Deliverability
Part of Outbound follow-up sequences
Choosing when to stop contacting a prospect
Set explicit stop conditions for outbound contact, including opt-out, irrelevance, handover and lack of new purpose.
Stopping is part of a well-designed sequence. When someone replies “not relevant”, that is a decision, not an objection to overcome with more automated reminders. Set the exit rules before the first message goes out.
Treat clear signals as immediate stops
Remove a person from promotional contact when they opt out, ask you to stop or say the offer is irrelevant. Suppress opt-outs as soon as received so queued messages cannot slip out.
Other exits require judgment: a meeting is booked, another colleague owns the conversation, the prospect changes role, the need is deferred to a specific date or a service issue needs resolution first. Do not let the sequence continue merely because a status was not updated.
Set a finite no-response limit
Choose a modest number and spacing of attempts based on relevance and channel rules, then stop if no new reason exists. There is no universal magic count. A higher volume of unanswered messages does not prove the prospect needs a different wording.
Record the date and reason for stopping so a future representative does not restart the same sequence without new context.
Review stopped records as carefully as active ones. If opt-outs remain in an automation or multiple owners keep contacting the same account, fix the data flow.
