Intro- What is the document? When is it required?
Did your co-worker or friend tell you that they did not get the email you sent them? So, what steps should you take to know the actual reason for this non-receipt? How long does it take to receive an email usually? The problem could be at their end or even at your end.
If the issue is at your end, an email will notify you that the email did not get delivered. Such emails usually suggest that the delivery issue is permanent or temporary. In case it is permanent, you may show the email to the IT department personnel in your organization. They can interpret the problem for you.
The issue could be as simple as a typo while writing the email address of the recipient. It is also possible that the mail server you are using has been blacklisted. On the other hand, wait for a few hours in case the issue is temporary and see whether the email can eventually be delivered. In case the email does not bounce back, there is likely an issue at the recipient’s end.
While it may not be possible for you to resolve the issue at the recipient’s end, these are some of the suggestions to be made to the recipient:
1. Request the recipient to get in touch with their IT department. Their IT personnel can then investigate firewalls and/or spam filters and check whether your email was regarded as spam and not delivered.
2. Tell the recipient to include your email id in their whitelist.
3. Ask them to check their junk folder. They should check whether the email you sent was being shown as spam or not and was so not included in their Inbox.
What can you do when your email was not received by the recipient?
1. Resend the original email to them. However, delete your signature and attachments if any from it.
2. You may send your email from any of your other email accounts. For instance, you may use your Gmail.com or iCloud.com account.
3. You can ask any of your colleagues to try sending an email to the same recipient. It is to determine whether the company’s domain name is working or not.
4. Send a new email as a “test” message. You should keep the email short and not include your signature or attachments in this email. Try to find out whether your recipient gets this
You can conduct all these recommended tests and follow our recommendations to get a solution on most occasions.
When should you follow up on an email?
Now you are aware of what to do if you had doubts about how long does it take to receive an email. You may find that your mail has been delivered to the recipient finally The general thumb rule is that you should not follow up too soon.
Ideally, you should wait between 3 to 5 days before sending across a follow-up email for the first time. It is usually regarded as a polite and nice approach to give a short gap. However, you should wait for a minimum of 5 working days for subsequent emails.
How long does it take to receive an email?
Typically, emails are delivered within seconds i.e. instantly. At times though, it may take 2-3 minutes, There may also be delays due to the Internet Service Provider of the recipient of the sender.
Having said so, there could be other reasons why the recipient did not respond to your email(s).
Your email was too long to keep them interested
Studies have pointed out that a lot of work time goes into checking emails every day. It is obvious that the attention spans of people are usually extremely short and emails consume a lot of time to go through. Make sure that your email is not too lengthy and is to the point.
Issues being faced by recipients
Your recipients are also human beings after all. They may be struggling with their strict deadlines, trying to make their customers and superiors happy, making attempts to balance work and personal lives. They may also have plans to leave the job. All these struggles have been keeping them too occupied to respond to your emails.
Your request was not clear in the email
The recipients may not bother to respond to your emails if the ideas presented in them do not have proper clarity.
Tips for writing an effective follow-up letter /email
Alt-Text: Follow-up Email Tips-Should have a polite tone
Text Attribute: Tips for Follow-up Emails-Image 1
There is hardly any debate about the importance of a follow-up email to get the attention of people who are lost in the ocean of emails. However, you need to wait for some days before sending one as we mentioned earlier when there was no response to your earlier mail.
Writing follow-up emails help to maintain contact with your potential customers. It can be a repeated email sent to a customer who did not respond to your initial email. A follow-up email can be also sent after meeting a potential client. Such an email aims to remind them of yourself, get feedback, and clarify your scenario.
In case you have sent a letter to your buddy and did not get a reply, you may think twice before emailing them again. You may not want to bother them. However, there are certain scenarios when you may have to send them an email again as a follow-up.
Check out these handy tips to write a follow-up email and how to make it more professional and effective. Your follow-up email has to be:
· Polite in tone
· Error-free
· Not too lengthy, to the point, and informative
Define your goal(s) for the email first. It could be a simple “Thank you” email or you may wish to catch up or require some specific information.
You should be careful about the subject line of your follow-up email. Avoid writing vague content in the subject line such as “Important” or “Simply checking in”. A more apt subject can be “Following up with my initial offer dated <Date>”.
Remind your recipient about the initial interaction you had with them in the last meeting or discussion. Clearly mention the intentions for doing the follow-up with them.
It is always recommended to personalize the follow-up emails. Share the maximum information you are aware of a potential client. Also, it is not only about sharing contact details. Any effective follow-up email should have a highly personalized tone.
The tone of your follow-up email will differentiate it from other regular emails. Your addressee should feel as if you are only writing to them. Make sure that the addressee does not feel guilty or embarrassed.
In case your addressee fails to reply to your earlier emails, you should not reproach or rebuke them. If they feel guilty about the tone of your letter, they may stop cooperating with you forever.
Your follow-up email should be simplified. The user should have proper clarity on why you should be useful to them and the actions that are expected from them after your follow-up email. Avoid writing instantly about everything you want to intimate your customers about. The follow-up email should be to the point and concise.
Samples of follow-up emails when recipients have not received your email
Follow-up email- sample 1
Subject: Awaiting your response to attend May IT Meeting
Dear <Name>,
We are yet to receive your response to attend our annual June IT Meeting. We need to know the exact number of attendees before May 25th.
If you have not got your previous invitation email, the meeting will be held on June 8 from 8:00 to 10.00 a.m. at <Address>. The topic of the seminar is “The Future of Artificial Intelligence.” The speaker is Alex Green, CEO of <Organization Name>.
We expect to see you at the venue!
Sincerely,
A. Mark
President
IT Group.
Follow-up email- sample-2
Hello <Name>
We observed that you opened our email, which was sent on Thursday, and also visited our website <your URL>. However, we are yet to hear back from you.
We were simply contemplating whether these actions signify your interest in knowing more about <Name of Business>. It also indicates your interest in knowing how our organization can add value to your businesses.
We are constantly trying to reach out to several prospects in your location. We wished to follow up with you today to know whether you have any queries about our <Business Name> or our products and services. We think you are the ideal person to discuss our business with.
Can you spare 15 minutes for a short phone call in the coming week with us?
Cheers,
<Name>
Follow-up email- sample-3
To:
Cc:
Gentle Reminder:
Respected Sir/Madam
This mail is about our trailing mails. I am still waiting for you to respond to my earlier email dated <Date>. Kindly take necessary actions at the earliest.
With Warm Regards
<Name>
<Contact Number(s)>
Follow-up email- sample-4
To:
Re:
Hello <First Name>,
I hope you are keeping in good health. This email is simply a quick reminder of my earlier email sent to you. I was thinking whether you would be interested in the marketing of the products of your company.
It will be our pleasure to share your post on our official social media page. We are waiting keenly to hear back from you at the earliest.
Regards,
<Name>
Follow-up email- sample-5
To
Re:
Hi <First Name>,
I am aware that you get plenty of emails daily. So, I decided to send you a follow-up email for my earlier mail in case you missed it.
I was contemplating whether you would like to reference our article <Hyperlink of the article> in your post or topic. We have also gathered a string of topics, which we feel would be an ideal match for quite a few of your posts.
Particularly this <Hyperlink> would fit perfectly in your prospects’ blog post. Don’t you echo my thought as well?
I am looking forward to a quick revert from you!
<Name>
<Designation>
<Business Name>
Below are few additional follow-up samples for reference
Follow-up email- sample-6
To:
Re:
Hello <First name>,
I hope all is well at your end! Although I am yet to hear from you, I am certain that there will be excellent results if there is a collaboration between both of us.
I have also checked your [service/product] on [social media site, Google] and am sure of helping you out with what you are offering.
Please let me know whether you would be keen to discuss collaboration between your company and me.
Warm Regards,
<Name>
<Business Name>
Follow-up email- sample-7
Hello <First Name>,
Hope this email finds you in pink of health. It is just a quick follow-up as I am yet to get a response to my email sent to you last week.
We have collected an array of topics, which are missing from the blog of your <Business Name>. Here is the link to our sample list-<Hyperlink>.
I and my team are confident that if you cover all these topics, your target audience will see unprecedented growth.
We want to make it short and simple. Our company completely understands how engaged you are. We would like to guest post for your writers and you for a minimum of one day.
Waiting eagerly to get a quick revert from you!
<Name>
Follow-up email- sample-8
Hi <First Name>,
I appreciate that you could be possibly extremely tied up at the moment. However, I also felt that you would hate to miss what we have to offer to you.
We have no plans to reach out to your other competitors/ media publications/blogs until <Date>.
Please let me know what are your thoughts and I will share my <landing page/other assets> before they are live.
Waiting eagerly to speak to you as soon as possible!
<Your Name>
Follow-up email- sample-9
Hi <First Name>,
I felt it was worth sending you a follow-up email as I did not get any response to my earlier mail. I am doing so as your work exhibits that our collaboration will be a win-win situation for you.
I can send you all the relevant information and details you may require concerning [news/launch]. You will be glad to know that we have also got a detailed file prepared where you will find all relevant data. You can open the file by clicking this <Hyperlink>.
Kindly note that you can only access the file until <Date &Time>
I am looking forward to getting a quick response from you.
<Your Name>
