Follow up letters play an important role in business correspondence. It shows your dedication and interest towards a particular matter. It also serves as a reminder when correspondence is taking too much time.

Basic purposes of follow-up letters are the following:

• Recall points and agenda from previous meetings
• Reminder for meetings, tasks, and other events
• Demonstrate continued interest to clients
• Request for correspondence on some matters

In sending follow-up letters, make sure to include all necessary information for the recipients. Recap previous details and remind them with the agreed issues that need correspondence. Online references, if needed for the follow up, should have working hyperlinks. You can also indicate your expected actions from the recipient but do so in a courteous manner.

Here are additional tips in writing an effective follow-up letter:

1. Never send a follow up letter if the agreed deadline is not yet over.
2. When used as a reminder, send the follow up letter in advance to give your recipient enough preparation time.
3. If sent to a potential customer, you can include product highlights and be subtle in urging them to choose you as their provider.
4. Include a copy of the first follow up letter if you need to resend the first letter.
5. Make it short and concise.

Here is an example of a follow up letter. In this example, the letter was sent through email. It was used to remind Mr. Smith of the upcoming meeting and to follow up the pending document that will be used for the meeting.

Sample Letter

June 18, 2016

TO:
Mr. Zach Smith
Senior Project Coordinator
Business Applications Department
Infiniti Solutions Ltd.
Unit 1201 Pendleton Suites,
C6-6 District, Midtown, Manhattan

FROM:
Daniel Klutz
Project Manager
Innovative Software Solutions Department
Dream Software Factory Incorporated
Unit 1906, 900 North Michigan, Streeterville, Chicago

CC: All concerned parties

SUBJECT: Project Agile Closing Meeting Follow-Up

Good day.

As scheduled, closing meeting for our project will be held on:
Date: 2010-07-11
Time: 1500 – 1600 (American standard time)
Venue: Meeting room #10

Please refer to this path for the closing meeting documents:
Path: ftp://172.16.65.66/public/ProjectAgile/ClosingMeeting

We would also like to follow up the project confirmation sheet. We were informed that the software has already been tested and approved and confirmation sheet is supposed to be sent last week. But we were not able to receive it as of now. Confirmation sheet will be needed for the closing meeting so please send it before the agreed schedule.

Thank you for the continuous support and we are looking forward to working with you in future projects.

My best regards.

Daniel Klutz

By this time, the prospective client has already expressed his interest towards your business. Take this opportunity to urge your client to continue the negotiating process you had started. However, it is important that you must be very gentle and will not insist on quicker decision-making.

Business people have different ways of making decisions toward a certain proposal, and pushing them to decide quickly on this matter would insult them. Hence, it would make the situation worse. This letter would give you the opportunity to tell your potential client the benefits of your proposal to his company.

Briefly state the advantages of continuing the negotiation process. Another thing, ask for the response in a modest way.

Sample Letter

June 1, 2010

The Baby Steps Company
165 Block, Brooklyn Avenue,
Thornville, Ontario
Canada

Ms. Samantha Sander
Marketing Manager
Marketing Department
Babies’ House
101 Block, Creekview Avenue
Vancouver, Canada

Dear Ms. Samantha,
Greetings!
We are informed that your company, Babies’ House, is looking for a supplier of baby’s merchandises. With regards to this, The Baby Steps Company would like to encourage you on the business proposal we would like to discuss with you.

On our earlier letter, we have sent to you our company profiles, product lines and designs, and the suggested retail pricing on each item. However, we would like to ask for a meeting with your company for a presentation and exhibits. This way, we could discuss thoroughly any matter concerning our partnership towards growth and advancement. We guarantee you that you will be happy with the quality of our products, which cater the needs of the baby from clothing lines, to gears, equipments, and toys as well. With the result of sales from some of our outlets, we assure you of the positive response of target niche to our products.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do feel free to communicate with us. Also, we welcome any suggestions and comments to our product so that we can improve it. Please inform us your availability for us to prepare everything.

Enclosed are lists of latest products imported from United States and other references. We are looking forward to hear a positive response from you soon.

Thank you very much and God Bless!

Truly yours,

Ms. Louise Brown
General Manager
The Baby Steps Company

Usually, a follow up letter on a sales offer is sent when time has passed without a response from the other company. If you believe a reasonable time has passed, writing a follow up letter enables you to remind the customer of the continuing negotiation process. In a subtle way, it will urge him to decide on your proposals and offers. It allows him to refresh on your previous meetings and agreements.

This letter should summarize the discussions you have had during previous meetings, interview, presentations, and exhibit. Briefly state the benefits both your company and your potential client can get from the business proposal. Discuss shortly the need for an immediate response without pushing him too hard. Using this letter, you get the opportunity to inform the prospect of new products you offer, promos, and special discounts.

You can also express your gratitude for their purchasing your product if that is the case. Using a follow up letter, you can win the preference of the potential customer as you build connection and relationship with them.

Sample Letter

June 15, 2010

The Home Despot
165 Block, Brooklyn Avenue,
Thornville, Ontario
Canada

Ms. Ashley Jones
101 Block, Creekview Avenue
Vancouver, Canada

Dear Ms. Ashley,

We, The Home Desspot, would like to thank you for choosing our product, the lighting fixtures along with some repair tools. We are confident that you will be satisfied with your purchase. However, in any case of dissatisfaction, please feel free to discuss it with us so we could immediately attend to your concerns.

The Home Depot would like to inform you about the incoming product presentation along with the 5-day sale we’re holding on Wednesday, July 7, 2010. We invited you to this event because we believe it will be of great advantage to you because we are offering 50% discounts on selected items, mostly repair tools and other home equipment.

Because we aim to serve the customers, we have included a warranty for every purchase you make on the exclusive 5-day sale. There will also be free gift items for the first 100 people who will purchase and make reservations.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us. We have enlisted you as our prime client and with this, we are anxious to serve you better.

We are looking forward to hearing from you soon. Please don’t miss this opportunity.

Thank you very much and God Bless!

Sincerely your,

Ms. Sue Copper
Store Manager
The Home Despot

Follow up letter after a job interview is important to keep the attention of the employer towards you as their future employee. Immediately, send a letter to show gratitude for the time they allotted during your interview. You can include this as part of your follow up letter. Likewise, this kind of letter shows the future employer your eagerness to become part of their company.

As much as possible, include here new information to strengthen your application. So, after the interview, you may now know the interviewer’s expectation. This letter will inform the prospect employers of your past work experiences that exceed his expectations. Show him that you love to work for his company. A short letter with brief and concise explanation is enough and the likelihood to hire you is higher.

Sample Letter

May 29, 2010

Christine Samson
165 Block, Brooklyn Avenue,
Thornville, Ontario
Canada

Mr. Allan Peter
Human Resources Manager
Human Resources Department
The Baby First Company
101 Block, Creekview Avenue
Vancouver, Canada

Dear Mr. Peter,

Good day!

I would like to thank you for your time spent during the interview. It was a wonderful experience for me because I learned so many things from you. After our interview, I believe I was not able to discuss with you some matters with regards to the benefits for both of us having me as the Marketing Assistant in your company.

For many years, I worked with a multinational company that manufactures baby products. I received outstanding awards from the company; some came from the Marketing Department. With my achievements as marketing staff of my previous company, I believe my expertise in this field would be an asset to your company. Additionally, we can get into partnership of excelling in this department to contribute to the company’s success.

Also, I would like to know my status regarding my application in your prestigious company. I hope you can give me chance to prove my ability and expertise. I would love to work in your company because I know it has much room for its employees’ growth and improvement.

If in any case, I have not answered your queries, I welcome any call from you at anytime that is convenient to you.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you so much and God Bless!

Respectfully yours,

Christine Samson

A follow up letter aims to renew the relationship with your prospective clients. There are many reasons why after the letter you do not receive any response from your clients. Aside from hectic schedules, it maybe because the need to response is not clearly stated, so, it is essential to ask for their response in a gentlest manner as you can.

Never insist a response from them as it gives the impression of being impolite and demanding, which is a major turn down for future clients. Rather than complaining, the letter must be positive and encouraging. On the second letter, include the first follow up letter or you may want to repeat the message but in a shorter way.

This will allow your client to refresh the business you mentioned. On the last part, you can simply state that you are looking forward to his response. Make it more casual and not too harsh and judgmental. The purpose is to remind him of your proposal.

Sample Letter

May 29, 2010

Jade Shoe Company
165 Block, Brooklyn Avenue,
Thornville, Ontario
Canada

Ms. Sarah Walter
Creative Stylist
Marketing Department
Shapes and Style Boutique
101 Block, Creekview Avenue
Vancouver, Canada

Dear Ms. Sarah,

Good day!

Jade Shoe Company would like to offer you a deal of supplying branded women’s shoes as well as fashionable and elegant sandals to your company’s outlets. We hope to continue the partnership, as we believe it will benefit both our company’s success in terms of growth and development.

We hope your busy schedule does not deter our continued negotiation on this project. Together, our company caters to the same target market, the ladies, and with our partnership, we can serve our customers better. We are grateful to give details on how the project becomes an advantage for both of us. If in any case, we have not answered your queries; please feel free to be in touch with us at anytime that is convenient to you. We welcome and appreciate any suggestion and comments for any improvements that need to undertake on our proposal.

Enclosed here are the project proposal, sales reports, quality measurements, product designs, and other data we believe you might need to help you decide on our proposal.

We hope to hear from you soon. God Bless and Thank you very much!

Truly yours,

Ms. Summer Cape
General Manager

To win a prospective client, you need to show them that you are willing to serve him at all costs. This is the aim of writing a follow up letter after a sales presentation or demonstration. It is important to hold on and not quit until you get the big yes from the prospect. However, you need to make sure that you would not repeat your presentation, as this will be dull and unexciting for your client.

The follow up letter after the sales presentation must contain new ideas and reports to wow the prospective client. It may include a new promo, discounts, and other special offers. Business people are busy people so you need to be brief and concise. Writing a short letter is a good strategy as long as the gist of your thoughts is very well explained. Showing the eagerness in a modest, not desperate way can be a great help to build a good impression from your prospect client. Another thing, you can send the first letter until day three, then follow up after two weeks to refresh the ideas you talked about with your client.

Sample Letter

May 15, 2010

Knight Company
174 St., Stone Avenue,
Thornhill, Ontario
Canada

Mr. Hunter Black
General Manager
Shapes Printing Enterprises
Walter Avenue, Vancouver
Canada

Dear Mr. Black,

Good day!

We at the Knight Company, had a great meeting with your team. We believe in our continued success as we help each other taking leaps towards growth and development. Together, we aim to serve the customers better.

With this, we would like to remind you regarding our company’s activity. The Knights Company is holding a three-day sale which would start on Friday. It would be five days from now to the big day. Furthermore, the Knights Company have exciting promos and special discounts up to 40% on selected items, most are correlated to the products we are endorsing to you. In addition, we have a showroom for our new arrival of the latest printing technology that we believe is worth of your time.

In case of queries, please do feel free to ask questions from us. We welcome any comments and suggestions because we would like to establish a more satisfying service to make our customers happy. We hope a long term relationship with your business.

God Bless and Thank you very much!

Truly Yours,

Ms. Michelle Dewfield
Marketing Director

Writing collection letters is an uncomfortable task for many managers because you have to strike a balance between gently reminding the customer of their overdue payment while still being firm enough to achieve the desired result – the settling of the late account. The secret behind writing a good collection letter is to always take a positive stance and not to automatically assume malice on the part of the customer when they are late with their payments. The tone of the letter should be professional, direct and to-the-point without being accusatory, since the implicit assumption is that the customer is willing to pay. If the initial letter fails to elicit the desired response, subsequent letters can be more firm and direct.

The initial collection letter should begin with a reminder to the recipient that they have an overdue account that they need to settle. You should mention the amount of the unpaid bill and the date by which you would like it to be settled. The letter should also state that the receiver should ignore the notice if they have already sent the payment. You may end by thanking the customer for their prompt action in resolving the problem.

If initial notices do not work, in subsequent letters you can state that you may have to take legal action for redress if the bill is not settled by the soonest possible date, or that you will cut off the service that is being provided if payment is not given by a certain date. But this should be used only as a last resort, when the customer is already several months behind with their payments.

Below is a sample of a collection letter that you can adapt for your own use.

Sample Letter

July 20, 2010

Gold Times Savings and Loan Corporation
Jacksontown, New Orleans
companyemail@server.com
www.url.com

Mr. Richard Prentiss
325 Privet Avenue
Smithville, New Orleans

Re: customer number 10-100

Dear Mr. Prentiss,

Greetings!

According to our records, you have an unpaid balance with us of $8,256.23 for the billing period June 15 to July 14, 2010. As this may be an oversight on your part, we urge you to settle your account with us by July 30 in order to avoid the inconvenience of legal action being taken against you. If you have any questions, you may contact Dean Driver at 025-314-5302.

If you have already paid your overdue balance, please ignore this notice.

Thank you for your prompt action on this matter.

Respectfully yours,

Branson Smith
Head, Collections Department
Gold Times Savings and Loan Corporation

In these hard economic times, people and companies sometimes have trouble making their monthly payments. In these situations, the debtor may opt to offer the company or individual an alternative payment schedule or plan, in order to make it easier for them to settle their obligations and minimize the risk of default.

These letters should be addressed to specific individuals, even if the creditor is a company, and copies may be sent to other concerned parties. The tone of the letter should be straightforward and non-accusatory in order to avoid the appearance of recrimination on the part of the creditor. It should also be businesslike and to-the-point.

The letter could begin with the creditor pointing out that the client is having some difficulty in making their monthly payments. They will then introduce the alternative payment plan as a way of helping their clients, giving specific details so that the customer has an idea of what the new repayment schedule entails and how they will benefit from it. The letter then ends by giving the contact information of a particular person with whom the client can discuss the plan if they are interested.

Below is a model letter offering debtors an alternative payment plan, which can be adopted for your specific needs.

Sample Letter

November 10, 2010

Second United Bank
Austin, Texas
companyname@server.com
www.server.com

Brian Epps
36 Nickelback Drive
Austin, Texas

Dear Mr. Epps,

Greetings!
We know that hard economic times have impacted on everybody. In line with our stated mission of helping our clients manage their finances properly, we are introducing an alternative payment plan that could make it easier for you to service your obligations with us. The plan would extend repayment of your debt by three years in order to lower your monthly payments. We estimate that with our new plan, monthly payments could be reduced by as much as 20%, which would free up money that you could use to meet your other expenses.

If you are interested in learning more about the new plan, please refer to the enclosed brochure. If you are interested in availing of the plan, or if you have any further questions, you may also contact Frank Sinise at 060-5802481 during office hours, or send us an email at companyname@server.com. You may also visit our website at companyname.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully yours,

Phil Samuels
Head, Accounts Department
Second United Bank

Follow-up letters after an important appointment or phone-call should be sent as a matter of courtesy to the other party in order to show your appreciation for their time. The letter should be sent as soon as possible after the appointment or phone call, and should be addressed directly to the other party.

The most important elements of the letter are a reiteration of the details of the appointment or phone call and your expression of gratitude to the other party. If there are any follow-up meetings or discussions necessary, the details of these should also be included in the letter. If the letter was not sent a short time after the appointment or phone call, the writer should begin with a brief apology for not writing sooner. Avoid making the letter too long and remove any extraneous details; you should be concise and to-the-point so as not to waste the recipient’s precious time.

It should be addressed to the specific person with whom you spoke on the phone or had your appointment. Most importantly, it should focus purely on thanking the person to whom the letter is addressed.

Below is a model follow-up letter after an appointment or phone conversation that can be adapted for the writer’s specific needs.

Sample Letter

January 7, 2010

Daniel Fredricksen
President, LXS Company
Cleveland, Illinois

Barbara Bowman
Executive Vice President
First Construction, Inc.
Cleveland, Illinois

Dear Ms. Bowman,

Greetings!

I would just like to express my appreciation for giving me so much of your precious time during our appointment last Jan 5, to discuss the possibility of my company doing business with yours. It was a very fruitful discussion, and I’m glad we were able to come to terms on the Bakersfield building project.

In line with what we discussed, our in-house attorney, Mr. Clark George, will be in touch with your office to set a follow-up appointment in order to thresh out the details of our agreement. We are also sending over the relevant paperwork for you to look over before the meeting.

Thank you again for the very informative meeting, and please feel free to contact my office at 060-1007604 if you have any further concerns. I look forward to working with you on this and other projects.

Respectfully yours,

Daniel Fredricksen
President, LXS Company

As a matter of courtesy, if a customer has made a big order with your company, you should express your appreciation by sending them a thank you follow-up letter, in order to make them feel appreciated and more amenable to dealing with your company in the future. Letters are a more concrete expression of appreciation as opposed to a follow-up call, and are less intrusive as the client can read the letter during their free time.

The tone of the letter should be professional and cordial, but should also be concise and to the point, you don’t want to take up too much of the customer’s time. The main elements of this follow-up letter are a reminder of the order that the customer placed and your expression of gratitude for it. The letter can end with the writer expressing the hope that they would be able to continue serving the client in the future.

It should always be addressed to a specific individual even if the order was made by a company. If this is the case, then the letter could be addressed to the purchasing manager, for example, or one of the company’s senior managers. You may also mention a contact person and number, in case the client has any further concerns regarding their order.

Below is a sample of a basic follow-up letter thanking a customer that you can adapt for your specific need.

Sample Letter

July 23, 2010

Olivia Harrelson
President, Christos Foods
San Francisco, California

Maureen Summersberg
Purchasing Manager
The Mykonos Restaurant
San Francisco, California

Dear Ms. Summersberg,

Greetings!

As you know, our company, Cristos Foods, has been in existence for 25 years, offering customers the finest foods from Greece and the Mediterranean. We are suppliers of ingredients to some of the most acclaimed gourmet restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area.

On behalf of the company, we would like to express our appreciation for the six cases of olives and the ten crates of pita bread you purchased from us last July 21, 2010. By now, you should already have received your order. We hope it meets your needs and, if you have any further concerns, please feel free to contact us at 060-182-5254. We are also enclosing our latest catalog of products that may be of interest to you.

Thank you again and we hope to continue being of service to you in the future.

Respectfully yours,

Olivia Harrelson
President, Christos Foods