📧 Smart Follow-up · Auto Multi-Round Sending, Inquiries Drop In One After Another

Smart Follow-up isn't just mass sending — it's your 24-hour auto outreach pipeline. Set up 3 - 12 rounds + cadence + rules once, let the system run the rest, and keep getting inquiries on weekends, holidays, and across time zones.

🎯 Ultimate goal · Let inquiries fly into your inbox automatically

You handle: Preparing the customer library + writing cold email templates (one-time investment) System handles: Scheduled sending + throttling + cross-time-zone scheduling + auto-following up on unreplied + auto-pausing on reply + tracking results

End result: No manual watching, inquiries drop in one after another — an automated inquiry pipeline.

The 4 core results you'll get once it's running:

Result	What it means for the business
📩 Auto-receive inquiries	No manual watching, weekends / holidays / across time zones → system keeps sending and receiving inquiries
📬 Continuous touchpoints	Customer didn't reply to email #1, auto-follow with #2 / #3 / ... / #12, no customer missed
🛡️ Risk control	Send limits / company triggers / not-sent triggers → no harassment + no misfires + no account ban
📊 Reviewable	Reports + email records + activity logs → judge customer quality and template effectiveness

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I. Build the Mental Model First · Manual Chasing → Auto Inquiries

1. Pain Point Comparison

Dimension	😩 Manual Outreach	🤖 Smart Follow-up
Sending	Send one by one manually, easy to miss when volume grows	Multi-round auto follow-up
Cadence	Follow up only when you remember, easy to lose momentum	Continuous touchpoints on fixed cadence
Multiple contacts at same company	Easy to over-contact customers	Limits and triggers control frequency
Data feedback	Send and done, no visibility into customer response	See open / click / reply
Manual dependency	Sales rep busy = stops, inquiries come and go	System runs 24 hours, inquiries keep flowing

2. Complete Loop

3. 5 Priority Use Cases

Scenario	Recommended Approach
Bulk new customer outreach	Day 1 introduce product, Day 4 share case study, Day 8 gentle reminder
Post-trade-fair follow-up	Continuous follow-up on Day 1 / 4 / 8 after the fair
Reactivate old customers	Re-engage with new products / pricing / inventory / service changes
New market testing	Build different plans by country / industry / product line, compare results
Team standardization	Unified templates + cadence + rules, reduce individual execution variance

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II. Beginners Start Here · 4 Steps to Run the Full Flow

Step	Focus	Jump to
1️⃣	Create plan, pick channel and send time	Create Plan
2️⃣	Set up 2 - 3 follow-up emails	Set Follow-up Steps
3️⃣	Configure tracking / limits / triggers / filter rules	Configure Advanced Settings
4️⃣	Add contacts, flip the blue toggle, review reports	Add Contacts and Launch

3 things to prepare before starting:

Prep	Minimum Requirement
Customers	Saved to contacts, ideally tagged by country / industry / source or in a view
Templates	At least 2 - 3, each with a different angle
Strategy	Start with a small batch test, then scale based on reply rate

🎯 Beginner Focus

Don't chase "send more" right out of the gate. First confirm accurate customers + clear templates + reasonable send limits, then scale up — it's much easier to get steady inquiries that way.

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III. Detailed Walkthrough

1️⃣ Create Plan

Entry: Email Marketing → Smart Follow-up → top-right + Plan

→ Direct link: https://web.laifaxin.com/marketing/sequences

Pick sending channel:

Channel	Best For	Key Point
🚀 Premium Channel	Bulk outreach, trade fair follow-up, new market testing	Prefer this, fast, more stable, good for scaled outreach
✉️ My Mailbox	Small batches, high personalization, small tests	High volume may hit mailbox provider limits

Fill in basic plan info:

Field	Recommendation
Plan Name	Name with "time + market + customer type / product", e.g. 2026-Q2-Europe-Distributor-Outreach, for easier review later
Plan Time	Set the time window when emails are allowed to send, based on customer time zone, to boost open rate

Click 【Confirm】 and an empty Smart Follow-up is created. Next, add email steps to the plan.

2️⃣ Set Follow-up Steps

Follow-up steps determine "which email goes out when". For new customer outreach, don't send only 1 email — the customer may not see it, may be busy, or may need more reasons to reply.

Recommended 3-email cadence:

Email #	Send Time	Content Focus
1️⃣ #1	Immediately after joining plan	Who you are, what you do, what problem you solve
2️⃣ #2	3 - 5 days after #1	Case study / use case / product advantage / materials
3️⃣ #3	4 - 7 days after #2	Gentle reminder, low-pressure reason to reply

Step 1 · Click + Add Step to add email #1

In the New Follow-up Step dialog, configure:

Setting	How to choose
Sending Account	Pick the sender mailbox; Premium Channel allows multiple system accounts, system picks randomly
Email Template	Pick from pre-built templates; multi-select supported, system picks one at random to send, making content feel more natural
Start Time	Usually pick "Execute immediately after joining plan"; or "Execute X minutes / hours / days after joining plan"

Step 2 · Continue adding email #2 / #3

After email #1 is set, click + Add Step again to add subsequent emails.

Subsequent steps can only be set as "Execute X days / hours after previous step" — after the previous email sends, the system waits the specified time before sending the next.

🎯 Don't just change subject in subsequent emails

• Email #1 talks about identity and product
• Email #2 talks about value and case studies
• Email #3 offers materials / samples / pricing direction, or asks a simple question

Each email's content shouldn't be old wine in a new bottle, or anti-spam systems will detect it.

Step 3 · Check flow on Overview page

Go to Overview to check the complete flow: order correct / intervals reasonable / templates correct.

If every email / every interval / corresponding template is clear in Overview, your follow-up flow is set.

3️⃣ Configure Advanced Settings

Advanced settings determine whether the plan is stable, restrained, and reviewable. Don't just add email steps — configure send limits / triggers / filter rules too.

Go to the plan detail's Settings tab to see the complete advanced settings area:

1️⃣ Send Parameters

Setting	Purpose	Recommendation
Email Tracking	Track opens / link clicks / attachment downloads	✅ Enable, otherwise can't judge template and customer interest
Sender Nickname	Sender name shown in customer's inbox	✅ Write your real business identity, e.g. Tina from ABC Corp

2️⃣ Send Limits

Critical settings for controlling risk and pace:

Setting	Purpose	Recommendation
24-hour plan send limit	Limit how many emails this plan sends per day	Set based on customer volume, avoid burning through all contacts in one day
24-hour per-domain send limit	Limit how many emails go to the same company's email domain per day	Recommend smaller values, e.g. 2 - 10; for restrained outreach start with 2 or 3

💡 Scope of per-domain limit

Per-domain limit mainly targets corporate domain mailboxes (like info@abc.com). May not apply to public mailboxes like Gmail / Outlook.

3️⃣ Company Trigger

Handles the "multiple contacts at the same company" case — when one contact replies, should the system continue reaching out to the company's other contacts?

Option	Effect	Best For
Do nothing	Keep sending to other contacts at that company per plan	Want to multi-thread the same company
Mark other contacts as not-sent	After a reply, stop sending to other contacts at that company	Want to reduce harassment, more restrained and professional
Delay sending to other contacts	After a reply, pause for a while then resume	Observe reply quality first, then decide whether to continue

4️⃣ Completed Trigger

Affects contact status within the plan — not enabled by default.

Setting	Effect	Recommendation
Mark contact as completed when current plan gets a reply	Once contact replies, mark as completed + stop subsequent steps	⚠️ Not recommended to default-on for beginners. If team rule is "human takeover after customer replies", you can enable; if you still want system to continue, first confirm strategy

5️⃣ Not-Sent Trigger

Pre-exclude people who shouldn't receive emails, reducing waste and misfires.

Rule	Purpose
When contact email is invalid	Auto-skip invalid emails
When contact is on blacklist	Auto-skip blacklisted contacts
When contact's tags contain specified tags	Skip closed deals / inquiries / do-not-contact customers

6️⃣ AI Trigger

When enabled, AI identifies emails likely to bounce or attract complaints, and delays 24 hours before attempting to send. Acts as a risk buffer during bulk outreach.

7️⃣ Plan Time

Modify the time window when the whole plan is allowed to send. Set by target customer's time zone, not just yours.

💾 Save settings

After changing advanced settings, be sure to click【Save】in the top-right. Without saving, rules won't take effect.

🎯 Confirm at least 3 things before launch: Email Tracking enabled / send limits set / not-sent trigger configured.

4️⃣ Add Contacts and Launch

Contacts can join the plan from two places:

Add Method	Operation
1️⃣ Add within plan	On plan page top-right click Add Contacts, batch-add by tag or view
2️⃣ Add from contact list	In Customer Management → Contacts, select contacts, click Smart Follow-up, add to existing plan

Method 1 · Click Add Contacts within plan:

Pick a tag or view, click Add Contacts, customers enter the current plan:

💡 Tips for adding by tag / view

Confirm this batch of customers truly fits the same email content — e.g. same country / same product line / same customer type, putting them into one plan feels more natural.

Method 2 · Select from contact list and add:

After adding contacts, must confirm top-right toggle is on.

⚠️ Most commonly missed step

Toggle not blue, task not running. Already added customers but nothing sent? Check here first.

Click the gray toggle at top-right to turn it blue — the plan only starts running by rule then:

If the toggle isn't on, even with contacts added, the system won't send emails.

🚦 Quick pre-launch check:

Check Item	What it prevents
✅ Correct sending channel	Avoid wrong personal mailbox or wrong channel
✅ Correct step order	Avoid emails out of order
✅ Reasonable intervals	Avoid follow-up too dense or too sparse
✅ Send limits set	Avoid burst over-sending
✅ Not-sent trigger configured	Avoid sending to invalid / blacklisted / non-target customers
✅ Plan time matches customer time zone	Avoid emails arriving in customer's middle of the night

5️⃣ Monitoring and Reports

After launch, don't just check "did it send" — also check whether customers open / click / reply. That's how you judge customer quality and template effectiveness.

Page	What to look at	What it tells you
Report	Sent volume / delivery rate / open rate / reply rate	Overall effectiveness
Email	Per-email status / read / click / which step	Whether each email is normal
Records	Created / step added / customer added / plan enabled	Troubleshooting
List page	Status / progress / core data of all plans	Compare different plans

📊 Report page — Dashboard showing overall plan performance (sent / delivered / open / reply):

📧 Email page — Lists every sent / pending email (send status / opened / clicked / step):

📝 Records page — Records all operations on the plan (created / steps added / contacts added / launched):

📋 List page — See status / progress / core data of all built plans, good for comparing across plans:

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IV. Ready-to-Use Follow-up Cadences

Scenario	Email #1	Email #2	Email #3
🆕 Standard cold customer outreach	Day 1: Introduce company + core product, highlight 1-2 advantages	Day 4: Share case study / use case / industry pain point	Day 8: Offer materials / sample suggestion / gentle reminder
🎪 Post-trade-fair follow-up	Day 1 after fair: Mention the fair and what you discussed	Day 4 after fair: Add product materials / pricing / case studies	Day 8 after fair: Ask if they need samples or more info
💤 Reactivate old customers	Day 1: Explain new products / inventory / pricing / service changes	Day 5: Add materials likely to interest them	Day 10: Ask if they still have purchasing plans

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📋 Pitfalls Summary

Pitfall	Consequence	How to avoid
🔴 Thinking it's launched when toggle isn't on	Customers added but no emails sent	After adding contacts, confirm top-right toggle is blue
🔴 Beginners enabling "auto-stop on reply" by default	OOO (Out of Office) / "thanks" / "noted" trigger false stops, whole plan stops, lose outreach	Disable Completed Trigger, manually scan "To Reply" tag for human takeover
🔴 Subsequent emails just change subject	Anti-spam detects template-based mass send, enters pattern database, open rate plummets	Each email content needs angle differentiation (identity → value → materials)
🔴 Multiple contacts at same company, no throttling	Same company harassed, customer annoyed and reports	Set per-domain limit to 2 - 3 + company trigger to "mark other contacts as not-sent"
🟡 Plan time based on your own time zone	Emails arrive in customer's middle of the night → low open rate	Set send window by target customer's time zone
🟡 Not-sent trigger not configured	Send to invalid emails / blacklist, waste points + high bounce rate	Enable not-sent trigger for invalid email / blacklist / closed-deal tag filtering
🟡 Forgetting to save after changing advanced settings	Configured rules all fail to take effect	After changes, click【Save】in top-right
🟡 Chasing "send more" right out of the gate	Inaccurate customers / poor templates → bulk waste	Test in small batches first, scale up based on reply rate

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❓ FAQ

Q1 · After adding contacts, why didn't a single email send?

Check 5 things first:

Check Item	Description
Is the toggle blue	Most common cause, plan doesn't run if toggle isn't on
Is current time within plan time	If outside allowed send time, system waits
Has send limit been hit	After hitting plan or per-domain limit, sending pauses
Has not-sent rule triggered	Invalid email / blacklist / specific-tag customers get skipped
Is sending account or channel available	Account issues also affect execution

Q2 · After a customer replies, will the system continue sending follow-ups?

Depends on Company Trigger and Completed Trigger settings:

Setting	Effect
Company Trigger	Affects whether other contacts at the same company keep getting sent
Completed Trigger	Affects whether the replying contact gets marked as completed and whether subsequent steps continue

⚠️ Not recommended for beginners to default-on "mark as completed on reply". If team rule is "human takeover by sales rep after customer replies", you can enable; if you still want system to continue, first confirm strategy.

Q3 · Can I modify a running plan?

Yes. Recommend pausing the plan first → modify steps / templates / advanced settings → save and relaunch. Modified rules typically affect contacts not yet at the corresponding step.

Q4 · How do I avoid sending too many emails to one company?

Focus on 2 settings:

Setting	Recommendation
24-hour per-domain send limit	Set small numbers, e.g. 2 or 3
Company Trigger	When a contact replies, pick "Mark other contacts as not-sent" or "Delay sending to other contacts"

Q5 · Where do I see email performance?

Page	What to look at
Report tab	Overall performance (sent / delivered / opened / replied)
Email tab	Send status and customer behavior per email
Records tab	Trace who changed the plan

Q6 · What's the difference between Smart Follow-up and Mass Email?

Dimension	🚀 Mass Email	📧 Smart Follow-up
Touchpoints	1 time	3 - 12 rounds auto
Best for	Holiday greetings / notifications / small tests	Long-term outreach / multi-round follow-up
After customer replies	Plan ends	Auto-stop subsequent steps (optional)
Beginner recommendation	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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💡 Learning Tips

Phase	What to do
Week 1	Build 1 standard 3-round plan (introduce → case → gentle reminder), validate with 100 customers
Week 2	Add advanced rules (tracking / limits / company trigger), see which rules really matter
Week 3	Build multiple parallel plans by customer group (by country / industry / product line), compare conversion
Week 4	Scale to 6 - 12 rounds, continuously optimize templates and cadence based on reply data

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📚 Related Features

Topic	Link	Description
🚀 Mass Email	email-mass-sending	Single mass send (1 round); difference from Smart Follow-up see Q6
📧 Email Templates	email-templates	Foundation for multi-template random rotation, write templates before building plan
🏷️ Tags and Views	contacts-tags-views	Smart Follow-up adds customers by tag / view, tag first
📊 Email Tracking	email-tracking	Track opens / clicks / replies, guide subsequent optimization
📨 Email Account	email-account	Bind own mailbox / switch sending channel
🚀 v2 main line step 4	04-email-marketing	Smart Follow-up quick-start in the 10-min main line

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👉 Start building your first Smart Follow-up

📝 Name note: Smart Follow-up was originally called "Email Sequence". In old tutorials, screenshots, or some entries you may see "Email Sequence" — it's the same feature. This guide uses the new name "Smart Follow-up" throughout.

🔗 Permanent link: https://laifa.xin/zhinan/email-sequence-guide