The Follow-Up Framework That Still Closes Clients [2025 Replay]
Ever sent a proposal and heard crickets? You’re not alone—and you’re definitely not doomed. In this replay of one of my most downloaded episodes, I’m breaking down why follow-up emails are non-negotiable if you want to book more clients (without being pushy).
Then I’ll fast-forward to 2025 to show you how I’ve upgraded this strategy with a storytelling twist that makes your emails feel personal, powerful, and high-converting.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How to follow up without feeling awkward or salesy
- My exact 3-email sequence to turn leads into clients
- What email tracking actually tells you (and what it doesn’t)
- The 2025 glow-up: how mini case studies boost conversions
- The magic email I use to get closure—or a yes
Want my plug-and-play follow-up templates? Grab them for just $9 in the Systems Shop: https://coliejames.com/follow-up-emails/
Let’s make ghosting a thing of the past.
Transcript
Hey y'all, it's time for another replay.
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:Today.
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:I'm gonna take you back to
October of:
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:the Magic of Follow-Up emails.
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:Now, my passion about sending
follow-up emails after you have given
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:someone an offer has not changed.
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:I do think it is one of the most
important things that you can
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:do inside your business because
the funds are in the follow up.
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:What has changed in the last 18
months is how I think you should
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:approach writing these emails.
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:And so what I wanna do today is allow
the original episode to play in its
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:entirety because the information
in there is still really good, and
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:it's actually like a really good
starting place for you to write these
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:emails, put them out into the world.
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:Then once the episode has played,
I'm gonna come back and give
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:you a 2025 approach if you are
ready to uplevel these emails.
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:Now, if you're interested in buying my
follow-up emails, I do sell them in the
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:Systems Shop, and they are only $9.
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:So go ahead and look in the show
notes if that is of interest to you.
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:And now here's the episode.
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:All right, y'all, I'm going
to start with a question.
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:Let's say that you've had an amazing
consultation call with someone or someone
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:has filled out your contact form and
they feel like they are a perfect fit
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:for your services and what you offer.
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:So you decide that you want
to make an offer to them.
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:You send it out and you hear crickets.
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:What do you do?
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:Are you following up?
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:And if you are following up, how many
times are you following up before you
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:give up and just archive that inquiry?
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:That's what we're going
to talk about today.
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:Hello, hello, and welcome back to
the Business-First Creatives podcast.
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:I love talking about follow up emails.
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:It is like, if I could pick one thing to
be known for, it would be the follow up.
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:Because so many of us have an innate
fear of rejection that it stops
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:us from following up with people
that have seemingly ghosted us.
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:Now, I'm not saying that the things
that we're going to discuss today, are
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:going to help you close each and every
lead that come into your business.
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:Because the truth is you are probably
still getting wrong fit leads.
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:You are getting people, that are going
through your website or seeing you on
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:social media, and even though there
are a few red flags or they're not
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:quite the right fit for you, they're
still filling out your contact form.
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:And then you are still going to
get some people that you have a
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:consultation call with them, and
there don't seem to be any red flags.
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:Like they still seem like they're
a good fit for your business.
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:So you send the proposal, you
make the offer, and then you
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:never hear from them again.
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:But what I want to make sure that we all
realize is that those people ghosting you,
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:and those people getting on a consultation
call with you, you know, telling you that
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:they're ready to work with you, and then
you send the offer and you hear nothing,
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:should not define what you do in your
business to follow up with all inquiries.
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:Every single inquiry that comes into
your business, you should be following
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:up with them a minimum of three times.
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:Let me say that one more time.
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:Anyone who inquires with your business,
and that you have actually made an offer
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:to work with you, you should be following
up with them at least three times.
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:Now, some of these followups
are like really small things.
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:Like you send them an automated email
24 to 48 hours after the initial
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:offer to be like, 'Hey, I sent over
that proposal that we discussed.
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:Just want to make sure that you got it'.
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:It takes absolutely no effort from you
to set that up in your CRM and in most
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:of them you can do it automatically.
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:You can have it to where it watches the
proposal or the smart file or the brochure
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:or whatever it is that your CRM calls it.
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:But when you've sent the offer, if
they haven't committed by filling it
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:out, signing your contract,' and paying
your deposit, your fee, whatever it
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:is, your CRM can automatically send
them an email that's like, Hey, just
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:making sure that you got the offer.
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:If you didn't let me know and
I'll send it a different way'.
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:That is like the least pressure
follow up that you can do.
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:And in fact, I would argue that by
sending that automatic email 24 to 48
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:hours after someone has told you they are
interested in working with you, you are
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:actually doing a service for that client.
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:Because you don't know for a fact that the
proposal actually landed in their inbox.
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:What if it went to spam?
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:What if you made the offer and you didn't
realize that they had a typo in the email?
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:What if the email gods were
just not on your side that day?
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:And for some reason, it
just didn't get delivered.
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:You have no way of knowing that someone
got it, opened it and just ignored it.
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:Because I do want to say 1 thing
about the tracking that's happening
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:inside of a lot of these CRMs.
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:I don't know if you guys know
this, but email providers like
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:Gmail are now scanning incoming
emails looking for viruses.
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:And what you may not know is that
Gmail scanning that email is tricking
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:your CRM into thinking that your
client actually open that email.
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:I have seen it with my own eyes.
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:I will have my email program, Gmail open
in a different tab, and I will be testing
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:my systems because, hey, everyone should
be testing their systems before they
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:make them live for an actual client.
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:But I'll be testing and it will all
of a sudden say, you know, sent one
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:minute ago, opened one minute ago.
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:Well, guys, I'm still, I'm
still doing what I was doing.
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:I haven't been to Gmail.
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:I haven't opened that email.
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:I haven't looked at it, but my CRM has
already indicated that the email has
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:been opened, which in fact is a lie.
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:That was Google scanning it.
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:That something else was happening
behind the scenes, but I definitely
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:had not opened that email.
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:So, I just want to say, if you are
using that in order to determine if your
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:potential clients, your leads are opening
your email and just deciding not to work
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:with you and just closing the email, that
in fact is not an accurate way to do this.
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:Now.
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:If you've sent a proposal and you can see
in your CRM that they've actually clicked
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:the proposal, that is in fact accurate.
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:I have not come across anything where
if a CRM says that a form was clicked,
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:that it wasn't in fact clicked.
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:So, every time someone opens your offer
and opens the proposal by clicking the
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:button, and they don't immediately book
with you, if you want to assume that that
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:means that the offer wasn't right for them
or that they found someone else or that
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:they just don't want to work with you.
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:I mean, I still don't think that's
accurate, but I will give you
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:points for, you know, looking at
your data and making a decision.
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:So the one thing that I want to talk
about today is that no one should assume
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:if you send an offer out and you don't
get an immediate acceptance, you haven't
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:heard back from them in 24, 48, 72 hours.
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:I don't want you to assume that it means
that person doesn't want to work with you.
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:People are busy.
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:We all have lives.
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:Even people that I am excited to work
with or that has an offer that I know
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:is closing on like a particular day.
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:Sometimes life just gets in the way
and I forget to complete the proposal,
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:to sign up for the course, to do
whatever it is that I intended to do.
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:I mean...
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:I feel like I don't really
have a brain anymore.
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:All I do is drive.
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:If that's happening to me, I know
that that's happening to people that
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:are in my audience, my potential
clients, my leads and so forth.
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:So the first thing that I want
to encourage you to do is to not
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:make the assumption that someone
doesn't want to work with you if
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:they don't immediately say yes.
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:So if we can get you to have that mindset,
what possibilities does it open for you to
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:feel comfortable following up with them?
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:Now, I do want you to do it
in a very easy way at first.
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:Uh, there are some people that would
say you could do follow up text
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:messages, you could give them a call.
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:I'm going to admit that I'm not that
kind of person that does feel a little
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:aggressive for me, but also depending on
what kind of offer you have, depending
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:on whether or not your audience would
prefer a follow up phone call rather than
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:an email is something that you need to
determine for myself and my audience.
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:For the majority of my follow
ups, an email feels good.
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:So, I've already told you what
follow up number one is for me.
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:24 hours after someone has received the
offer from me, so they've gotten the
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:proposal, it has the contract attached,
it has the invoice, all they have to
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:do is fill it out, and they are booked.
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:If I have not heard back from them
in 24 hours, my system automatically
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:sends them an email that's just,
hey, making sure you got the offer.
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:If you have any questions,
please let me know.
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:I have also started adding a, if
you have decided not to work with
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:me at this time, please let me know.
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:And I will close out your
inquiry and make sure that you
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:don't receive any additional.
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:Follow up emails.
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:Now, for some people that may have
not been interested in following up
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:with you, they've already decided
not to work with you and they just
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:don't want to hurt your feelings.
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:Those people might actually be inclined
to respond to that initial time.
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:Automatic email and say, Oh, I have
decided to go in another direction.
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:Can you close out my inquiry?
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:Because you are warning them that if
they do not acknowledge that they have
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:decided to work with someone else, that
you are going to continue to send emails.
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:So some people will give you closure just
so that you don't send any additional
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:follow ups, which is fine with me.
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:Like, I don't really mind if
I've chatted with someone and I
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:thought they were a good fit, but
they decided not to work with me.
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:I look at it as a blessing in disguise
because if someone hears my offer.
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:And gets on a consultation call with
me and sees everything that I can
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:do for them and their business, and
they don't want to work with me.
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:That's okay.
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:That means that I wasn't the best
person for them, and I don't want them
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:to work with me and it be a bad fit.
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:Like, to me, that's worse
than them just saying no.
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:So that's my first follow up.
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:My second follow up occurs either 24
or 48 hours after the first follow up.
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:Now that email is not automated.
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:I take the time and exactly
5 minutes guys, like I don't
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:literally set a timer, but.
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:Like five minutes is my max.
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:I will take five minutes and customize
an email template that is going out to
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:them, that is asking them if they have any
hesitations, can I answer any questions
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:for them, goes back over whatever
the offer it is that I made to them.
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:And then I add a little bit where
I am telling them how I can solve
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:their specific problem, what their
business will look like on the
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:other side of working with me.
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:And to be honest, that's different
for every single person that comes
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:into my business because I am
customizing that part of the email,
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:depending on what kind of issues.
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:And fears they have indicated to
me on the consultation call, or
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:even in their contact form, like,
whatever they are really feeling,
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:whether it is an urgency to get this
done, because they're overwhelmed
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:with their leads or whether or not.
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:You know, they had an instance where
they couldn't get the client to
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:fill out the client questionnaire,
and they forgot to follow up.
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:And then they showed up at a session and
didn't know anything about their client.
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:Like, everyone is usually experiencing
something that is making it worthwhile for
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:them to get this problem solved right now.
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:And so whatever it is that they
told me, I customize that email.
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:So again, not automated,
customized in less than five
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:minutes, and then I send it.
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:The third email is an email that
I can't actually take credit
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:for, but it's actually the email
that gets you the most closures.
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:So I really wish that I had
written it, but I didn't.
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:It is a magic email.
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:And if you want, if you Google
magic email, you will see it has
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:an entire website dedicated to it.
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:But basically the line is, I
haven't heard back from you.
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:Your priorities must have changed.
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:No response is necessary.
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:Guys, I know that sounds rude.
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:I don't exactly send my magic
email just like that, but I
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:think it gets the point across.
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:And what it does is it usually
pushes someone to give you closure.
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:Now, I will admit, in most cases, it's
not that they're going to contact you and
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:immediately be ready to work with you, but
Most people don't like to be seen as rude.
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:So when they get that third email,
when they get that magic email, they're
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:like, Oh my gosh, I'm being so rude.
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:I should just let them know that I
am not going to be working with them.
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:And so you get a response that's like, I'm
not ready to work with you at this time.
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:Thank you for following up.
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:And then, you know, to close the
inquiry and not follow up anymore.
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:I mean, they are doing you a
service by telling you this so
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:that you don't waste any additional
time and resources on that lead.
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:And I soften the email just a tiny bit.
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:I say, I haven't heard back from
you, so maybe you've decided
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:to go a different direction.
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:I am going to close out your
inquiry so that you do not receive
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:any additional follow up emails.
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:If you change your mind about working
with me in the future, please reach out
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:for updated pricing and availability.
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:So I've done a couple of things.
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:Number one, I told them I'm not
going to waste any more of my
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:time following up with them.
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:Number two, I've let them know that if
they contact me in the future, I might
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:not have the same availability and
I might not be the same price point.
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:That usually gets people
to do one of two things.
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:If they're interested in working with
you, but they just haven't had the
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:time to fill out the proposal or do
whatever it takes to commit to the offer.
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:Oh, they usually do it right then.
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:Or they send me an email that says, Oh
my gosh, this just fell off my plate.
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:Um, when I get home later tonight,
I am going to fill out this proposal
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:and finish the booking process.
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:Thank you for reaching out.
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:That's one kind of email that I get.
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:The other kind of email that I get is
one that just says, yeah, I'm sorry.
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:I decided to go a different direction
or I decided that it wasn't in the
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:budget to get this done or I'm going
to try to continue to DIY my services
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:and when I get a bigger client roster,
I will reach out to work with you then.
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:I mean, those are the kinds of email
responses that I get to the magic email.
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:Man, y'all, I told you
it was a good episode.
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:It still has some really juicy information
about how you can set up a follow-up
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:system inside of your own business.
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:But what has changed for me from
:
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:emails that I described to you, I
still send with one big difference.
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:Every single one of them has a
mini case study inside of it.
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:Because the power of social proof and
case studies and client transformations
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:is what gets people to buy your service.
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:The very first email that I send 24
hours after I have made an offer to
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:someone is actually a snippet from
one of my clients, Maddie Peschong
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:She was on my podcast and I took the
opportunity to to write an email to
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:kind of go through her transformation.
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:Initially, she didn't think that
she needed an entire setup from me.
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:She only wanted, in her
words a fancy proposal.
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:But once we actually did her strategy
call and we took a deep dive.
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:Look into her systems, she started to see
all of the holes, all of the places where
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:her client experience could be better
with some additional communication, some
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:additional information for her clients.
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:And so that is what email
number one looks like to me now.
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:Now, does it still have
some of the same language?
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:Oh hey.
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:I sent you an offer 24 hours
ago just popping in to make
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:sure that you received it.
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:Of course, that is the
purpose of the email.
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:It still includes that part, but it also
includes information on that case study
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:as well as two different ways that they
can look at the case study if they'd like.
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:They can either listen to the
podcast episode or they can click
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:over and read it on the blog.
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:My second email is
actually extremely similar.
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:It is a case study from a
different client, but this
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:one focuses on automation.
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:It focuses on how much ease my
client got after working with me to
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:where everything was laid out, and
she was no longer babysitting every
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:single step in her client experience.
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:And again, I invited them to
listen to a podcast episode or
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:check it out in a blog post.
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:Now the third email that I send does
still have the magic email touch.
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:It does still say, Hey,
your plans may have changed.
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:Maybe your systems aren't as
important to you as they were
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:when you first contacted me.
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:Um, if I don't hear from you by end
of day, I will close out this email.
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:And if you would like to work together
in the future, please reach out for
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:updated pricing and availability.
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:So what I told you before is all in
the three emails, but now I am really
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:focusing on more storytelling and more
highlighting of client transformations.
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:So now that you've listened to the
original episode and you've heard
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:my new 2025 take, if you will, are
you ready to implement some follow
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:up emails inside your business?
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:I sure hope so.
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:You can either take this information from
this podcast and run, or if you're like,
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:Hey, Colie those emails sound really good.
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:Don't forget, you can get them inside the
system shop and they are a whopping $9.
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:So visit the show notes
and there's a direct link.
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:All right.
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:That's it for this episode.
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:See you next time.
