It happens to the best of us.
A red hot lead gets in contact with you. They're extremely excited, viewing every page on your company's website, asking informed questions, and taking full advantage of your free trial.
But then, right when you think you're about to close the sale, nothing. Radio silence. And no matter what you do, you're unable to re-establish contact.
As a salesperson, lost leads are just part of the job description—but that doesn't mean you need to be happy about it. In this article, we'll share eight proven winback email templates you can use to recover lost leads. Sound interesting? Then keep reading!
Tip: Nutshell Marketing now includes email drip sequences that can be automatically triggered when a lead is won, lost, or enters a specific pipeline stage, so you can send your winback emails to the right contacts without a single click.
8 Email Templates for Lost Leads
These templates come to us from expert salespeople and have been proven to re-engage lost leads and drum up new business. Have a look and feel free to adopt, modify, and experiment with the scripts in your own sales efforts.
1. The No Pressure Approach
This template comes to us from Sherry Holub, the creative director at a digital design and marketing agency in Southern Oregon called JVM Design. This script is all about relating to the lost lead. It's written in a very conversational tone and makes it easy for the recipient to respond because no pressure is placed on them. Think of it as a “soft reminder.”
Hi [Name],
If you're anything like me, you get busy and then elect to put some things on the back-burner.
Back around [date], you reached out to us about [purpose of original email] for [company name]. I haven't heard back from you, so I'm guessing you're busy doing your thing.
We're not going anywhere, so we'll be here if you need us and if anything with the project has changed, I'm happy to hop on the phone with you to discuss the new details. We could easily help you move this to the front burner and help you [problem to be solved].
[Your preferred closing statement]
Your Name, etc.
Links to schedule call (optional)
We suggest sending this template to leads who originally reached out to your company with an interest in your products and/or services, but never progressed to a conversation with your sales team. In many cases, these leads just need a gentle reminder that you exist.
2. The Objection Identifier
Sometimes the best approach to take is a blunt, straightforward one. This is especially true if you sell in the B2B realm. Your buyers don't typically have any time for nonsense. This template, sent to us by Stacy Caprio, the founder of Accelerated Growth Marketing, addresses objections the recipient may have, and offers a way to solve them
Hi Stacy,
I have tried reaching out a few times—although unsuccessfully—about [reason for reaching out]. I haven’t heard back which means one of a few things:
1. You’re not the right person at [X Company] to talk about such things.
2. You just haven’t been able to find the time to respond, but have been meaning to.
3. You already have too many [solution you’re offering] and just can’t fathom another one.
4. You have taken a bunch of meetings in the past full of empty promises and overpriced solutions.
5. This just isn’t an active initiative for you and you’d prefer that I reach out in a few months.
I’d consider it a personal favor if you’d so kindly let me know which of the above is true, or if there’s something else that I neglected to mention.
By the way, if it’s 2, 3, or 4, we should absolutely try to find a time to catch up.
- Your Name
This template is great for B2B customers or high-level decision makers such as C-suite executives. These folks are typically very busy and a straightforward email like this will likely work best.
Related: Why “What could have changed your mind?” is the magic question in follow-up emails
3. The 'Y/N?' Email
Marc Afzal is a real estate investor. As such, he's constantly speaking with folks about selling their homes. When a potential lead doesn't email him back, he uses the following template:
Hi [name],
I know it can be frustrating finding the best solution to selling your home, so I am always straightforward with clients like yourself who have inquired about selling their property but have not moved forward.
Have you given up on selling your home?
You can simply reply with Y for “Yes” and N for “No” to make it simple, I know you are probably very busy and I do not want to continue to email you if these emails no longer pertain to you.
Thank you in advance for your response.
[your salutation]
As you can tell, this script is very considerate of the recipient. It goes out of its way to ensure that replying is as simple as possible. Marc doesn't even ask potential leads to fully write out the words "yes" or "no," only to respond with a single letter.
This script also makes it clear that the sender isn't interested in bothering the recipient. If they aren't interested, he'll stop contacting them.
4. The Content Offer Approach
When it comes to reconnecting with lost leads, you can't ever go wrong with value. That's the approach this next winback email template takes, which was submitted to us by Bernard May, the CEO of National Positions.
This template follows this five step format:
- Greeting
- Pose a question
- Provide a solution to the question (a link to a pdf, case study, etc.)
- Give them a preview of what the content will provide them
- Close with an offer to connect with any questions
So a practical example would look something like this:
Hi Steve,
Did you know that most commuters waste over $1000 every year sitting in traffic? Isn't that crazy?!
Going electric goes beyond saving the environment—it can also have a huge impact on your wallet.
We have put together a practical guide to switching to electric bikes in our latest blog post How You Can Get Healthy & Save $1000 a Year.
This is just a taste of what you will learn:
- How to pick the best electric bike for you
- Tax breaks you get with an electric bike
- The average time savings an electric bike will give you
It is only about a 6-minute read and answers some of the most common questions we are asked every day here at [INSERT COMPANY NAME]. If I can answer any additional questions, please feel free to let me know.
Stay safe in the bike lane!
This template has a high probability of success because it doesn't try to sell anything. Rather, it reels lost leads back in with the promise of something valuable like access to content the recipient will enjoy consuming.
But of course, if the recipient is interested in making a purchase, the template is sure to invite them to get back in touch.
5. The Short and Sweet Approach
Here's another winback email template that's geared towards busy leads. This one, though, is incredibly short and sweet. According to Evan Donahue, the sales and recruiting manager for JMJ Phillip, lost prospects may appreciate the brevity and will be more likely to respond because of it.
Dear [name],
We spoke about the [project/problem/solution] [time of last contact]. I’m following up to see if you were ever able to [accomplish project/problem/solution]. Are there any updates on this?
Best regards,
[your name]
This template leaves a lot of room for customization. For example, if a lead contacted your company because she was interested in purchasing 10 lawnmowers for her landscaping business, you could reply with the following text:
We spoke about the 10 ride-on lawnmowers you were interested in last summer. I’m following up to see if you were ever able to find the mowers you were looking for. Are there any updates on this?
But if a lead contacted your company because they were having trouble hiring the right employees, this template still works perfectly:
We spoke about your company's struggle to find quality employees a few months ago. I’m following up to see if you were ever able to pinpoint and hire the right talent. Are there any updates on this?
