8 Alternatives to 'Looking Forward to Hearing from You'
Looking forward to hearing from you is a common expression in email communication and other correspondence. It’s used to end an email by encouraging the addressee to reply sometime soon.
There’s nothing wrong with using this expression – it’s clear, correct, and friendly in tone without being overly informal. But since it’s so frequently used, you may be worried that it seems cliché or that your addressee won’t really take notice of it, especially if you need to push them to respond quickly.
Below, we provide 8 potential alternatives to help you vary your language, strike the right tone, and encourage a quick response.
1. I’d love to hear your feedback
Using an expression like ‘I’d love to hear your feedback’ shows your addressee that you expect them to comment on what you’ve said. It also frames this information in a positive way, showing that you value their opinion but not putting too much pressure on them for a quick response.
Let me know if that sounds good to you.
I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this.
2. Keep me informed …
A phrase like ‘keep me informed’ is appropriate when you need to be kept updated about some situation or ongoing project, but you don’t specifically need a response if nothing has changed. It lets the person know that you should be kept in the loop, without requiring an immediate reply.
Please keep me in the loop regarding any shift in our priorities.
Keep in touch and let me know if anything changes.
3. Can you let me know?
If you do need a specific answer, it’s likely you posed the question already in the body of the email. But ending with a question like ‘Can you let me know?’ reminds the addressee that they need to answer, prompting them to think about your question actively.
Is this assumption correct?
Does that work for you, or would you prefer something else?
4. I appreciate your quick response
Thanking someone in advance for their reply with a phrase like ‘I appreciate your quick response’ can be a good tactic in some contexts. It indicates what you expect from them, but in a way that emphasises how much you appreciate it. This may encourage them to respond quickly to avoid disappointing your expectations.
Be careful not to use this approach in a situation where it could seem presumptuous, though. For example, if you’re not very familiar with someone and they have no real obligation to respond quickly, emphasising the presumed speed of their response may appear passive-aggressive.
My gratitude for your prompt answer.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
5. Speak to you soon!
Sometimes a less formal signoff is needed. A phrase like ‘Speak to you soon!’ is a good choice when you have an established, friendly relationship with the person you’re messaging (e.g., a friend or someone you’ve worked with closely before). Casual signoffs like this are not appropriate when communicating with someone for the first time or in a formal context.
Write back soon!
Always happy to hear from you.
6. Let’s …
Another approach is to be specific: end with a call to action that clearly indicates what response is needed. This is appropriate when you need a specific answer, or a specific action, to happen quickly in response to your message. It makes it fully clear to the recipient what you need from them.
Please indicate your availability before this Friday so we can set up an interview.
I’d really appreciate it if you can get the designs to me this week. Let me know if that won’t be possible, though.
7. Can you point me to the right person?
Sometimes people fail to respond simply because they aren’t the right person to answer your question. For example, you might be reaching out to someone at a company whose structure you’re unfamiliar with and end up posing your question to the wrong person. Or the person you contact may simply have no time to respond to queries.
A good way to deal with this uncertainty is to address it explicitly, indicating that you would like some kind of response even if the recipient can’t answer directly. Be polite about this if you suspect you’re contacting the wrong person.
I understand that you may not have time to answer my questions right now. If you’re too busy to help, is there anyone else I can reach out to instead?
If you aren’t able to look at this request yourself, I’d really appreciate it if you can forward it to the appropriate address.
8. If I don’t hear back …
If the situation calls for a sense of urgency, it can sometimes be a good idea to specify some deadline after which you’ll take action without the addressee’s input. This gives them a good reason to respond quickly if they don’t agree, and it allows them not to respond if they’re happy with what you suggest.
This is appropriate if there’s already a good understanding between you and you’re just asking for confirmation, or if a continued lack of response from the other side suggests that they’re not interested in communicating further. Don’t make rude or unreasonable assumptions (e.g., ‘If I don’t hear back from you, I’ll assume you do want to buy the car’).
If I don’t get a response to this message, I’ll assume that you’re no longer interested in our services.
If you have any feedback or questions, please send them along before the end of the month. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you’re happy for us to continue with the project.
Other variants on the phrase
Using looking forward to hearing from you as a sentence on its own is technically not grammatically correct, since the sentence lacks a subject. As it’s always clear that the implied subject is ‘I’, this isn’t a real problem in most cases, but it’s something you might want to avoid in a formal context.
The expression can also be used in a full sentence with a subject, of course. And other words and punctuation can be added to vary the tone you want to convey. I look forward to hearing from you means the same thing but is arguably slightly more formal in tone. Some examples are shown below.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
I am looking forward to hearing from you shortly.
Frequently asked questions
- What are some synonyms for ‘looking forward to hearing from you’?
-
Some synonyms and near synonyms for the expression looking forward to hearing from you include:
- Eagerly awaiting your response
- Hoping to hear from you soon
- It would be great to hear back from you
- Thanks in advance for your reply
Our Paraphrasing Tool can help you find even more alternatives for ‘looking forward to hearing from you’.
- Is it ‘looking forward in hearing from you’ or ‘looking forward to hearing from you’?
-
‘Looking forward in hearing from you’ is an incorrect version of the phrase looking forward to hearing from you. The phrasal verb ‘looking forward to’ always needs the preposition ‘to’, not ‘in’.
- I am looking forward in hearing from you.
- I am looking forward to hearing from you.
- Is it ‘looking forward to hear from you’ or ‘looking forward to hearing from you’?
-
People sometimes mistakenly write ‘looking forward to hear from you’, but this is incorrect. The correct phrase is looking forward to hearing from you.
The phrasal verb ‘look forward to’ is always followed by a direct object, the thing you’re looking forward to. As the direct object has to be a noun phrase, it should be the gerund ‘hearing’, not the verb ‘hear’.
- I’m looking forward to hear from you soon.
- I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2023, January 05). 8 Alternatives to 'Looking Forward to Hearing from You'. Scribbr. Retrieved 9 December 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/strong-communication/im-looking-forward-to-hearing-from-you/
