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Following up on unanswered inquiries

90% of replies come from the first send. For the 10% that need a nudge, here's the playbook.

When you'd use this​

It's been a week since you sent inquiries. Most have replied; several are silent.

The etiquette basics​

  • Don't follow up sooner than 7 days. Booking email is triaged weekly for most venues.
  • Don't follow up more than twice. After 2 nudges, silence is an answer.
  • Never follow up within 48 hours of sending. Looks desperate.
  • Mix channels sparingly. Emailing the same booker's Instagram after an email goes unanswered is a move you can make once per tour, not as default.

Mintoor's nudges​

If you've configured nudges in your outreach settings, Mintoor will surface inquiries that have gone quiet so you can decide whether to follow up. Today the nudge is a reminder — full configurable rules and auto-scheduled follow-up sends are on the roadmap, not in the app yet.

Manual nudges​

For high-priority venues (anchored shows, top picks), manually craft a follow-up:

  1. Open the inquiry thread.
  2. Click Follow up.
  3. Blank compose with the original context attached.
  4. Write 2–3 sentences. Ask a specific question ("Is it the date that's the issue? I have flex ±2 days").
  5. Send.

Specific questions outperform vague "just checking in" 3:1 in reply rate.

When to stop​

After two follow-ups with no reply:

  • Mark the inquiry Expired or No reply — move on.
  • Log in Mintoor so future tours don't re-pitch automatically.
  • Consider the venue may be genuinely not programming your style; not personal.

Re-pitching later​

A venue that didn't respond this tour can be re-pitched 6+ months later. Mintoor tracks historical send dates and warns if you're about to re-pitch within 90 days (usually a mistake).

If the venue replies late (after you gave up)​

Happens often. Venue bookers get swamped, reply 3 weeks late, apologize. If your date is still open, say yes. If you filled it, politely decline and flag for next tour.

Still stuck?​

  • Not sure when to nudge. Default is 7 days after original send for the first follow-up; 14 days for the second.
  • Want to tweak the wording? Edit your outreach template — see Customizing your outreach template.