Delayed message
A delayed message is a message to a client prepared in advance and sent later: a few hours on, the next day or on a set date.
What it looks like
A sales rep sends an offer and decides to come back to the client tomorrow if there is no answer. Or the client asks to be contacted after the weekend. The message is ready in advance and goes out later.
Why it matters
A message sent at the right moment brings the conversation back. A forgotten one loses the client.
But a delayed message has a downside: a lot can change in the meantime. A message that arrives after the client already answered looks careless. The person has said “yes”, and they get “are you still thinking?”. The client hears an echo and draws conclusions about the company.
What to do
Write as if a person were sending it right now: short, without pressure, with a clear next step. Do not stretch repeated touches endlessly: after two or three silences, it is time to stop.
And remember the main thing: a message out of place is worse than none. The rest comes after we meet.
More in Signals
- Following up with clients in chat: when to return and when to stopA follow-up in a chat helps when the rep has something to say on substance, and hurts when it is written blind. The head of sales decides who owns the conversation, how many follow-ups are acceptable and when to stop, and works out the cost of forgotten ones on the team's own conversations. Irritation shows early: curt replies, requests to stop writing, complaints.
- “I’ll pay on Friday”: how to stop losing payment promises in client chatsPayment promises get lost because they live in a sales rep's head, in a chat or in a personal note, with no date anyone else knows. For the company, that is money that has lost its owner. For “I’ll pay on Friday” to reach its date, the team needs an agreement: every promise has a date, an amount and an owner, the rep reminds the client personally, and a miss is noticed the same day.