Cold Emailing

Set Up Meetings: 2 best follow-up emails for scheduling an interview

lemlist team
LAST UPDATED
July 29, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

So, you've sent your initial email, but no one scheduled a demo or interview with you?

Whether your end goal is to book a new demo, schedule an interview, or even schedule a meeting for a new job, these 2 best follow-up emails for scheduling an interview will help you.

But before we see them, let's first talk about follow-ups.

What are follow-ups and why are they important?

Essentially, follow-ups are the emails you send to your prospects after the initial email.

Not everyone will answer in your initial email - and that's completely okay.

Someone may not have liked like what you said, didn’t have time to do that, or didn't even see your initial email.

All circumstances are possible and highly probable.

Hence, to improve reply rates for cold email campaigns, we've got follow-ups.

As proof of this, here's the average reply rates you can get per follow-up email:

This data came from our analysis of millions of lemlist cold email campaigns.

Of course, this depends on your prospect list, initial sales email templates, and finally, the follow-up email templates you're sending.

But you get the point.

Perhaps the number won't be the same for you - but the percentage will.

Based on your initial cold email and goal, there are various types of follow-up email templates you can send.

But, in this particular case, we're going to see the 2 best follow-up email templates for scheduling an interview.

1. Schedule a meeting for a role

This template got a 76% open rate and a 15% reply rate.

This template is a perfect example for recruiting agencies to get a meeting with a hiring professional.

The sequence starts by adding value in the initial and second emails, and then goes in for the meeting.

This template is ideal por recruitment professionals, HR consultants, and headhunters can use this approach to offer their services to companies in the process of expanding their teams.

After the initial email, we’re going to include two follow-ups.

In the first follow-up, we’ll be adding even more value than in the initial email.

The link is added separately which will make it stand out even more.

Forgot to add the link to the Notion document, you have all the info here: {{profile_notion_link}}

After this, we go in for the big ask: the meeting.

We’ve offered value, and now we just want the lead to guide us toward their specific needs.

What do you think of the profile?

Would you be against briefing me about the role?

{{signature}}

Why do I like this follow-up email template for scheduling an interview?

  • It's personalized
  • It's about them - not about you. As you can notice, the main purpose of this email is to build a relationship with your prospect and to bring them value.
  • Follow-ups do not guilt the lead into responding.

Now a couple of notes about this follow-up email template for scheduling an interview:

  • When creating follow-up emails in lemlist, just leave the subject line empty and it will be the same as in the previous email.
  • Don't worry - you don't actually need to create videos for everyone :) lemlist allows you to take one video, and make these "layers" personalized for everyone.

2. You're the expert

This sequence got a 72% open rate and a 16% reply rate.

This follow-up email template for scheduling an interview is perfect for sales consultants, marketing experts, and business development professionals

The best part is that it works if you have the leads’ email and if you only have their LinkedIn profiles.

To be more personalized, relevant, and engaging, include a hyper-personalized video that refeerences your target. This will make the email feel unique and special.

In the initial email you present a pain point, and a direct solution.

In the first follow-up, add exclusive and additional value. Once you’ve proved you have resources to back up your proposal, you can offer a meeting to discuss further.

Didn't include it in the playbook but you can also add video personalization like this:

This is the template a hiring agency is using:
Another video thumbnail a SaaS I know is using (most relevant for you)
They both book meetings with about 13% of their prospects with it.

I can free up some time to show you how to set up a picture like this to match the SaaS you sell.

Down to try?

Take care,
{{signature}}

Include follow-ups in your cold emails!

As you can see - follow-up email templates are an important part of every cold outreach strategy - especially if your end goal is to schedule interviews or demos with your prospects.

At the end of the day, if you're selling tools or digital services - you will need to use these follow-up email templates.

They will surely improve your reply rate and help you schedule more demos and interviews each month.

But whatever follow-up email template you choose, make sure to use personalized images inside them.

Why?

There are a couple of reasons for that

  1. They are original and will give you a great advantage
  2. They can showcase your creativity
  3. They're building a stronger bond and relationship between you and your prospect

Wondering how can you create your personalized images and videos?

Start your 14-day free trial with lemlist and find out!

lemlist team
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G2 Rating
Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
square-check
Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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