it, it’s impossible to store all of this in your memory alone.

But, before you go & research a bunch of fancy CRM tools.. I’d suggest keeping it simple.

You can just build one on google sheets or your favorite project management tool like ClickUp, Asana or Monday.com.

Here’s an example on Google Sheets: 

Or, if you use a project management tool, you can also set it up to send you reminders.

Here’s an example of a simple CRM built inside ClickUp:

Your Action Step: Find/build a CRM for yourself… and start updating it whenever you send a message to a prospect.

This will help you make sure no prospect falls through the cracks. 

--

We've covered a lot of ground in this article, from crafting effective follow-up messages to leveraging multiple channels and using a CRM to keep everything organized. 

But if there's one key takeaway, it's this: persistence pays off.

By implementing a solid follow-up system, you're not just increasing your chances of landing clients, you're building relationships, establishing yourself as a reliable professional, and setting the foundation for long-term success in your freelance career.

It might feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you're worried about being pushy. 

But remember, you're not bothering people - you're providing value and reminding them of the solutions you offer.

As long as your follow-ups are thoughtful, relevant, and spaced appropriately, you're doing yourself and your potential clients a service.

So go ahead and implement this into your freelance marketing business – and watch the deals roll in.

I write a free newsletter where I send out actionable freelance marketing tips. If you want to keep an edge and stand out in the increasingly competitive freelance marketing landscape, consider signing up.