How to write an effective friendly reminder email

Do you ever go to text someone and realize you forgot to reply to the message they sent three days ago? 😬

You have the best of intentions, but life happens, urgent tasks pop up, and the message gets pushed to the back of your mind.

This is a common experience in our personal and professional lives alike. Sometimes, messages slip through the cracks with clients, customers, colleagues, and employees. Often all it takes is a little nudge to get back on track and make sure action is taken as needed.

Enter the friendly reminder email.

In this article, we'll cover a few reasons why you'd send friendly reminders and include a handful of templates for you to borrow.

Why are friendly reminder emails necessary?

The average full-time US employee receives an average of 121 emails every day. For even the most organized worker, a message or two is bound to be left unchecked.

A friendly reminder usually serves one of two purposes: to help the recipient remember an upcoming event or to nudge the recipient about a task that's not yet been completed. These emails might be about:

• A job interview
• A payment due date
• An upcoming meeting or appointment
• An upcoming deadline
• An unpaid invoice
• A document submission
• An event registration

How to send a friendly reminder email

First, let's talk about how not to use friendly reminder emails.

It can be tempting to make assumptions when someone needs to be reminded to do something multiple times, but keep in mind that you're working with humans, not robots (and even robots make mistakes from time to time). Sometimes an email is overlooked or a task is unintentionally pushed to the backburner for a little too long. Focus on helping the situation move forward, not on what's happened in the past. Avoid using passive-aggressive language, sending multiple emails in a short time span, or shaming the recipient for not taking action yet.

Best practices of an effective reminder email include:

• Striking the right balance between professionalism and approachability
• Including all necessary details, such as contact information, an invoice number, or an online meeting link
• Offering assistance or support with getting the task completed
• Using a clear subject line that indicates the purpose of the email
• Following up with a prompt response to any questions about your reminder email

Suggested wait time before sending a reminder message

There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to sending reminder emails. Timing depends on who your recipient is and why you're sending the message.

If you're sending a friendly reminder about an upcoming event, for example, you can schedule a few gentle reminder emails to be sent a week out, the day before, and an hour before your event. For an approaching project deadline, allow more time between check-ins about a complex, time-consuming task and less time for a straightforward task.

What's trickiest is knowing when to send sales email reminders after an event, like after a first call or demo. Most of your timing should depend on what you want or need from the recipient. For example, for sales follow-up emails, we recommend this cadence after an initial interaction to come across as persistent, but not creepy:

Day 3: First follow-up
Day 7: Second follow-up
Day 11: Third follow-up
Day 15: Fourth follow-up
Day 19: Fifth follow-up
Day 22: Final follow-up

This isn't overkill: Data shows that 60% of customers will say no and ignore follow-ups four times before they re-engage.

Friendly reminder email templates

We've rounded up some reminder email examples to save you time and brainpower the next time you need to send a friendly reminder to someone on your team or in your pipeline. To use each template, just copy and paste the text and fill in the blanks with pertinent information. Do one final read-through before hitting send to ensure your email reads just right.

General reminder email template

No matter your purpose for sending a reminder, most emails should follow this general format:

Subject: Compelling and clear subject lines ensure the email is opened immediately

Body: Include a simple greeting. Explain what you need from the recipient and reference all the information they need to complete the action. Suggest any solutions or support you may be able to offer. If you're sending an urgent reminder email, you may include a call to action that requests confirmation of the email or a note about their next steps.

Closing: Close the email professionally with a signoff such as 'Kind regards,' 'Sincerely,' or 'All the best.'

Before you hit send, double-check to be sure you included any necessary attachments or links.

Email template #1: Sign-up reminder

Subject: Reminder to register for [date] training session

Hi [name],

This is just a quick reminder about the upcoming training session we have on [date] about [topic].

If you haven't already signed up, now's the time to do so! This is a great opportunity to invest in your professional development and further hone your skills.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

All the best,

[your name]

Email template #2: Meeting reminder

Subject: Don't forget: Team meeting tomorrow at [time]

Hi [name],

I hope you're doing well. Friendly reminder that we have our team meeting scheduled for tomorrow at [time]. Here is the link to attend: [link]

This meeting is an important opportunity for us to touch base, discuss recent updates, and set goals for the upcoming month.

If you haven't already, please take a moment to review the attached agenda, and come prepared to share any updates or insight you have.

If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to reach out. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Kind regards,

[your name]

Email template #3: Survey reminder

Subject: Action required: Please complete this survey

Hello [name],

Thanks for attending the training on [topic]! I look forward to seeing how you use what we discussed in the session in your day-to-day.

It's important to me that you feel like our team training sessions are a wise use of your time and energy. I never want you to feel like they needlessly take away from other tasks.

At your earliest convenience, will you complete [this survey] about the session? It will help me plan for the future to ensure I'm best meeting your needs.

Best regards,

[your name]

How to use Chat GPT to write a friendly reminder email

Although we've collected several different friendly reminder email examples above, there's a good chance they don't cover the full gamut of your communication needs. Maybe you need to send an event reminder email for a team-building exercise or your internal communication is way more casual than the templates above.

If you can't find a friendly reminder email template to suit your exact needs, don't reinvent the wheel: Let ChatGPT write something for you. Enter a short prompt with all of the relevant details you have, and in less than 30 seconds, you'll have a drafted email, including a suggested email subject line, ready to copy, paste, and edit.

Here's a prompt for a polite reminder email about an upcoming Lunch-and-Learn, and the output the AI came up with.

And if you need to make changes — like for example, let's say this is now an online event — simply note that, and within seconds, you'll have an updated version.

You've got plenty of tasks that require creativity and problem-solving; your email reminders don't have to be one of them.

Schedule your emails with Streak mail merge

Email templates aren't the only way to save time. Using Streak, you can schedule mail merges (personalized mass emails) with automatic follow-ups in Gmail to increase engagement if recipients don't reply to your first message. You can also create snippets (saved email templates), so that all you have to do is enter a shortcut, and your email will be populated with the pre-saved template.

Learn how else Streak can simplify your Gmail experience by requesting a free 14-day trial today.