Following up without being a pest

People welcome a follow-up more than we expect; make each one useful, within the rules and easy to decline.

People appreciate being contacted more than we think

In a series of experiments, people who reached out to someone, with a short message or a small gift, consistently underestimated how much the other person appreciated it. Those studies were about friends and acquaintances, not customers, so treat them as a finding about people in general. Still, the bias points one wa…

Every follow-up should add something

"Just checking in" asks the customer to do the work. A good follow-up brings something new:

Stay inside the rules

On WhatsApp, a follow-up after the 24-hour window must be an approved template, and the person must have opted in. On Messenger and Instagram, the window rules from the platform-rules lesson apply. A follow-up that breaks them doesn't arrive, and repeated attempts cost you quality.

Make it easy to say no

"If you've gone another way, just say so and I'll close this off" gets replies from people who would otherwise ghost you, and the no is useful too. When someone asks you to stop, stop.

Know when you're overdoing it

Blocks and reports are the signal. On WhatsApp they lower your quality rating, and a sustained low rating gets a business rate-limited.

The short version

We underestimate how much people appreciate being contacted.Each follow-up should bring an answer, an update or a choice.Follow the platform's window and template rules.Offer an easy way out, and honour it.Blocks and reports mean stop.

Try it in Kanvo

When you promise something in a message ("I'll send it Friday"), Kanvo offers Track it above the message box; that puts it on Needs you with the date. For a follow-up at a better hour, use Send later in Kanvo's own chats.

Sources

Across a series of experiments, people who reached out underestimated how much the recipient appreciated it.