What should a follow-up email after a meeting say?
Four things, in this order: a thank-you that names one thing they said, whatever you promised to send, one next step with a day and a time, and an easy way to say no. Keep it short enough to read on a phone without scrolling.
The next step is the line that does the work. Ending with "let me know your thoughts" hands the work back to the other person. Gong Labs analysed 304,174 emails from users of Gong's sales software (published May 2020, updated March 2026; the post doesn't say when the emails were sent) and counted a success as a meeting booked within the next 10 days. Once a deal is under way, Gong found the best ask was a meeting on a specific day and time, and says this more than doubles meetings booked, from 15% in the cold email stage to 37% in the deal stage. After a sales meeting, interest is already established, so name the time.
For a sales call with a buyer, our guide to the first 24 hours after a sales call covers the recap email: what you heard in their words, what was agreed and the next step with its date.
Which follow-up fits which meeting?
Match the email to what happened in the room. The timings and asks below are our rules of thumb for a small B2B team, not tested findings.
| The meeting | Send by | Lead with | The ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| First sales call or demo | Same day | Their problem in their words, and what you agreed | The next meeting, at a specific day and time, with the invite sent |
| Met someone at a conference or event | Within one working day of the event | Where you met and the one thing you talked about | A 20-minute call if there was a real need; one useful link and no ask if it was small talk |
| Coffee or call set up by someone else | Same or next day, plus a separate thank-you to the introducer | The introducer's name and why they connected you | One concrete follow-on: a call, a document or an introduction you offered |
| Partner or referral meeting | Within one working day | What each side said it would do, with dates | A dated check-in after the first referral or pilot |
| Several people from their side | Same day, to everyone who attended | Decisions, and each action with a name next to it | One person on their side confirms the actions |
| Nothing was agreed | Next working day | What you heard, and what you think is in the way | A yes-or-no question: worth another conversation, or close it for now? |
Two rows trip people up. After an event, small talk does not earn a sales ask, so send something useful and let them decide. And when nothing was agreed, the honest move is to say so and ask whether to continue, which is easier to answer than a vague check-in.
Follow-up email samples you can copy
Six follow-ups, one for each row of the table. Northwind Ltd is the sample sender; Priya at Acme, Sam, Jordan and Alex are sample names. Replace everything in brackets. Each sample uses the ask from its row of the table, so not every one has a day and time or an easy way to say no.
Then send Jordan two lines the same day: you met, what you agreed, and thanks. That way the introducer knows the introduction was worth making.
Sample 5 is a short version; our guide to writing a meeting recap email goes further on recaps.
How soon should you follow up after meeting someone?
Within one working day after meeting someone new, and the same day after a sales meeting. Those are our rules; the bigger risk is not sending at all, and two 2018 studies help explain why people hold back.
In The Liking Gap in Conversations, published in Psychological Science in September 2018, Erica Boothby (then a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University), Gus Cooney (then a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University), Gillian Sandstrom (University of Essex) and Margaret Clark (Yale University) ran five studies. In one, strangers had a 5-minute icebreaker conversation; on average, people liked their partner more than they thought their partner liked them. The paper's abstract says the gap appeared in the lab, among first-year students in shared dorms and at a personal development workshop, and lasted for several months among dorm mates. APS's summary doesn't give sample sizes, so read it as a direction, not a size.
The second study is about thanking people. In Undervaluing Gratitude (Psychological Science, published online June 2018), Amit Kumar and Nicholas Epley, both listed at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, ran three experiments in which people wrote gratitude letters and predicted how the recipients would feel. The paper's abstract says writers underestimated how surprised recipients would be by the reasons for the thanks and how positive recipients would feel, and overestimated how awkward recipients would feel. The abstract gives no sample sizes, and these were gratitude letters, not a note to someone met at a stand, so treat it as a hint: hearing from you probably lands better than you expect.
Worked example: following up after a two-day conference
A founder from Northwind (sample) meets 24 people over two days. Sorting them into three groups keeps the follow-up to under two hours:
| Group | People | What they get | Minutes each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: agreed a next step | 5 | Sample 1 or 3, with a specific time | 10 | 5 × 10 = 50 |
| B: a real conversation, no next step | 9 | Sample 1 without the ask: the link you mentioned | 5 | 9 × 5 = 45 |
| C: swapped cards, little else | 10 | A connection request with one line on where you met | 1 | 10 × 1 = 10 |
| All | 24 | 50 + 45 + 10 = 105 minutes, 1 hour 45 |
Write group A's emails on the evening you meet them, while the details are fresh, and do B and C on your first morning back. Group A already agreed a next step, so they get first call on your time.
If you write late, schedule the send for the start of their working day. In new Outlook and Outlook on the web, Microsoft's help page says Schedule send keeps the message in Drafts until the delivery time. In classic Outlook for Windows, the Do not deliver before option holds it in the Outbox, and Microsoft notes that Outlook needs to be online and connected for this to work, so check your computer will be online at the delivery time.
How do you say "follow up" politely in an email?
Say what you are following up on and what you need, instead of saying that you are following up. A specific line is polite because it saves the other person a step.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| Just following up on my last email | Following up on the pricing you asked for on Tuesday: it's attached. |
| Circling back | Is Thursday at 10:00 still good for the call with Sam? |
| Any update? | Did the proposal reach your finance lead before Friday's budget meeting? |
| I'll follow up soon | I'll send the revised quote by 17:00 on Thursday. |
| Let me know your thoughts | Does option A or option B fit your timeline better? |
| Sorry to bother you again | Quick question on the rollout date: |
The fourth row is the professional way to say you will follow up: name the thing, the day and the time, then do it on that day. If the person goes quiet after your follow-up, our eight rules for following up without being annoying cover the spacing and what to add each time.
What should the subject line of a follow-up email say?
Reply in the existing thread when there is one, such as the calendar invite or the email that set up the meeting, so the history stays together. When you start a new email, name the meeting and one topic:
- Good to meet you at [event]
- The pricing you asked for on Tuesday
- Next step after today's call
- Decisions from today's call with [company]
Don't fake a thread. Google's email sender guidelines, written for mail to personal Gmail accounts, say not to start subject lines with Re: or Fwd: unless the message is an actual reply or forward. The same page says subject lines and display names should accurately represent the sender and the content.
Set up your follow-ups this week
Block 15 minutes after each external meeting
Put the block in your calendar for every outside meeting this week, and write the follow-up in it before you open anything else.
Save the four-part skeleton
Keep it wherever you can paste it in two clicks, with the subject line ready to edit.
Send the invite before the email
Then the email can say the invite is already in their calendar, and they only have to accept or move it.
Sort your next event into A, B and C
Do it on the train home, using the table above, so group A hears from you that evening.
Set one reminder
Put a reminder on the day after the next step's date. If it passed with no reply, send one short note that ends with a yes-or-no question, like the last line of sample 6.
If you record calls, Siela's meeting notes record on your own device and pull out decisions, owners and follow-ups, which gives you the raw material for the second and third lines of the email.
Frequently asked questions
How do you write a follow-up email after meeting someone at an event?
Name the event and the one thing you talked about in the first line, so they can place you. Then send the link or idea you mentioned. Only ask for a call if they described a real need; if it was small talk, send something useful and leave the next move to them. Send it within a working day while you are still easy to remember.
Should I follow up after a meeting by email or on LinkedIn?
Use email when there is something to send or a time to agree, because it keeps attachments and calendar invites in one thread. A LinkedIn connection request with one line on where you met suits people you only swapped cards with. For someone who matters, do both: the email carries the content, the connection keeps you visible.
How long should I wait if they don't reply to my follow-up?
For a new contact, give it about a week, then send one short note that adds something new. If they gave you a date, such as after their board meeting, wait until the day after it. These are our rules of thumb. After two unanswered notes, ask a plain yes-or-no question about whether to keep going.
Should you thank the person who introduced you?
Yes, the same day. Two lines are enough: you met, what you agreed, and thanks. The introducer put their name behind you, and a quick update shows it paid off. It also means they won't be caught out if the other person mentions the meeting later. Don't copy them into your follow-up to the new contact unless they asked to be kept in the loop.
Is it too late to follow up a week after a meeting?
No, but say why you are writing now and lead with something useful, such as the document you promised or a fresh question. Skip the apology paragraph; one short line is enough. In our view, a late follow-up with a clear next step and a specific time is worth more than a prompt one that only says thanks.
Sources
- Gong Labs (Devin Reed): Surprising cold email CTA that increases meeting bookings (published 27 May 2020, updated 6 Mar 2026, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Association for Psychological Science: You Probably Made a Better First Impression Than You Think (published 10 Sep 2018, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Europe PMC: abstract of The Liking Gap in Conversations (Psychological Science, 2018) (first published 5 Sep 2018, checked 4 Nov 2026 (record also read through the Europe PMC REST API))
- Microsoft Support: Delay or schedule sending email messages in Outlook (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Gmail Help: Email sender guidelines (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Europe PMC: abstract of Undervaluing Gratitude (Psychological Science, 2018) (first published 27 Jun 2018, checked 4 Nov 2026)