When a Buyer Says "We'll Get Back to You": How to Follow Up After a Good Meeting

BOTrento Team4 November 20266 min read

Why buyers go quiet after a positive meeting

A good meeting creates goodwill, but it doesn't create a decision. Afterwards the buyer has to do work you can't see:

• explain your offer to someone who wasn't in the room;
• find or confirm budget;
• compare you with another supplier;
• deal with their own urgent tasks, which usually win.

"We'll get back to you" is often a polite way of saying "not this week". So treat it as an open loop, not a closed door. If the silence came before you sent a quote, the approach differs slightly; see how to follow up when the buyer goes silent before you quote.

When to follow up

If a date was agreed

Write on that date, or the working day after. Don't wait longer: the buyer promised a date, so you are simply keeping the arrangement.

If nothing was agreed

Send a short thank-you the same day with a summary of what was discussed. Then follow up three to five working days later. For larger or slower decisions, such as event production, equipment hire for a big project or a service contract, allow a little longer, but never leave it open-ended.

How many attempts

Plan three touches with a different angle each time: a recap, something useful, then a polite close. After that, stop chasing and move the enquiry to a clearly dated "revisit" list. For the cadence after a sent quote, see quote follow-up: when to chase, what to write and when to stop.

Agree the next step before the call ends

The best follow-up starts in the meeting. Before you hang up, ask for a concrete next step instead of accepting "we'll be in touch".

1. Name the decision. "What needs to happen on your side before you can decide?"
2. Name the people. "Is anyone else involved who should see this?"
3. Set a date. "Shall I check in on Thursday, or is next Tuesday better?"
4. Offer something to bring. "I'll send a one-page summary today so you can forward it."
5. Write it down. Put the date in your calendar and the CRM or notes straight away.

Most buyers will happily give you a date if you ask. It turns a vague promise into an arrangement you can legitimately follow up on.

Three short follow-up emails

1. Same-day recap

Subject: Recap of today's call and next step

Hi Anna,

Thanks for your time today. To confirm what we covered: you need [short summary of requirement], ideally by [date]. I'll send [document] by [day], and you'll check with [colleague] about [open point].

I'll get in touch on [agreed date] to hear how it's going. If anything changes before then, just reply here.

Best regards,
[Name]

2. Check-in on the agreed date

Subject: Following up on [project]

Hi Anna,

As agreed, I'm checking in on [project]. Have you had a chance to discuss it with [colleague]?

If it helps, I can send a shorter version for the wider team, or join a quick call to answer their questions.

Best regards,
[Name]

3. Polite close of the loop

Subject: Should I close this for now?

Hi Anna,

I haven't heard back, so I'll assume the timing isn't right. I'll close this on my side for now, and I'm happy to pick it up whenever it becomes a priority.

If I've got that wrong, just reply and we'll continue.

Best regards,
[Name]

Each email is short, mentions something specific and asks one question. For more wording and the reasoning behind it, see how to ask about a quote after sending it.

Mistakes that make the silence worse

• "Just checking in" with nothing else. Add a fact, a question or a useful piece of information.
• Chasing every day. Space your touches out.
• Long emails. A busy buyer replies to three lines, not three paragraphs.
• Forgetting your own promises. "I'll send the details on Friday" is a commitment too. If you miss it, you give the buyer a reason to go quiet.
• No record. If the next step lives only in your memory, it will be lost the first busy week.

The last two are why many teams lose deals quietly. The seven follow-up mistakes that kill B2B deals go into each in more detail.

How BOTrento keeps these follow-ups from slipping

Whether you use Pipedrive, HubSpot, Outlook, Gmail or a spreadsheet, the weak spot is usually the same: nobody is reminded. BOTrento Chief of Staff is a managed process built around that gap.

• It watches enquiries and quotes in your mailbox and uploaded data.
• It catches promises such as "I'll get back to you by Friday" and reminds you when they fall due.
• Every working morning it shows a Today overview of what needs attention.
• It prepares draft replies and follow-ups in four languages (Czech, English, German, French).
• Follow-ups with a date can be added to Outlook, Google Calendar or iPhone through a private iCal link.

Nothing is sent without a person approving it, and BOTrento doesn't confirm dates or bookings for you. It doesn't replace your CRM either. Gmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are currently connected by forwarding or import; other mailboxes, such as Seznam, connect via IMAP. AI is included in the plan within a monthly usage limit, and you can try the whole process free for 14 days with no card and no API key of your own. The 14 days start with your first successful data upload. Here's a walkthrough of the process, and if you work in events and production or equipment rental, you'll recognise the pattern. The related questions of how to stop forgetting quote follow-ups are answered separately.