Should I Email or Not

Business
1

I have a prospect for ongoing site maintenance. I reached out to them, told them my rate and what to expect from my services. They responded they will get back to me when they have found a replacement for an unrelated vacancy. It has been about two weeks now. Do I give them the benefit of the doubt and let them reach out to me since the ball is in their court, or should I email them back?

2

I would do a follow up e-mail. It is always good to be in communication with your prospects and current clients. But don’t be overbearing or come off needy. Something along the lines of,

Hi <name>,

Just wanted to catch up with you on your search to fulfill your vacancy. I hope the search is going well and the right candidate comes along.

I also look forward to being able to assist your company with our ongoing site maintenance service.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me by e-mail or phone.

Thanks,
<your name>

Once you stop communicating, you are going under the falsehood that companies will always remember to return your email or phone calls. Keep in mind, they are just as busy as you are on a typical day. Things get missed/forgotten, and your reminder’s and the fact that you are identifying with them from prior conversations are CRITICAL to developing a lasting relationship.

3

If they made the initial contact with you, I’d say maybe see how they are going, as cpradio suggested. If you made the initial contact to get some business, personally I’d leave them alone now … but I acknowledge that not everyone would see it that way.

4

In a way I did make the first contact. The former employee recommended me to do their site updates on his way out. He copied me in an email he sent to the people in charge of making the decision. I in turn replied back to those people and got the email back about contacting me later. I like your response cpradio, I may use a form of that if it comes to it.

5

In that case it’s really not cold calling, so yeah, I’d say take cpradio’s advice.

6

I agree with @ralph_m ; and I wouldn’t let it go more than 3 and a half weeks before doing a follow up. Again, the key points are to use prior conversation and to continually show interest in the company and what they do. The more you can relate the better the business relationship will be.