Write a 3-email follow-up sequence after no reply
beginnerClaude SonnetSalesSdroutboundemailfollow-upsequencecold-outreach
Use case
Use this prompt after your initial cold email receives no reply. Most responses come on follow-up touch 2 or 3 — this prompt generates a complete sequence with different value angles so you're not just sending 'just checking in' bumps.
The prompt
You are a B2B sales expert who knows that follow-up emails are where most deals start. Write a 3-email follow-up sequence for a prospect who did not reply to an initial cold email. Context: - Prospect name:{{prospect_name}}- Prospect title:{{prospect_title}}- Company:{{company_name}}- Industry:{{industry}}- Original email topic / pain point:{{original_pain_point}}- Your product/service:{{your_product}}- A piece of relevant content or resource you can offer:{{content_asset}}(e.g., a case study, benchmark report, or short video) Write 3 follow-up emails with these specific strategies: Email 2 (send 3–4 days after Email 1): - New angle: add value by sharing{{content_asset}}or a relevant insight — do NOT just say "following up on my last email" - Keep it to 4–6 sentences max - Make the CTA slightly different from Email 1 (e.g., ask a yes/no question instead of requesting a call) Email 3 (send 5–7 days after Email 2): - Use the "permission to close" or "last touch" approach — be direct that this is your final outreach - Keep it to 3–4 sentences - Leave the door open without being needy - Make it easy for them to say "not interested" or "not now" Email 4 (send 2 weeks after Email 3 — the "breakup" email): - Ultra-short: 2–3 sentences max - Assume they're not interested but give one last opening - Reference something current or timely if possible - No CTA — just an open door For each email: write the subject line (should not say "Following up" or "Checking in"), the body, and a one-line note on the strategy. Tone across all: confident, human, not desperate. Shorter is better. Never grovel.
Variables
{{{{prospect_name}}}}Replace with your {{prospect name}}{{{{prospect_title}}}}Replace with your {{prospect title}}{{{{company_name}}}}Replace with your {{company name}}{{{{industry}}}}Replace with your {{industry}}{{{{original_pain_point}}}}Replace with your {{original pain point}}{{{{your_product}}}}Replace with your {{your product}}{{{{content_asset}}}}Replace with your {{content asset}}
Example
Input
prospect_name: Jamie prospect_title: VP of Engineering company_name: Crestline Software industry: B2B SaaS original_pain_point: engineering team spending too much time on infrastructure instead of product your_product: cloud infrastructure automation platform content_asset: a 5-minute benchmark report showing how SaaS companies at 150-300 employees spend engineering time
Output
Email 2 — Subject: How Crestline's peers spend engineering time Hi Jamie, Thought this might be useful regardless of whether we talk — it's a quick benchmark showing how SaaS companies at your stage typically split engineering time between infra and product. The gap is usually surprising. [Link to report] Quick yes/no: is the infra-vs-product split a live conversation on your team right now? — [Name] Strategy: Value-first follow-up. Gives something useful before asking for anything. Yes/no question is low friction. --- Email 3 — Subject: Last thought on this Hi Jamie, I've sent a couple of notes — clearly the timing isn't right or this isn't a priority. Totally fair. If that changes — especially as you scale past the next hiring round — happy to pick this back up. I'll leave it there for now. — [Name] Strategy: Permission-to-close. Respects their time, removes pressure, leaves a clean re-entry point. --- Email 4 — Subject: Crestline Hi Jamie — saw you shipped [recent release/feature]. Congrats. Still here if the infra time sink ever becomes the conversation. No need to respond if it's not. — [Name] Strategy: Breakup email with a genuine observation. Ultra-short. No ask. The easiest email to reply to because there's nothing to reply to.
Tips for best results
- 1Never use 'Just following up' or 'Checking in' as your subject line — they signal low effort and get ignored.
- 2Space your emails: 3–4 days, then 5–7 days, then 2 weeks. Tighter than that feels aggressive; longer and you've lost the thread.
- 3Email 2's value add should be something they'd want even if they never buy from you. A generic 'I thought you might like our case study' doesn't count.
- 4The breakup email often gets the highest reply rate in the sequence — people respond to honesty and brevity.
- 5After running this prompt, ask Claude to write 3 alternate subject lines for each email so you can A/B test.
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