5 Strategies for Effective Follow-Up Emails to Clients and Leads
Design professionals share advice on how to follow up with clients through email
Follow-up emails that you send to clients after a meeting or site visit are an important part of running a design business. Clear, effective communication can excite clients, reaffirm their confidence in your work and keep the momentum of a project going. It can also help you stand out to project leads. Read on to get tips from experienced pros on crafting effective follow-up emails. Then please share your own ideas in the Comments.
Let Clients Know When to Expect a Follow-Up Email
Letting clients know at the end of a meeting or phone call that you’ll follow up with an email sets expectations by informing them of the next step in their project. After every client contact, interior designer Catherine French of Catherine French Design in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, tells clients how and when they should expect to hear from her next.
“Sometimes a follow-up email is part of that plan, when we need to convey further information or work out additional details,” French says. “Some clients also really like more frequent check-in communications, and the follow-up email is a fantastic tool for building and enhancing that ongoing client relationship.”
The same principle is helpful for project leads. David Bannasch, senior project manager and design consultant at Bearded Builders in Baltimore, finds that letting leads know when they can expect to speak with a team member after their initial project inquiry helps to create a tone of attentiveness from the get-go.
During the pandemic, Bearded Builders has also been letting project leads know in the initial email that the firm has been receiving a high volume of requests. “Our goal is to give every one of our valued clients the care and attention to detail they deserve,” the email reads. “Please be patient as we continue to pursue excellence in these challenging times. We promise, it will be worth the wait!”
Letting clients know at the end of a meeting or phone call that you’ll follow up with an email sets expectations by informing them of the next step in their project. After every client contact, interior designer Catherine French of Catherine French Design in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, tells clients how and when they should expect to hear from her next.
“Sometimes a follow-up email is part of that plan, when we need to convey further information or work out additional details,” French says. “Some clients also really like more frequent check-in communications, and the follow-up email is a fantastic tool for building and enhancing that ongoing client relationship.”
The same principle is helpful for project leads. David Bannasch, senior project manager and design consultant at Bearded Builders in Baltimore, finds that letting leads know when they can expect to speak with a team member after their initial project inquiry helps to create a tone of attentiveness from the get-go.
During the pandemic, Bearded Builders has also been letting project leads know in the initial email that the firm has been receiving a high volume of requests. “Our goal is to give every one of our valued clients the care and attention to detail they deserve,” the email reads. “Please be patient as we continue to pursue excellence in these challenging times. We promise, it will be worth the wait!”
Use the Follow-Up as an Opportunity to Engage Clients and Leads
A follow-up email isn’t just for relaying facts to ensure that everyone is on the same page. It can also be used to help clients stay engaged and excited, and to evoke those same reactions in your project leads. Plus, great emails can help your business stand out, especially in the screening stage of a potential project.
This is why after the initial phone screen, Colin Flavin of Flavin Architects in Boston always includes visual aids in his follow-up emails. “I will send some really enticing photographs [of our work],” he says. He’ll personalize the package for each client and attach it as a PDF. Flavin also often includes a hand-drawn sketch or two of some initial design concepts. “That’s something that people really appreciate in our digital world,” Flavin says. “It also shows that I will be personally involved in the project.”
North Carolina-based landscape designer Jay Sifford uses follow-up emails to appeal to the emotions. “We’re basically selling a lifestyle to people,” he says. “I like to home in on the emotional aspects of it, more than the nuts and bolts. I reiterate the major points we talked about in order to make sure we’re all on the same page, but I like to get back to the lifestyle improvement aspect.”
And in the close of the initial emails sent to new project inquiries, Bearded Builders invites potential clients to check out its website and Houzz profile. “It’s a very visual business,” Bannasch says. “I want to get them engaged in our website and engaged in what’s going on on Houzz so by the time I talk to them they know our site.”
Learn more about Houzz Pro for interior designers
A follow-up email isn’t just for relaying facts to ensure that everyone is on the same page. It can also be used to help clients stay engaged and excited, and to evoke those same reactions in your project leads. Plus, great emails can help your business stand out, especially in the screening stage of a potential project.
This is why after the initial phone screen, Colin Flavin of Flavin Architects in Boston always includes visual aids in his follow-up emails. “I will send some really enticing photographs [of our work],” he says. He’ll personalize the package for each client and attach it as a PDF. Flavin also often includes a hand-drawn sketch or two of some initial design concepts. “That’s something that people really appreciate in our digital world,” Flavin says. “It also shows that I will be personally involved in the project.”
North Carolina-based landscape designer Jay Sifford uses follow-up emails to appeal to the emotions. “We’re basically selling a lifestyle to people,” he says. “I like to home in on the emotional aspects of it, more than the nuts and bolts. I reiterate the major points we talked about in order to make sure we’re all on the same page, but I like to get back to the lifestyle improvement aspect.”
And in the close of the initial emails sent to new project inquiries, Bearded Builders invites potential clients to check out its website and Houzz profile. “It’s a very visual business,” Bannasch says. “I want to get them engaged in our website and engaged in what’s going on on Houzz so by the time I talk to them they know our site.”
Learn more about Houzz Pro for interior designers
Develop a System for Tracking What to Include
With no two clients or projects alike, tracking what to include in each follow-up email can be its own challenge, so interior designer Gemma Parker in Chicago aims to have a team member present at client meetings to take detailed notes, or she’ll take notes herself while presenting. If neither is possible, “then I immediately download with the team right after a meeting,” Parker says. “This allows the team to be on the same page about the meeting and all topics discussed. Everything is recorded in meeting minutes.”
French meets with her staff daily to brainstorm, organize and delegate what gets sent to clients when. “Each project has a unique timeline, so this helps us stay on track and make sure that we are staying in close contact and communicating the right information at the right time to each client,” she says. You can stay on top of your project leads and keep communication organized through Houzz Pro, business management software built specifically for design and remodeling pros.
Bannasch keeps his note-taking simple. “A lot of times when I am sitting with people, I get out my trusty paper and pencil. I can take it with me. I can write things in shorthand. I can get things down and still be engaged in the conversation,” he says.
See more resources for pros in Houzz Pro Learn
With no two clients or projects alike, tracking what to include in each follow-up email can be its own challenge, so interior designer Gemma Parker in Chicago aims to have a team member present at client meetings to take detailed notes, or she’ll take notes herself while presenting. If neither is possible, “then I immediately download with the team right after a meeting,” Parker says. “This allows the team to be on the same page about the meeting and all topics discussed. Everything is recorded in meeting minutes.”
French meets with her staff daily to brainstorm, organize and delegate what gets sent to clients when. “Each project has a unique timeline, so this helps us stay on track and make sure that we are staying in close contact and communicating the right information at the right time to each client,” she says. You can stay on top of your project leads and keep communication organized through Houzz Pro, business management software built specifically for design and remodeling pros.
Bannasch keeps his note-taking simple. “A lot of times when I am sitting with people, I get out my trusty paper and pencil. I can take it with me. I can write things in shorthand. I can get things down and still be engaged in the conversation,” he says.
See more resources for pros in Houzz Pro Learn
Make the Email Straightforward and Easy to Read
Pros say it’s important not to overwhelm or confuse clients in follow-up emails, so they recommend being careful with format and length.
“We try to keep it at three short paragraphs max and utilize bulleted points when able, to make the informational content a little less overwhelming,” French says. Her firm also tailors the style of each message to the client. “We know which clients like a more lengthy, detailed message and which really prefer it short and sweet,” she says.
At the end of every email she sends, French invites clients to check in. “We always leave the door open for more communication and avoid cramming everything into one message,” she says.
Download our handout Writing Effective Emails
Pros say it’s important not to overwhelm or confuse clients in follow-up emails, so they recommend being careful with format and length.
“We try to keep it at three short paragraphs max and utilize bulleted points when able, to make the informational content a little less overwhelming,” French says. Her firm also tailors the style of each message to the client. “We know which clients like a more lengthy, detailed message and which really prefer it short and sweet,” she says.
At the end of every email she sends, French invites clients to check in. “We always leave the door open for more communication and avoid cramming everything into one message,” she says.
Download our handout Writing Effective Emails
Give Clients Time to React, Then Check In
It’s important to give clients and leads time to absorb the information you share with them in a follow-up email. And it’s also important to check in again.
“Generally, we align with a time frame of about 48 to 72 hours to send a follow-up message” to the follow-up email, French says. “There is certainly flexibility with this, as we would always take into account each client’s individual needs and situation.”
In that subsequent email, French and her team members typically invite the clients to share any questions they may have at that point — a more gracious way to follow up than a message that says something like “Just checking whether you received my email?” which puts the client or lead on the spot.
“We are all busy, and everyone needs a reminder once in a while,” Parker says.
“We cannot make a lead or client respond within a specific timeline or at all,” Minneapolis-based kitchen and bath designer Kate Roos says. If clients don’t respond in a timely manner, “we must move their project out to the next available time slot,” she says.
Bannasch will follow up with leads who he feels aren’t yet ready to commit to a remodel or don’t have the budget — some of whom may express this by going dark after his follow-up email. “I try to put it in a way to not make people embarrassed. I’ll open it up for another opportunity down the road,” he says, and invite them to get back in touch when they’re ready. “I’m finishing up a project where that’s the case. They called me back a year later.”
Learn more about Houzz Pro for architects
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Learn about Houzz Pro software
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
It’s important to give clients and leads time to absorb the information you share with them in a follow-up email. And it’s also important to check in again.
“Generally, we align with a time frame of about 48 to 72 hours to send a follow-up message” to the follow-up email, French says. “There is certainly flexibility with this, as we would always take into account each client’s individual needs and situation.”
In that subsequent email, French and her team members typically invite the clients to share any questions they may have at that point — a more gracious way to follow up than a message that says something like “Just checking whether you received my email?” which puts the client or lead on the spot.
“We are all busy, and everyone needs a reminder once in a while,” Parker says.
“We cannot make a lead or client respond within a specific timeline or at all,” Minneapolis-based kitchen and bath designer Kate Roos says. If clients don’t respond in a timely manner, “we must move their project out to the next available time slot,” she says.
Bannasch will follow up with leads who he feels aren’t yet ready to commit to a remodel or don’t have the budget — some of whom may express this by going dark after his follow-up email. “I try to put it in a way to not make people embarrassed. I’ll open it up for another opportunity down the road,” he says, and invite them to get back in touch when they’re ready. “I’m finishing up a project where that’s the case. They called me back a year later.”
Learn more about Houzz Pro for architects
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Learn about Houzz Pro software
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
Comments (2)
Tim Mosterdyke
3 months ago
Tim Mosterdyke