When a sequence stops, and why it did not
A sequence ends for a person when they connect, when it reaches the stop line, or when their stage goes terminal. If it keeps going, one of those is not being seen.
The failure people fear with any automated follow-up is the one that keeps messaging somebody who already answered. A sequence has three exits, and they are worth knowing precisely — because when one keeps running, it is always because one of the three is not being recognised.
Before you start
- A running sequence and access to the contact records it is acting on.
Steps
Exit one: the person connected
An AI call that was answered and handled, or a reply on any channel — WhatsApp, email, a chat. The conversation is now in the shared inbox with a bot or a person on it, and the sequence has nothing left to do.
Exit two: the line that says stop
Write it. The sequence duration is a ceiling; the stop line is what actually ends things for somebody who never connected. Pair it with a final act — move to Contacted, create a task — so giving up leaves a trace.
Exit three: a terminal lead stage
Won, Lost, Not interested, DND and Wrong number end the sequence for that person, whoever moved the stage. A DND set by a call outcome stops the emails too.
When it keeps going after a reply: check the channel
The reply landed somewhere the sequence does not watch — a personal mailbox rather than the shared email channel, or a second WhatsApp number. Replies only count when they arrive on a connected channel.
When it keeps going after a call: check the outcome
"Answered" is not "handled". A call that was picked up and immediately dropped, or that hit voicemail, is an attempt outcome and the sequence continues — correctly. Read the call log entry on the feed to see which it was.
When it should have stopped but the stage did not move
Somebody moved the stage by hand after the sequence had already sent its last line. Nothing wrong — but if the sequence is still running, check it is reading the stage you think it is. Stage changes are audit entries, so who moved what is on the feed.
Check it worked
Pick three contacts who replied mid-sequence and read their feeds. Each should show the steps up to the reply and nothing after it. If any shows a step after the reply, find which channel the reply arrived on.
The parts people get wrong
- Pausing a sequence stops new steps for everyone in it; a message already sent stays sent.
- Removing somebody by hand is always available from their record.
The ones people actually ask
Somebody replied and still got the next email.
The reply arrived on a channel the sequence does not watch — most often a personal mailbox rather than the shared email channel. Send from the shared channel so replies come back to it, and the sequence sees them.
Does voicemail count as connecting?
No. Reaching a voicemail is not reaching a person; it is an attempt outcome, and the sequence continues to its next line. Only an answered and handled call, or a reply, connects.