How to write a LinkedIn follow up after a not now
Last updated 10 November 2026
Writing a LinkedIn follow up after a not now keeps the conversation open, and HeyLead handles this task for you.
What it is
You send a message to sell a product or service. The person reads it and replies that the timing is wrong. They said not now. That is an answer, not a no, and the message you send later decides whether they reply again. HeyLead is an AI agent for LinkedIn outreach: it finds the right people, writes to them in the voice of your own LinkedIn posts, follows up, and handles replies. It runs from Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client or a web dashboard.
Why it matters
A quiet inbox does not mean the person will never buy. You need a reason to write back when the time is right. You can reach out when the timing they gave you, coming round, is finally here. You can write when there is a change at their company since you last wrote. You can also send a message when you have something new you can show that answers their last concern. Reach the people who buy what you built.
What to write or do
Keep the length to two or three short lines. Remind them of the last exchange in one line. State what has changed since. End with a question they can answer in a word. Leave out guilt about not replying. Do not repeat your first message. Never send a message before the time they asked you to wait.
- Remind them of the last exchange in one line
- What has changed since
- A question they can answer in a word
The brief to type into HeyLead
You type a one-sentence brief in Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT or the HeyLead dashboard. One sentence creates a draft campaign. HeyLead drafts the campaign. You review it and press Launch. Nothing is sent before. HeyLead watches 40+ signal types, scored, matched to your ICP and expiring. A strong signal starts outreach and the opener says why now. Before an invitation, HeyLead warms up: a profile view, a follow, a comment on a recent post. An invitation with a note, an opening message, up to 2 follow-ups on Free and 5 on Pro, InMail and email fallback. It reads your own LinkedIn posts to learn your voice and never posts unless you ask for a post. Six campaign goals: sell a product or service, find a job, hire people, find partners or investors, find a vendor, research interviews. Hire people, find partners or investors and research interviews work with a custom brief.
create_campaign goal='sell'Limits
Replies are read, classified and answered from the campaign's facts. A reply that could mean two things gets one short question back. A question your facts can't answer is held for you. Opening messages, follow-ups and answers to replies go out without review unless you switch review on. Then they wait for your approval. Invitations are not held. In review mode, invitations go out without a note. It runs from the cloud with your laptop closed. The client's source is on GitHub under MIT. The hosted backend is not. Free costs $0 for one connected account with 2 follow-ups. Pro costs $29 a month per connected account. HubSpot is the CRM it syncs with. Google Calendar is the calendar it books into. It works in Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop and claude.ai, any MCP client and a web dashboard; in ChatGPT as a custom MCP app (tested on ChatGPT Pro; custom apps depend on your ChatGPT plan and settings).
Questions people ask
Does HeyLead handle a not now reply?
Yes, replies are read, classified and answered from the campaign's facts, and a not now gets a check-in in 30 days.
Do I need to review messages before they go out?
Opening messages, follow-ups and answers to replies go out without review unless you switch review on; then they wait for your approval. Invitations are not held.
How much does HeyLead cost?
Free costs $0 for one connected account with 2 follow-ups. Pro costs $29 a month per connected account.
What CRM and calendar does HeyLead use?
HubSpot is the CRM it syncs with, and Google Calendar is the calendar it books into.
HeyLead sends from your own LinkedIn account at a human pace: at most 20 invitations a day and 100 a week on a free LinkedIn account (more on Premium or Sales Navigator: a newly connected paid account starts at 20 a day and doubles each week up to its limit), Monday to Friday 08:00 to 22:00 in your time zone, minutes apart. It backs off when LinkedIn pushes back and resumes on its own. You can pause any campaign at any time.
HeyLead is not affiliated with LinkedIn. It reaches LinkedIn through Unipile, which is also not affiliated. LinkedIn's own rules are in the Terms.
Set up HeyLead using https://heylead.dev/llms.txt