How the sequence is built
- Instant acknowledgement (automated): confirms receipt and sets expectations. Always first, on the fastest channel you have.
- Fast human contact: a call or personal message within minutes in office hours. Responding quickly is consistently linked to higher contact and conversion rates, and the effect falls away within hours.
- Spaced follow-ups: reminders that get further apart, scaled to your sales cycle. Short cycles get a tight sequence over a week; long cycles get value-led touchpoints over a couple of months.
- Clear exit: a final message that closes the loop politely, and an automatic stop the moment a lead replies, books or asks to stop.
Out-of-hours leads get an automated message that says when a person will be in touch, plus an option to book a time.
Keeping the human touch
- Automate the reminders and admin, not the relationship. Calls and replies to questions should come from a person.
- Write automated messages in plain language, signed by a real person, and make it easy to reply.
- Stop all automation as soon as the lead responds; nothing feels more robotic than a “just checking in” after you have already replied.
- Get consent right: marketing texts and emails generally need permission, and every message should be easy to opt out of.
Read how to automate lead follow-up without losing the human touch, and check the risks with the Automation Risk Assessment.