"Looking Forward to Hearing from You" Alternatives

Your sales process is only as strong as your communication skills. Prospects receive so much outreach from salespeople, it's important to keep your messaging fresh and compelling.

One way to achieve this is by swapping tired, meaningless phrases like, "Looking forward to hearing from you," with alternatives that inspire action and urgency.

Here, we'll cover ten alternatives to help you increase your response rate and ensure you move more deals along quickly.

It's a good idea to forgo the typical email sign-offs to make your email more memorable and urgent, and less passive. If you're waiting for a colleague or connection to get back to you, consider trying the following examples to help you better convey your request and ideal timeframe.

1. "Could you return all proposal feedback by Friday?"

Giving your prospects a deadline to meet guesswork out of your timeline. In doing so, you prevent the recipient from "starring" your email for later or thinking, "I'll get to that next week." Instead, you state your expectations up front and give them a direct goal to meet.

If your deadline's flexible, you might add, "Does this timeline meet your expectations?" This allows your prospect to push back if they need more time. Make sure there's always a deadline, however. If your prospect replies, "Actually, I think I'll need a few more days," say, "Not a problem. Let's move the deadline to next Wednesday." You've given them some wiggle room while sticking with a firm goal date.

2. "Could you help me find the answer here?"

Humans generally like helping other humans. Use this fact to your advantage. This approach is especially helpful early in the sales process when you need to identify the decision maker.

Sending an email that says, "I'd like to speak with the person in charge of purchasing at your company, but I'm not sure who to reach out to. Could you help me?" is much more persuasive than simply saying, "Are you the person in charge of purchasing at Geo Enterprises?"

3. "I saw X and thought of you. What are your thoughts?"

If your prospect has gone dark or you're having trouble getting them to meet one particular requirement — stop hitting them over the head with the same ask. By this time, they're probably immune to it.

Instead, send them a casual, non-work-related email such as, "I saw Oklahoma had some tornadoes last weekend. Were any close to you?" There's less pressure to reply and a greater likelihood they will because it's a personal question. Once you've gotten them talking again, you can ask the business questions you need answered.

4. "It would really help me out if you could reply by Wednesday."

This is a similar approach to number two. If you need an answer quickly, ask for help. Frame the request as a favor instead of a demand, saying, "It would really help me out — and help us stick to our timeline — if you could give me an answer by the end of the day on Thursday."

Ultimately, when you hit or miss a deadline, that reflects on you — even if you rely on someone else to get there. We've all been in those situations, and most of us (including your prospects) are more than willing to step up and get you the results you need.

5. "If you're too busy to handle this request, is there someone else I can reach out to?"

This is a direct approach — and one to only use when absolutely necessary. It's essentially presenting your prospect with a light threat by explaining that if they don't respond, you'll go around them.

Reserve this for situations where the deal is on the verge of falling through. For example, if you sent the contract several weeks ago, have touched base several times, and have still heard nothing back.

6. "If I don't hear from you by X date, I'll assume we're good to move forward here."

This approach works well when you have a request that doesn't necessarily require an answer — like the final draft of a contract or a proposed timeline. Simply send the document or update and say, "If I don't hear from you by Friday, I'll assume you don't have any feedback and move forward."

This sets a firm timeline and puts the burden on them to get back to you with an answer quickly.

7. "I appreciate your quick response."

This is a gentle nudge for prospects. It communicates you're serious about a response without being forceful or vaguely threatening. Drop it at the end of an email or add why their prompt response is important.

8. "Let me know if anything changes."

This is another opportunity to put the responsibility back on your prospect. If all that's required of them is to alert you to feedback or changes to the existing agreement, ask them to keep you in the loop and leave it at that. Unless they reach out, you can move forward freely.

9. "I haven't heard from you regarding [topic]. Usually when this happens, it means [usual meaning]. Is this correct?"

Save this as another last resort. If there's a 50/50 chance the deal is lost anyway, try this as a final effort to elicit a response. There is a chance you might jolt them back into action and jumpstart the deal once more. Either way, you'll have a definitive answer allowing you to move on.

10. "If you're not the right person, would you mind connecting me with the best person to help me with this request?"

If you're not in correspondence with the correct person to fulfill your request, and email ending in "I look forward to hearing from you" might result in your message being ignored. If you aren't already in close communication or partnership with the recipient of your email, ask them if they'd be willing to connect you to the person who can help you.

11. “Let me know if you are interested so I can get started immediately.”

This is a useful approach when you need the go-ahead from the recipient before moving to the next step. The word immediately also communicates a sense of urgency and your willingness to hit the ground running. It's a compelling sign-off that's hard to ignore.

12. "Do you have any questions?"

This is a great option when it's early in the sales process and you need to build relationships. It's a simple phrase that facilitates conversations while reassuring prospects that you're open to questions. As a result, the relationship feels less transactional and more supportive.

Try a few of these fresh takes on "Looking forward to hearing from you" to increase your response rates from those prospects that never seem to be in a hurry to reply.