skip to content

← back to the plays

independence4 unconnected · 2 more authors in those circles
standing

contested · 5 claims against 1

applies to

b2b, no audience needed

assumes $100 and up

confidence

high

evidence

9 claims · 6 articles · 4 receipts

window

2016-09-12 → 2025-01-18

4 builders who never spoke to each other · contested

Keep every thread moving until they decide

No deal closes on a first email, so keep each conversation in a system and make every touch carry something the person can use. Where to stop is argued over, though closing a dead thread cleanly at least frees you.

What both sides agree on

  • Skip the joke follow-up that implies the prospect must have died; it lands once and then reads as another script.
  • Close a dead thread with a plainly worded note saying you will assume no interest and stop following up, which either revives it or frees you.
  • Write down specific personal details about every customer at the moment of sale, such as their size, their preference and what they use the product for.

Where this splits

Members split on persistence: several say the mistake is dropping the thread too early, while one blocks senders who chase and caps follow-ups deliberately.

5 claims against 1

Austin Church · Cory Zue · Greg Hickman · Nathan Barry

Never drop the thread, keep following up

  1. 01The mistake that kills bootstrapped sales is dropping the thread: no deal closes on the first email, so track every conversation somewhere, even a Trello board with columns for how they replied.
  2. 02Make each follow-up carry something useful, an introduction, feedback on their work, a fix, a tactic that worked for you, rather than asking whether they saw your last email.
the objection · 1 claimJustin Welsh

Cap the follow-ups before you get blocked

Cap your follow-ups on a cold prospect, because relentless chasing gets you blocked rather than answered.

  1. 03Give every lead a card in one list and work down it at a set time each week sending short nudges, so nothing depends on you remembering.
  2. 04Set a reminder to check back when a promising call goes quiet, and track the stage each deal sits at in a CRM.
  3. 05Follow up when a prospect goes silent over a weekend instead of assuming the deal died.

What it returned

  • 600

    A sales candidate sent him leads and blogger introductions instead of chasing her application, in a process with as many as 600 applicants per role

  • He receives that email a few times a week

  • Austin keeps a Leads column in Trello and sends nudges on Mondays, with later dates set as reminders in his CRM.

  • Zue followed up Monday morning with low expectations and got an immediate commitment to the annual plan.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in sales

all sales plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.