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Sequences and Workflows Overview

Staff reference for automating client follow-up with sequences and automating internal steps with workflows in HubSpot.

Purpose

What this covers and why it matters: sequences automate our follow-up with a client who has shown interest but has not committed yet, and workflows automate steps on our own side once a deal reaches a certain point. Both exist so a lead does not go quiet just because nobody remembered to reach back out.

At a Glance

  • A sequence is a preset series of emails and tasks we enroll a contact in when they have shown interest but have not committed. Once enrolled, it runs on its own until the contact responds or the sequence ends.
  • Enroll a contact from their profile or from an email, including from within Gmail, using the enroll in a sequence action. Pick the sequence that fits the situation, for example a left voicemail or unable to connect sequence.
  • Every email in a sequence is editable before it sends, so personalize it with details specific to that client and their dog instead of sending the preset wording untouched.
  • If the contact responds, books a meeting, or calls in, they are removed from the sequence automatically. Nobody needs to pull them out by hand to stop the emails.
  • If a contact does not respond, the sequence keeps going on its own schedule: a follow-up email a few business days later, then a call task that lands in your task queue with the contact's email history attached, then a final email if there is still no response. A contact who never responds still receives five automatic touches beyond anything we do separately.
  • A workflow automates something on our side rather than communicating with the client directly. Our reservation and assessment workflow, for example, creates a vaccination verification task automatically the moment a deal reaches that stage.
  • Workflows can also notify our own team automatically, for example alerting staff by email when a dog checks in, so the right people know without someone sending that message by hand.

Steps

  1. Decide whether the situation calls for a sequence or a workflow. Re-engaging a client who has gone quiet is a sequence job. Automating something on our own side, such as a task that fires when a deal changes stage, is what a workflow does.
  2. Open the contact's profile, or their email thread in Gmail, and select enroll in a sequence.
  3. Choose the sequence that matches the situation, for example the left voicemail or unable to connect sequence for a prospect who has been hard to reach.
  4. Edit the first email before it sends. Reference the client and their dog by name if you know it, and confirm you are offering to answer any remaining questions about the program.
  5. Let the sequence run on its own. It keeps going on its own schedule until the contact responds or the sequence ends.
  6. Watch for the automatic call task in your queue if the contact has not responded within a few business days. It arrives with the contact's email history attached, so review that before you dial.
  7. Treat a workflow-triggered task, such as a vaccination verification task, the same as any manually created one. Complete it and check it off.

Edge Cases / Troubleshooting

  • A contact stopped getting sequence emails and you did not do anything. That is the design. Replying to an email, booking a meeting, or phoning in removes a contact from the sequence automatically so we are not still emailing someone who already answered.
  • The sequence's default wording does not fit this client. Edit it before sending. The preset text is a starting point, not a script you are required to send unchanged.
  • A workflow-triggered task shows up and you do not recognize why. Check which deal stage change triggered it; workflows operate off stages, so a task like vaccination verification fires when a deal reaches the stage that is watching for it.

Vendor Reference

Our own sequence content, such as the left voicemail cadence and the five touch structure, and our own workflow, such as the vaccination verification task triggered by a deal stage change, are our configuration on top of these generic features. Check the vendor doc if the UI has moved since either was verified; neither vendor doc will show you our specific setup.

Who to Ask

For where an automated call task lands once a sequence creates it, see Task Queues Overview. The deal stage our vaccination verification workflow is watching is covered in Deal Dashboard and Sales Process.