Follow-up sequences that know when to stop
Every follow-up cadence needs four exits and one cap. Without them you're automating the fastest way to look careless at scale.
5 min read
The four exits
Before you write a single message, define how the sequence ends. Every cadence needs all four of these, and most accounts have one or two.
- 01Replied — any inbound message on any channel ends the cadence immediately.
- 02Converted — a booking, payment or stage change ends it, even if they never replied.
- 03Opted out — unsubscribe, do-not-contact or a hard bounce ends it and flags the record.
- 04Exhausted — the cadence has a finite length and a defined resting state at the end.
The cap
On top of the exits, cap total contacts per person per period across all sequences. Someone who sits in three campaigns should not receive three times the messages; the cap is what makes multiple cadences safe to run at once.
Sending windows
Send in the recipient's business hours, not your server's. An SMS at 3am is not a follow-up, it's a complaint waiting to be written. Hold messages outside the window and release them at the next opening.
How to test it before it goes live
Run every exit deliberately with a test contact. It takes twenty minutes and it's the difference between a cadence you trust and one you keep switched off.
- 01Enter the cadence, reply to message one, confirm nothing else sends.
- 02Enter again, book instead of replying, confirm nothing else sends.
- 03Enter again, unsubscribe, confirm the flag lands on the record and nothing else sends.
- 04Enter again, do nothing, confirm the cadence ends where it should and the card moves to its resting stage.