After analyzing data from millions of emails sent using QuickMail, we found that 55% of replies to email campaigns come from a follow-up.
The follow-up software we’ll look at in this article can help you schedule and automatically send follow-up emails from your inbox. All you’ll need to do is look out for your sales prospect or customer’s reply and keep the conversation going.
Let’s dive straight in and look at the tools.
What is Follow-Up Software?
Email follow-up software will automatically send your recipient another follow up email if they don’t reply to your first email.
Some tools will do this automatically, based on a pre-written email template that you’ve prepared, and other tools will remind you to send an email, and you’ll need to send it manually.
As we mentioned in the introduction, over half of email replies come from a follow-up – so it’s a critical step in any email campaign.
If you’re not sending follow-up emails to prospects that don’t reply to your first email, you’ll miss out on a huge opportunity to have more conversations with your prospects.
Follow Up Software for Sales
1. QuickMail
Cold email platform that lets you import cold prospects and build multi-step campaigns with automatic follow-ups to get replies.
Send Automatic and Personalized Follow-Ups if a Prospect Doesn’t Reply
QuickMail’s cold email platform is made for teams that need a simple but effective way to follow up with prospects.
As you build your campaign, you can add as many follow-up email steps as you need.
First, you choose the delay between emails.
Then, you’ll add a new email step and write your follow-up template.
In each step, you can write out a new unique template where you test a new value proposition or switch up your call-to-action.
If a prospect doesn’t reply to your first email, they’ll receive your second one automatically.
If they reply, QuickMail will remove them from the campaign so you never accidentally send another email to someone that you’re already talking to.
Use Multi-Channel Steps in Your Follow-Ups
As well as adding email follow-ups, you can include extra tasks for you and your team to execute at different campaign stages.
For example, you could include a cold call follow-up. If you connect QuickMail with Aircall, you can even make the call directly from your campaign dashboard.
In these steps, you can include notes and steps for your team to follow – for example, a cold call script.
This means you never need to leave QuickMail while running your sales process.
Use QuickMail With Your Whole Team
QuickMail is made for teams.
Unlike other follow-up tools made for sales teams, you can add as many users to your company account as you need at no extra cost.
You only pay for new inboxes you connect to send email campaigns from.
Your account also includes an audit log. This tracks your campaign change history so you can always see who made edits or changes at any point.
As well as that, you can use inbox rotation to automatically send emails from different team inboxes. This spreads your sending volume across inboxes and ensures no single team member ever has an inbox with too many emails to manage at once.
It’s also going to reduce sending volume on each inbox which will improve your email deliverability.
Pricing: From $49 per month. Try with a 14-day free trial.
Key features:
Send personalized cold email campaigns with automatic follow-ups to boost reply rates
Automatically stops following up if a prospect replies to you
Track your email metrics like reply rate and open rate to understand performance
Integrates with all of your other sales tools so you can build workflows and eliminate repetitive manual tasks
2. HubSpot CRM
CRM platform with email sequence tools that let you automatically follow up based on actions your prospects take.
HubSpot CRM is a platform to help you manage your pipeline of sales leads and communication needs.
The platform offers a lot more than just email follow-up functionality. It acts as the central source of truth for your sales team to manage interactions with prospects and sales leads and then manage customer communication.
All interactions you have with sales prospects are logged so that you can always get an overview of any deal in your pipeline at any time.
We wouldn’t recommend HubSpot if you’re only looking for tools to help you with automating your email processes. Even though it can help you with email follow-ups, it’s best if you’re willing to move your entire sales process onto the platform and buy into the HubSpot ecosystem.
Pricing: Free version available. Paid plans start at $45 per month.
Pros:
Lets you schedule email sequences and automated follow-ups with your sales leads
Tracks past engagement with prospects so you always have the context of previous conversations
Cons:
Requires your whole team to commit to using HubSpot and switching away will be difficult
3. Pipedrive
CRM platform made to help you stay on top of sales leads and follow up at the right time to move them through your sales pipeline.
Pipedrive is a CRM made for sales teams. The moment you start talking to a sales prospect, you’ll create a record for them in Pipedrive, and you’ll store all of your key information on them there. Anyone on your team can jump in and look at past interactions with each lead, so they’re always up to date.
Pipedrive’s email tools sync with your main inbox, so you can send emails from either your main inbox or Pipedrive, and they will show up in both places.
You can set reminders to follow-up with leads and due dates to ensure someone on your team re-engages a sales lead at the right time.
Pipedrive integrates with other tools, including QuickMail. If someone replies to your cold email campaign, you can automatically create a record in Pipedrive and ensure they’re saved as a contact in your CRM.
Pricing: From $14.90 per month
Pros:
Syncs your main inbox with the built-in inbox view in Pipedrive so you never miss an email
Set follow-up reminders and schedule emails to go out at a certain time in the future
Two-way sync with QuickMail so your prospect records are always up-to-date
Cons:
No automatic follow-ups, but you can set reminders
Can’t send cold email outreach from the platform
4. Follow up Fred
Simple sales follow-up software that connects with your inbox and lets you automate and track email sending.
Follow-up Fred connects with your inbox through a browser extension and adds new features to your inbox. You’ll write out your email in your Gmail email composer and then choose when your follow-up will be sent from the extension.
You can opt between different types of sequences. For example, if you urgently need a response, you could choose to follow up once per day until they reply. If you only want to send a gentle reminder, you could choose to follow up every three days until someone replies.
You can then track your follow-up sequences in a dashboard so you stay on top of your email activity and don’t lose track of any sales leads.
Pricing: Send 35 follow-ups for free. Plans from $20 per month.
Pros:
Simple way to add follow-up functionality to your inbox
Track replies and sees who hasn’t replied in a dashboard
Cons:
Doesn’t offer features for teams to collaborate on email campaigns
5. Streak
Add a CRM to your Gmail account that lets you create and automatically send follow-up emails.
Streak is a CRM that’s built inside and optimized for Gmail. Once you install Streak in your browser, it will rearrange your Gmail inbox and add new tools to organize your inbox with, including a CRM.
Included in the features is the ability to schedule and send automated follow-ups to prospects that don’t reply to your first email.
Because Streak is a CRM, it makes it easy to write emails with full context. At the same time as you’re writing an email to someone, you can bring up their prospect record with details on your past interactions, which saves you from having to switch between tabs.
Pricing: From $19 per month
Pros:
Easily track email interactions with different recipients thanks to CRM features
Get notified when key prospects open or interact with your emails
Changes the layout of your inbox to manage contacts in a CRM board view
Cons:
No email deliverability tools
As your team and sales needs grow, a standalone CRM is likely a better option
Send automatic follow-ups if someone doesn’t reply to your last email
Cons:
Not compatible with Outlook or other inboxes that aren’t Gmail
Follow-Up Software for Email Productivity
1. FollowUp.cc
An email productivity tool that lets you set reminders to follow up with your recipients and track how they interact with emails you’ve sent them.
FollowUp is a productivity tool made to help you manage your inbox more efficiently. After sending an email, you can set a reminder that will resurface conversations to the top of your inbox reminding you to follow up with that person.
As well as helping you follow up at the right time, FollowUp includes email open and click tracking. The tool embeds a tracking pixel in your emails and gives you insights into when your recipients open them, and how many times they open them.
You can use the data to improve the timing and information in your follow-up emails to help keep conversations moving forwards.
Pricing: From $18 per month
Pros:
Reminders that ensure you never forget to follow up at the right time
Email tracking shows you if prospects have opened your first email to improve follow-up timing
Add tags to contacts to help keep your inbox organized
Cons:
Email link tracking can hurt your deliverability, so don’t enable it for every email
2. Boomerang
Gmail productivity tool with email scheduling, follow-up reminders, and calendar scheduling.
Boomerang is an email productivity tool that includes several useful tools to improve your email management. Among these tools, there’s a follow-up reminder system. After sending your initial email to someone, you can set a reminder at the time of sending that first email. If they don’t reply, your reminder will go off, and you can jump in and follow up with them.
As well as the follow-up software, there’s a built-in AI writing assistant. As you write an email template, it makes suggestions on how to make your template more engaging, covering everything from your tone of voice to the call-to-action you’ve chosen.
Pricing: Free plan available, paid plans from $4.98 per month
Pros:
Email scheduling lets you write emails and choose a date and time to send them in the future
Get follow-up reminders in your inbox so you never forget to send an important email
Adds a one-click calendar scheduling tool to your inbox to improve how you book meetings
Cons:
Doesn’t automatically follow up, so you’ll still need to check your inbox and reply manually
Made for improving personal productivity rather than outbound prospecting
3. Gmelius
Email productivity and collaboration software that sits on top of Gmail and lets you send automatic follow-ups.
Gmelius is an email productivity and follow-up tool made specifically for Gmail.
The platform includes a range of tools, but one of the standout features is the ability to set up email drip campaigns that send your emails based on conditional triggers.
For example, if someone opens an email but doesn’t reply, you can set Gmelius to automatically follow-up after three days with a new email.
Once it’s set up, you only need to check in when someone responds and the email shows up in your inbox.
Gmelius also includes a range of other useful features, such as a shared inbox, email templates that your team can easily reuse, and an integrated meeting scheduler.
Pricing: From $12 per user per month
Pros:
The tool works on top of Gmail, so there is no need to move your activity away from your main inbox
Send follow-up emails based on conditional logic
Additional tools like a meeting scheduler and the ability to add notes to your contacts are included in the platform
Cons:
Doesn’t work with Outlook
No email deliverability tools to help ensure your emails always land in the primary inbox
Follow Up Software for Customer Service
1. Zendesk
Customer service platform that collects all information on your customers so when you follow up, you already have the information you need.
Zendesk is a customer service platform. Once you integrate it with your team inboxes and website, you can use it as the central place for all of your customer service interactions.
You can use the platform to track your follow-ups with customers, identify how long it takes your team to follow-up after new support tickets come in, and improve how you help your customers.
Zendesk isn’t made for email outreach and is only designed to handle incoming emails. For example, you could run cold outreach campaigns to leads using QuickMail, and once they’ve converted into customers, continue to nurture and communicate with them through Zendesk.
Pricing: From $19 per user per month
Pros:
Works with all major inbox providers
Easily manage customer relationships and track each follow-up email you or they have sent
The ticketing system helps keep your team organized and focused on high-priority conversations
Cons:
Not made for sales teams
Requires your whole customer support team to switch their daily activity onto Zendesk
2. Front
Email management platform that lets you schedule follow-ups with customers and sales leads to boost your reply rate.
Front is primarily a customer support and success platform. Once you add your team inboxes to Front, all of your email activity goes through the platform.
Whenever a customer or sales lead reaches out to your company, anyone on your team with access can reply to them, make notes on the person, and set reminders to follow up with them in the future.
The follow-up reminders can be set from the email-sending module, which means it’s easy to remember to add them as part of your email workflow.
You can also set conversations to snooze, which automatically hides the conversation and brings them back up at a date in the future, reminding you or a team member to check in on the conversation again.
Front is best for managing inbound communication and isn’t a fit for running outbound email campaigns. However, if you need a simple way to remind your team to follow up with customers and leads, it’s a good option.
Pricing: From $19 per user per month
Pros:
Manage all of your email conversations from one place
Remind yourself or other team members to follow up on certain conversations
Snooze conversations if you don’t need to follow up for a while to avoid them cluttering your inbox
Cons:
Follow-ups aren’t sent automatically, so you still need to write them yourself on the day
In Summary
The data shows that sending a follow-up is proven to get you more replies, so it’s a vital step in any email campaign.
The email follow-up tools we’ve looked at can all help you improve your reply rates, whether you’re emailing a perfectly qualified sales lead to pitch your services, or helping an existing customer with a problem they’re facing.
When you’re ready to start sending personalized email campaigns with automatic follow-ups, you can start your free trial of QuickMail.
