23 Better Alternatives to the “Just Checking In” Email

Email Marketing At It's Best

Written by Leslie Ye

“Just checking in” emails are the worst. If you’re sending an email, it’s obvious that you’re checking in — you don’t need to say it again. In addition, “just checking in” emails don’t provide any value to the buyer. They don’t care that you want to get in touch with them, especially if you haven’t already provided them with a compelling reason to do so.

But salespeople often send “just checking in” emails because they’re so easy. It takes almost no thought or time to write some variation of, “Hi [Prospect], I haven’t heard back from you, so I wanted to check in. Cheers, [Salesperson].” (In fact, I timed that and it took 19 seconds for me to type.)

But the thing that makes “just checking in” emails so tempting to send — their ease — is the same the reason they’re worthless: They’re easy to write because they don’t provide any value to your buyer. If they never responded to your first email, chances are they didn’t feel it was worth their time. Why would you reinforce that impression by wasting their time even more?

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should stop following up with prospects — just that you put slightly more effort into it. Below are 23 things to reference in a follow-up email besides the obvious fact that you’re checking in.

23 Email Subjects That Are Better Than "Just Checking In"

If they never responded:

Send them a short piece of actionable advice
Send over a longer how-to guide and offer to follow up in person if they want
Point out a weakness in their business that should be fixed
Share an article relevant to their industry or profession
Respond to a social message, then follow up with more resources
Answer one of their questions on an online forum, then follow up with more resources
Reference a relevant blog post they just published
Send them a blog post your company has just published
Recommend an event in their area
Invite them to an upcoming webinar or educational event your company is hosting
Send them a link to relevant press coverage of one of your highest-profile customers
Call attention to something their competitor is doing well and ask how they plan to address it
Bring up a common challenge your buyers face and ask if they’re experiencing it
Send a, “Did this email get buried?” email
Ask if they’re still interested in achieving X goal, then provide a suggestion for how to get there
Send a breakup email to close the loop

If any of these trigger events occur:

Congratulate a potential decision maker on a promotion: A former champion could now influence a purchase decision.
Reach out to a decision maker after a blocker leaves the company: The road may be clearer for you for make a sale.
Reach out to a new C-level executive: High-level changes can indicate a change in strategy.
Congratulate them on a funding round: More resources usually means growth, and growth means addressing priorities that weren’t previously top-of-mind.
Ask whether newly created positions relevant to your product reflect new company initiatives: Strategic shifts indicate changing needs.

If you lost the deal:

Check how things are going a month after implementing a competitor’s product
Check how things are going as their contract with a competitor is winding down

Bonus: 6 Times You Should Send a "Just Checking In" Email

Of course, every rule has an exception. If you’ve already started a sales process, there are many scenarios that could warrant a “just checking in” email. Usually, however, these scenarios have two things in common:

Your prospect made a commitment to do something and hasn’t done it, or has gone dark.
An email or call following up on any of these situations should presumably be focused on that missed commitment — it’s not just a generic check-in.

Any or all of the following situations all but necessitate a “just checking in” call or email:

If they told you to reach back out in X days/weeks/months
If they went dark after a call
If they didn’t show up to a scheduled call
If they told you they needed a few days to make an internal evaluation, then went dark
If they committed to to signing a contract and didn’t
If they started a product trial but you haven’t heard back on their progress

Did you like this article? Read the “Just Checking In” Blog on HubSpot