follow-up-sequence

---
name: follow-up-sequence
description: Build the five-email, 21-day follow-up sequence, one new thing per touch, breakup at the end, when a cold email gets no reply.
---

# Get the replies that only follow-ups bring

Five emails over 21 days, a LinkedIn touch and two exit replies, ready to paste; follow-ups bring 42 to 59% of replies.

## Claude does

1. Collect, never guess: {PROSPECT}, {SENDER}, {TOUCH_1} (verbatim, or hook and value prop), {OUTPUT_FOLDER}.
2. Cadence: Days 0, 3, 7, 14, 21; email 4 earns half of email 1's replies, so lead with the best material.
3. One new thing per follow-up: Day 3 {VALUE_PIECE}, a real stat or insight Claude has opened; Day 7 {PROOF}, {SENDER}'s result from a similar company, else a second insight labelled so; Day 14 {NEW_ANGLE}, a different pain point or trend; Day 21 {BREAKUP_CLOSE}, "1-2-3" by default, "referral" when another contact is obvious.
4. Day 10 {LINKEDIN_HOOK}: after three silent emails, a new channel; one human reason to connect, no email mention.
5. {CTA}: one interest question per email ("Worth exploring?"), lighter the more senior the reader; no meeting ask before Day 14.
6. {TIMEFRAME} for the "not now" exit (default three months); {FIX} = "none".

## Then Codex does

Codex writes the eight messages and tracker and prints the counts Claude checks: text and formatting only.

```
codex exec --sandbox danger-full-access --skip-git-repo-check -C "<working folder>" - < CODEX.md
```

Claude fills in: {PROSPECT}, {SENDER}, {TOUCH_1}, {VALUE_PIECE}, {PROOF}, {NEW_ANGLE}, {LINKEDIN_HOOK}, {CTA}, {BREAKUP_CLOSE}, {TIMEFRAME}, {OUTPUT_FOLDER}, {FIX}.

## Claude checks

1. Eight messages in order; messages 2, 3, 5 and 6 are "Re:" the Day 0 subject.
2. Email 1 at most 120 words; each later email shorter, none under 30. Recount one by hand.
3. Every rule below holds; each follow-up carries its one new thing unchanged, nothing Claude did not supply.
4. Breakup has all four moves and the chosen close; LinkedIn note ignores the emails; exits are one message each, the "no" unpitched.

Failures go under {FIX}; rerun, recheck, never patch by hand.

## Rules

- Every fact from {SENDER} or a source Claude opened, nothing guessed: it goes out in {SENDER}'s name.
- Banned: "following up", "bumping", "circling back", "just checking in", "did you see my last email", "I never heard back", "Thoughts?", "I'm busy too", guilt trips.
- Each message reads as the first, never Email 1 recycled or renamed; each shorter than the last, never empty: one or two sentences plus one value piece.
- Same subject and thread throughout. One CTA per email, no call ask in the first touch, no asking for long reads or a case study.
- First follow-up Day 3 at the earliest; never a sixth email.
- A reply pauses; a "no" ends it; a "not now" books one message. No breakup before the fifth email, one per prospect, then no contact except a reply of 2.
- Track replies by step, never opens.

## If Codex is not installed

Claude does the Codex half itself, says so, still checks.

## Built from

- marketingskills follow-up-sequences.md, 46,908 stars (api.github.com): https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/blob/main/skills/cold-email/references/follow-up-sequences.md
- borghei/Claude-Skills cold-email, 702 stars, Commons Clause, never sell: https://github.com/borghei/Claude-Skills/blob/main/marketing/cold-email/SKILL.md
- Woodpecker, 20M+ emails: https://woodpecker.co/blog/cold-email-statistics/
- Gong Labs, 304,174 follow-up emails: https://www.gong.io/blog/7-tips-for-writing-the-perfect-follow-up-sales-email-according-to-science
- lemlist, millions of campaigns: https://www.lemlist.com/blog/how-many-cold-email-follow-ups
- Belkins, 7.5M emails: https://belkins.io/blog/sales-follow-up-statistics

# Get the replies that only follow-ups bring - Codex task

## You are given

- {PROSPECT}: name, role, seniority, company.
- {SENDER}: name, company, offer; sign as this person.
- {TOUCH_1}: Email 1 verbatim, or "write it" plus hook and value prop.
- {VALUE_PIECE}: a stat or insight, with source.
- {PROOF}: a customer result, or "none" plus a second insight.
- {NEW_ANGLE}: a pain point or trend.
- {LINKEDIN_HOOK}: a human reason to connect.
- {CTA}: the question closing every email.
- {BREAKUP_CLOSE}: "1-2-3" or "referral".
- {TIMEFRAME}: delay for the "not now" message.
- {OUTPUT_FOLDER}: where to save.
- {FIX}: "none", or last run's failures; correct only those.

## Produce

1. {OUTPUT_FOLDER}/follow-up-sequence.md, eight messages, each headed number, day, channel, subject:
   1. Day 0, email: {TOUCH_1} unchanged, or from the hook: opener, value prop, {CTA}. Its subject heads the thread.
   2. Day 3, email: one sentence of context, {VALUE_PIECE} with source, {CTA}.
   3. Day 7, email: {PROOF} in one or two sentences, {CTA}.
   4. Day 10, LinkedIn note from {LINKEDIN_HOOK}, under 300 characters: no email mention, no pitch.
   5. Day 14, email: {NEW_ANGLE} written as a first email, {CTA}.
   6. Day 21, email, breakup in four moves: several attempts; now may not be the time; last email; door open. Then {BREAKUP_CLOSE}: "1 interested, let's talk / 2 not now, check back in 3 months / 3 not interested, please stop", or "if someone else owns this, a name would help".
   7. After a "no": thanks and close; no pitch or ask.
   8. {TIMEFRAME} after a "not now": one standalone message, nothing follows.
2. {OUTPUT_FOLDER}/follow-up-tracker.csv: columns step, day, channel, sent, replies, positive_replies, meetings; rows for steps 1 to 6; no opens.

## Rules

- Never "following up", "bumping", "circling back", "just checking in", "did you see my last email", "I never heard back", "Thoughts?", "I'm busy too", or any reference to an earlier email; each stands alone.
- Email 1 at most 120 words; each later email shorter, never under 30.
- One CTA per email, exactly {CTA}; no calendar link or call ask before Email 4.
- Only the given new thing per follow-up, no Email 1 wording, no invented statistic, name, client, figure, link or event.
- Messages 2, 3, 5 and 6 use "Re: " plus Email 1's subject.
- No asking for long reads or a case study.
- Plain British English; no exclamation marks; no bullets in emails except the 1-2-3 close.

## Return

Print:

1. Both file paths.
2. Word counts and subjects of messages 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.
3. Case-insensitive grep for each banned phrase.
4. Confirmation every name, figure, client and link came from the inputs.