9 "Just touching base" follow-up email alternatives

Why?

Because everyone says that. Touch base emails are boring office jargon that don’t stand out in a crowded inbox. They say, “Let’s have a conversation about ... well, something.”

Because everyone says that. These touch-base emails have become stale office jargon, blending into the background of crowded inboxes. They often lack clarity, direction, and, most importantly, the warmth that builds real connections.

To make a lasting impression, your follow-ups need to feel personal and purposeful from the moment they’re opened. That’s where Copper CRM’s email templates come in. While they help streamline your follow-up process, these templates are flexible, allowing you to add a personal touch to each message. Instead of spending time crafting emails from scratch, you can focus on tailoring each template to resonate with your audience, making it easy to stay authentic and engaging with every interaction.

In this post, we’ll explore nine ways to avoid the dreaded “let’s touch base” and send follow-ups and sales emails that build real rapport. From re-emphasizing your business value to adding a hint of humor, these strategies—paired with Copper’s adaptable templates—will help keep your conversations fresh and meaningful, creating stronger connections with your clients.

1. Re-emphasize your business value.
2. Share something of interest.
3. Propose a specific topic.
4. Request a piece of information.
5. Suggest a time and date.
6. Comment on a piece of content.
7. Send an invitation.
8. Ask a question.
9. Stand out with humor.

First, let's look at timing.

So, before we go over what to say in your “touch base” emails—when should your sales team send them?

Instead of manually tracking follow-up times or juggling sticky notes, use your CRM to automate reminders. With Copper, you can set triggers for when an opportunity reaches a specific stage in the pipeline (like a prospect downloading an ebook or attending a webinar). This way, Copper automatically creates a follow-up task, keeping you on schedule without the stress of manual tracking.

Integrating Copper with tools like Google Calendar can make this even more effective, ensuring you never miss an opportunity to reach out at the right moment. Whether on desktop or mobile, you’ll be reminded when it’s time to connect, so you can maintain consistent communication and foster strong relationships.

Here's how building a workflow automation like this looks in Copper:

You can also integrate your CRM with a calendar tool like Google Calendar, so you’ll get alerts reminding you about your tasks no matter where you are or which device you’re using (in case you just so happen to not already have your CRM open).

Let’s be real though: a lot of people like to sync their lives to Google Calendar regardless. CRM lets you do that.

Now, let's look at examples of emails you can write to follow up without saying, "Let's touch base."

Want to catch someone’s attention?

Tell them what you can do for them. It’s probably how you made contact in the first place, and if it worked once, it’ll likely work again.

This is going to require knowledge of your prospect’s business, their specific problems, and your value proposition.

Here’s an example:

This type of email makes it immediately clear what you’re offering and why your prospect should respond.

You can also offer something other than your product or service.

Try sending something that your prospect would like to read: a new blog post, a white paper, the results of your company’s research, or something else similarly valuable.

You can probably see a pattern here: in many cases, you don’t need to be as direct as saying, “Let’s schedule a meeting.”

Just let your prospect know that you’re available and want to help. They’ll get in touch when they’re ready.

“Let’s touch base” doesn’t say anything. It’s like saying, “Let’s catch up” or “Let’s make small talk.”

No one in the business world wants that. They want a specific agenda and an actual point to your meeting.

It doesn’t have to be anything ground-breaking. Here’s something rather simple:

Now your prospect or customer knows what you want to talk about. And they can see the value in the proposed conversation.

Not every “touch base” email will be sent to a prospect or customer. Sometimes you’ll want to touch base with a colleague who you’d like to get information from.

Instead of using an overused phrase, why not just get straight to the point?

The recipient knows what you want, why you want it, and has a couple options for getting in touch.

Much more efficient than “Hey, let’s touch base.”

Many emails say, “Let’s touch base in a few weeks” or some other nebulous amount of time.

(Author’s note: this is a close cousin to “I’ll circle back around” or “Let’s take this offline.” Just say no to terrible office jargon.)

For a much better result, make a specific recommendation like this:

This makes it easy for your recipient to say yes or no. All they have to do is check their calendar and write a quick response. You can follow up with a calendar invite or another suggestion.

Make it easy for your prospect, and you’ll get much better responses.

If your prospect blogs or is active on social media, you can tactfully respond to something they post.

The key here is tactfully. Don’t sound like a stalker.

Here’s one way you might go about it:

Again, notice here that you don’t need to include a hard pitch or a request for a specific commitment. Just make it clear that you’re still around, paying attention, and happy to help.

If you’re in the same area as your prospect, you can invite them to an event where you could meet in person. If you’re distant, an invite to a webinar or another online event will work too.

This is a lot like sending an ebook or white paper—you’re providing value. But you might also be setting up a time to talk without being pushy about it.

You could also propose a meeting immediately following the webinar, or during a break at a conference, or whatever else works for you and your prospect.

Whether you want to be this direct is up to you.

Almost any of the ideas in this list can be phrased as a question, and this is a great way to get a response from your prospect.

The human brain can’t help but respond to questions.

Here’s a simple example:

Using a question in your subject line is also a great way to get people to open your email. Which is the first step in getting them to touch base with you.

“Let’s touch base” is extremely... unfunny.

There’s nothing entertaining or interesting about it at all. Want to stand out from the dozens of competing emails?

Be funny. Make a joke. Share a funny story. Getting someone to laugh—even a little—will boost your chances of success.

You don’t have to be a stand-up comedian for this to work:

This isn’t an award-winning joke. You might even say that it’s not funny at all.

But even this little bit of levity is enough to stand out in a crowded inbox and get you one step closer to a follow-up call.

“Let’s touch base” emails are boring. And being boring is not going to help you schedule sales calls, engage prospects, or close deals.

These nine ideas will help you take a different tack than the sales and marketing people competing for your prospects’ and customers’ attention.

Use them in combination with or to inspire your own creative ways to continue conversations.

And if you have a suggestion for replacing “let’s touch base” or other boring business phrases, let us know on Twitter! We’re always looking for ways to communicate more clearly.