Week 7: Follow-Ups#
The reader’s math from last week doesn’t reset when a first email goes unanswered. It gets asked again.
What this lecture covers#
- why “bumping” isn’t a follow-up
- what a follow-up actually needs to add
- a composite bump email and why it fails
- the honest alternative when nothing has changed
What “bumping” actually is#
“Just bumping this to the top of your inbox” is not a follow-up.
It’s a second copy of the original cost of being read, with none of the original content’s chance of being useful.
Persistence isn’t free for the reader, even when it’s free for the writer to send.
What a follow-up needs#
A follow-up that works adds something the first email didn’t have:
- a new fact
- a narrower ask
- a deadline that’s now real
Not just a request to reconsider a decision the reader already made once.
Predict, then watch#
Before the next slide: predict what a “just bumping this” email will add that the original didn’t. Then check.
From: [Sender]
To: [Recipient]
Subject: Re: Following up
Just bumping this to the top of your inbox in case it got buried! Would still love to connect whenever you have a moment.
Tells the reader nothing the first email didn’t. Makes them pay the same cost of attention again, on no new grounds.
The honest alternative#
Replace “just bumping this” with the one fact that’s actually changed since the first email.
If nothing has changed: the honest conclusion is that it isn’t time to follow up yet.
From: [Sender]
To: [Recipient]
Subject: Following up: we shipped the feature you asked about
Following up because the thing you said you’d need before trying this shipped last week. Fifteen minutes to see if it changes your answer?
Same intent as the bump. It names something the reader didn’t know before, which is the entire difference between a follow-up and a repeat.
Talk to your neighbour#
Find a follow-up you’ve sent or received. Name the one new fact in it. If there isn’t one, discuss what would have needed to change first.
Recap#
- a follow-up repeats the first email’s cost unless it adds something new
- new information vs. repeated urgency is the whole distinction
- no new fact means no follow-up yet, not a gentler bump