Rant: Overheard a designer at a coffee shop in Austin say 'your follow-up email should feel like a nudge, not a nag' and it totally changed how I write mine.

I now start every follow-up template with a line like 'Just circling back on my note from [specific date] about [project name]' and it gets way more replies than my old 'checking in' subject lines, what's your go-to follow-up phrase?

3 comments

3 Comments

milesbarnes10d ago

That whole nudge vs nag thing is spot on. It reminds me of a sales guy I used to work with who would just forward his old email with "???" in the subject line. Brutal. He wondered why nobody ever wrote back. My favorite move is adding a tiny bit of new info, like a link to a relevant article, so it's not just a pure check-in. Makes it feel more like a conversation.

kim_davis10d ago

The worst is when people send that "per my last email" line. It feels like a slap. I saw a manager once copy the whole team on his third follow up, basically shaming someone into replying. @milesbarnes is right about adding new info. Even a simple "Saw this and it made me think of our project" with a screenshot changes the whole vibe from a demand to a real talk.

luna26110d ago

Totally agree, that nudge vs nag idea is a game changer. @milesbarnes has the right idea about adding something new, it makes all the difference.