How to Get Clients and Prospects to Respond to Your Emails

I have always been someone who responds to email. Even if the answer is no, I would rather close the loop than leave someone wondering whether I saw the message.

Over the years, I have learned that not everyone operates that way.

Some emails seem especially easy for people to avoid. Proposals can sit unanswered. Payment questions suddenly become difficult to acknowledge. Reports that require someone to review a lot of information may disappear into an inbox without any indication that they were ever opened.

When something actually requires a response, repeatedly sending some version of “just following up” usually does not improve the situation.

Years ago, I started doing something different.

I would send a follow-up that clearly restated what I needed and when I needed it. Then I would add that if I did not hear back by a specific date, I would give the person a call just in case my emails were not reaching them.

It worked remarkably well.

I used to joke that nobody wanted the phone call, so suddenly responding to the email became much more appealing. There is probably some truth to that, but I think there is something else happening too.

The message creates a next step.

An unanswered email can remain unanswered indefinitely. There is no consequence attached to doing nothing, and the recipient can keep telling themselves they will come back to it later.

Once I say, “If I don’t hear from you by Thursday, I’ll give you a call,” the situation is different. There is now a deadline and a clear indication of what happens next.

I still use versions of this approach today, although I am less interested in the trick of getting someone to respond than I am in making communication easier to act on.

If I need something, I try to say exactly what it is. If there is a deadline, I include it. If I need an answer before I can move forward, I make that clear. And if there is a reasonable next step when I do not hear back, I communicate that too.

None of this guarantees a response. People miss messages, priorities change, and sometimes someone is simply avoiding a conversation they do not want to have.

But vague follow-ups rarely make those situations better.

Clear communication gives the other person something concrete to respond to, and it gives me a point at which I can stop wondering what to do next.

That is considerably more useful than sending another “just checking in” and hoping this is the one they finally answer.