Smaller rabbit holes
Just checking in
Appreciate it's a busy time but just checking you read this?
2 mins
There are four words that have quietly become the corporate equivalent of tapping somebody on the shoulder every three days until they eventually acknowledge your existence.
"Just checking in..."
Let's be honest. You're not really checking in. You're checking whether I've changed my mind.
And more often than not, nothing else has changed either. No new insight, nor new perspective, nor any fresh useful observations.
No reason whatsoever why this email needed to exist today rather than yesterday. Just… "Thought I'd follow up."
I understand why we do it.
CRMs love a cadence. Day three. Day seven. Day fourteen.
Somewhere, a workflow has decided it's time to gently poke the prospect again.
The trouble is that your CRM has no idea whether you've got anything worth saying. It just knows it's Tuesday.
That's where I think we've gone wrong. A follow-up shouldn't be a reminder that you exist, it should be a reason to hear from you again.
Maybe you've spotted something interesting in their market.
Maybe you've published a piece that genuinely helps.
Maybe you've had another thought that changes the conversation.
Maybe you've realised the first email missed the point entirely.
Brilliant.
Now you've earned another interruption.
That's not "just checking in,” that's contributing.
The irony is that good follow-ups rarely feel like follow-ups at all. They feel like somebody continuing an interesting conversation.
There's nothing wrong with persistence. Commercial growth needs plenty of it. I'm just not convinced persistence and repetition are the same thing.
If your next email could be summarised as:
"Any thoughts?"
...I'd probably wait until you have one of your own first.
There are four words that have quietly become the corporate equivalent of tapping somebody on the shoulder every three days until they eventually acknowledge your existence.
"Just checking in..."
Let's be honest. You're not really checking in. You're checking whether I've changed my mind.
And more often than not, nothing else has changed either. No new insight, nor new perspective, nor any fresh useful observations.
No reason whatsoever why this email needed to exist today rather than yesterday. Just… "Thought I'd follow up."
I understand why we do it.
CRMs love a cadence. Day three. Day seven. Day fourteen.
Somewhere, a workflow has decided it's time to gently poke the prospect again.
The trouble is that your CRM has no idea whether you've got anything worth saying. It just knows it's Tuesday.
That's where I think we've gone wrong. A follow-up shouldn't be a reminder that you exist, it should be a reason to hear from you again.
Maybe you've spotted something interesting in their market.
Maybe you've published a piece that genuinely helps.
Maybe you've had another thought that changes the conversation.
Maybe you've realised the first email missed the point entirely.
Brilliant.
Now you've earned another interruption.
That's not "just checking in,” that's contributing.
The irony is that good follow-ups rarely feel like follow-ups at all. They feel like somebody continuing an interesting conversation.
There's nothing wrong with persistence. Commercial growth needs plenty of it. I'm just not convinced persistence and repetition are the same thing.
If your next email could be summarised as:
"Any thoughts?"
...I'd probably wait until you have one of your own first.