Collection · 5 articles
Follow-up and chasing.
Chasing is the part of the work nobody schedules time for: the proposal you sent nine days ago, the client who answered twice and then stopped, the invoice that went out on terms and quietly passed them. These pieces take those situations one at a time. When to send the second email, and how that changes with what you asked for. What separates persistence from nagging, which is a pattern rather than a single message. How to read a client's silence, and which next move beats sending another email. Where to keep the list of replies you're still waiting on so it survives the week. And what an unpaid invoice has to carry before a reminder can do anything. Start with the one you came for; each stands on its own.
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Follow up as many times as it takes, without nagging
Nagging is a pattern, not a message. What turns persistence into it, and how to keep asking for what you need without becoming that person.
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How long to wait before following up on an email
Replies are front-loaded, so waiting a week spends most of it on nothing. Where the interval comes from, and how it changes with what you asked for.
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What to do when a client stops replying to email
A client who ignored three emails will ignore the fourth. How to read what the silence is, and which moves are something other than another message.
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Tracking what you are owed a reply on
A list of every reply you are still waiting on. What each line has to carry, where to keep it, and the weekly sweep that stops it from going stale.
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The follow-up email for an invoice that has not been paid
Most unpaid invoices are stuck rather than refused. The dates your terms already set, what an invoice has to carry to be payable, and six messages to send.