Follow-Up Emails That Get Responses: Timing and Tips

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1. 19 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

   The reference for Bluma Zeigarnik's classic 1927 paper is given DOI 10.1007/BF02409755, but that DOI actually resolves to a different work: Kurt Lewin's 'Untersuchungen zur Handlungs- und Affektpsycho; Daniel Pink's trade book 'To Sell Is Human' is given a fabricated DOI (10.5555/2568282, an ACM-style placeholder prefix not used for popular non-academic books). Trade books published by Riverhead Boo; Erin Meyer's trade book 'The Culture Map' is given a fabricated DOI (10.1177/0022022116659802) t

   Before

   <li><p>Zeigarnik, B. (1927). On finished and unfinished tasks. <em>Psychologische Forschung</em>, 9, 1-85. DOI: 10.1007/BF02409755</p> </li> [...] <li><p>Pink, D. H. (2012). <em>To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others</em>. Riverhead Books. DOI: 10.5555/2568282</p> </li> [...] <li><p>Meyer, E. (2014). <em>The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business</em>. PublicAffairs. DOI: 10.1177/0022022116659802</p> </li> [...] <li><p>Cialdini, R. B. (2006). <em>Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion</em> (Revised ed.). Harper Business. DOI: 10.1017/S0813483900008238</p> </li> [...] A study by Yesware analyzing over 500,000 email threads found that reply rates increase by 21 percent with just one follow-up, and the first follow-up is statistically the most effective single email in any sequence.

   After

   <li><p>Zeigarnik, B. (1927). On finished and unfinished tasks. <em>Psychologische Forschung</em>, 9, 1-85.</p> </li> [...] <li><p>Pink, D. H. (2012). <em>To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others</em>. Riverhead Books.</p> </li> [...] <li><p>Meyer, E. (2014). <em>The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business</em>. PublicAffairs.</p> </li> [...] <li><p>Cialdini, R. B. (2006). <em>Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion</em> (Revised ed.). Harper Business.</p> </li> [...] A study by Yesware analyzing over 500,000 email threads found that if the first email receives no reply, there is roughly a 21 percent chance of getting a reply to a single follow-up, showing that a first follow-up meaningfully improves the odds of a response.

   Why: The reference for Bluma Zeigarnik's classic 1927 paper is given DOI 10.1007/BF02409755, but that DOI actually resolves to a different work: Kurt Lewin's 'Untersuchungen zur Handlungs- und Affektpsycho; Daniel Pink's trade book 'To Sell Is Human' is given a fabricated DOI (10.5555/2568282, an ACM-style placeholder prefix not used for popular non-academic books). Trade books published by Riverhead Boo; Erin Meyer's trade book 'The Culture Map' is given a fabricated DOI (10.1177/0022022116659802) that actually belongs to an unrelated cross-cultural psychology journal article, not to Meyer's book, whi; Robert Cialdini's trade book 'Influence' is given a fabricated DOI (10.1017/S0813483900008238). Harper Business trade books do not carry academic DOIs, and this identifier does not resolve to Cialdini; The article states Yesware's study found reply rates 'increase by 21 percent with just one follow-up,' framing this as a 21-percentage-point increase. Yesware's actual published finding is tha

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1. Correction 19 July 2026

   Emir Baycan: The reference for Bluma Zeigarnik's classic 1927 paper is given DOI 10.1007/BF02409755, but that DOI actually resolves to a different work: Kurt Lewin's 'Untersuchungen zur Handlungs- und Affektpsycho; Daniel Pink's trade book 'To Sell Is Human' is given a fabricated DOI (10.5555/2568282, an ACM-style placeholder prefix not used for popular non-academic books). Trade books published by Riverhead Boo; Erin Meyer's trade book 'The Culture Map' is given a fabricated DOI (10.1177/0022022116659802) t

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