You respond to a new customer or client and hear nothing back. How long is the appropriate amount of time to wait? What should you do next? I prefer to "pre-disaster" these things, and while no email plan is foolproof, this works well:

1. If you're actively on the phone, say that you are sending a quick email right now to make sure that the recipient gets it. Then fire off a simple, "Hi, it's me." to them. This ensures you got the email address correct, you both know the outcome of the send immediately, and you can even use a pre-written blurb like: "Hi, this is just a test email to make sure I have your email address correct, and that you can find this (and whitelist it) if it ends up in junk or spam or trash."

2. If you have called, but aren't on the call at the moment? Send a text asking if they have a moment, and when they do - tell them you are going to send an email right now, using the same protocol.

3. If you are responding to an email you received from the customer, it's less likely a reply will end up missing, but again, fire off a quick reply like, "I just got your message, and sending this just to make sure this doesn't end up in SPAM, and will send a proposal/etc. shortly."

4. If you are sending a cold email having established contact earlier (conference, meeting, whatever) do not start by sending your proposal or full response. Start with a
"Great to meet your at the Megatech conference last week. I'm working on a proposal right now – and just sending this message first to make sure my email is finding its way to your inbox. Let me know when you get this."

This first message needs to be vanilla:

• do not include any attachments
• do not write in all caps or use multiple exclamation points
• do not embed any video, images, or even add links - and check for those in your signature

Why do emails end up in SPAM or trash?

A million things impact deliverability but they boil down to:

The message: that particular email was rejected because it looked sketchy to someone somewhere along the way. Companies that worry about malware and social engineering may crank their gatekeeping software pretty high. Or, you joyfully combined too many trigger words, CAPS, links, videos, images, or misspellings. The courtesy initial email can be a big help here.

The messenger: since bad actors are always attempting to thwart the system, IPs routinely block a range of IP addresses from receiving mail for awhile. This is similar to your parents yelling, "I don't care who started it," and punishing all of you for the actions of one sibling. Most of us are on shared web servers with hundred or thousands of websites. When they block a range, we all get blocked. You can either wait, or try sending from a different location, or if you know you are blocked, check your ISP to find their "unblock me" page.

The receiver: most people have no clue just how much email they have saved, and how much space they have used... If your email is close to maxing out your space, it's like pouring water into a full bucket. You can still pour water in, but some of it goes over the side, and it always stays full.. the water that goes over the side is your email, and what is lost is anyone's guess. Unsubscriberuary is a good way to avoid this, but empty trash regularly. People getting your emails can also accidentally fat finger them into spam.

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