The sales process · Sales enablement
The email that says just following up is the one nobody ever answers.
An email template is a skeleton with slots in it. The shape holds a subject line that says what the mail is, one line that proves you listened, a short body and a single ask. You fill the slots with what you know about this buyer before it goes anywhere.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
An email template is a skeleton with slots in it. The shape holds a subject line that says what the mail is, one line that proves you listened, a short body and a single ask. You fill the slots with what you know about this buyer before it goes anywhere.
A buyer who asked for a quotation on Monday gets three mails that all say kindly do the needful and hope this finds you well. None of them says what the quotation was for. By the third one he has stopped opening them, and the enquiry is recorded in your sheet as not interested.
A template is a shape, not a message. The shape stays: a subject line somebody can find again, one line that proves you were listening, three or four lines of substance, one ask, and a signature. The slots are what you actually know about this buyer, and an email sent with the slots empty reads exactly like what it is.
The lines that worked on the phone in the call scripts step get shortened and reused here. When a follow-up needs more than a reminder, what goes in it is one of the stories from the step after this one.
Where this sits
Stage 5 of 10, sales enablement. What the person selling says, sends and answers with, written down instead of improvised.
- The stage before
- Lead generation
- The stage after
- Sales qualification
If you want this done for you
Every rep says something different on the same call.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“The subject line is a filing label”
Quotation for the 40 HP motor, as discussed on Tuesday, beats Following up. The buyer has to find it six weeks later by typing two words into search, and so do you when he finally rings back.
“Every follow-up carries something new”
A drawing, a delivery date, the answer to the question he asked at the end of the call, the name of somebody nearby who does the same work. With nothing new in it, a follow-up is a request that the buyer feel guilty, which is not a sales technique.
“Write the mail that lets them say no”
The last message in a sequence says plainly that you will stop. Give a reason he can agree with: if the project is on hold or the decision went elsewhere, tell me and I will stop writing. It is easier to answer than a reminder, because saying no now costs the buyer nothing.
“Three people sign off the set”
Whoever presses send writes them. The person who prices the work approves the quotation mail, because the numbers are theirs. The owner approves the signature and anything that sounds like a promise. A template full of commitments the workshop has not agreed to becomes an argument later.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
Five templates and no more
The same-day reply to a new enquiry. The mail that carries a quotation. Then the nudge a few days later, the check after ten days, and the one that closes the loop. A sixth that nobody can find is worse than having five.
Result: A fresh enquiry can be answered properly in about four minutes, with nobody asked for help.
Slots marked in square brackets
The blanks are visible in the draft: [what they asked for], [what they said on the call], [the date we agreed], [the person who has to approve it]. A bracket left in the sent mail is an embarrassment, which is the point of writing them that way.
Result: You can tell at a glance whether a mail was edited or fired off.
The follow-up calendar
One sheet saying what goes out on which day after an enquiry arrives, who sends it, and which mail is the last one. For a builder in Whitefield selling a six-month job, the gaps are longer than for a spares supplier, and the calendar should say so.
Result: Follow-up stops depending on whoever remembers on a slow afternoon.
A written stop rule
After the last mail goes unanswered, the enquiry moves to a revisit list with a date on it and the salesperson stops writing. Nothing is deleted and nobody is chased.
Result: Your week goes to buyers who are still deciding rather than ones who decided weeks ago.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales management. A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3 · you are here
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How is this different from email marketing?
How many follow-ups should we send before stopping?
Should we automate the sequence?
Our buyers reply on WhatsApp. Does email still matter?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of sales enablement
Or read the whole sales process in order.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.