Sequence

What is a Sequence?

A Sequence is a series of automated, response-based follow-ups that help you engage records through emails, tasks, and calls. Each follow-up can trigger the next action based on timing or how the record responds, allowing you to create personalized engagement journeys. Once you define the Sequence and enroll records, Bigin automatically executes the configured follow-ups. You can also configure records to be automatically un-enrolled when a desired response is received.

Sequences can be created for Team Pipelines and Contacts modules.

How is a Sequence different from a Workflow?

While both features help automate business processes, they serve different purposes. Use Workflows to automate one-time actions triggered by business events, and use Sequences to build personalized, multi-step follow-up journeys that adapt based on customer interactions.

Availability
Sequences are available only in the Premier and Bigin 360 editions. The number of active Sequences you can create and the maximum number of follow-up actions allowed in each Sequence depend on your subscription plan.

Note:

The maximum actions per Sequence represent the combined total of all follow-up types (Emails, Tasks, and Calls).
For example, in the Premier plan, a Sequence can contain up to 20 follow-up actions in any combination, such as 10 emails, 5 tasks, and 5 calls, or any other combination totalling 20 actions.

Managing Sequences

Only the following users can manage Sequences in Bigin:

Administrators
Users with profile-level access to the Sequences feature.

Where can I find Sequences?

Sequence is listed under Automation on the Setup page.

Creating a Sequence

1. Navigate to to Setup > Automation > Sequence and click the +Create Sequence button.

2. Provide a Sequence Name and Description.

3. Choose the module you want to create the Sequence for. You have option to choose either Team Pipelines Module or Contacts Module. If you choose Pipeline module, choose the desired pipeline.

4. After you choose the module, choose who this Sequence is for. You can choose it either for manually enrolled records, or for records in the existing Team Pipelines/Contact Module's custom view. If you choose the Module's custom view, you will also have to choose the custom view required.

5. If you chose a custom view, you can also set when records should be enrolled, immediately or after a specific time.

Creating Follow-ups

Once you create a Sequence you will land on the Sequence Builder page. Here, you can create follow-ups based on your requirements.

The following table shows the follow-ups that you can create.

First Email Follow-up

Click +Email Follow-up.
Choose when the email should be sent, either immediately after enrollment or after a specific duration in minutes, hours, days, or months.
Enter a name for the Email Follow-up.
Select the email recipients from the record’s email fields or related modules.
Choose the email template to be used.
Specify the From address for the email.
Specify the Reply To address where responses should be received.

Notes

To make the Replied response condition work, the Reply To address must be IMAP-synced in Bigin by Zoho CRM. Without IMAP sync, replies cannot be detected, and the Sequence will not branch based on responses.
Emails sent through Sequences count toward your Automation Emails sending limit. Once that limit is reached, scheduled Sequence emails won't be sent until the limit resets.

First Task Follow-up

Click +Task Follow-up.
Choose when the task should be created in the Do this field.
Enter the task name in the Task Name field.
Select the task owner in the Task Owner field. By default, the Record Owner is selected.
Set the due date based on the number of days after the Trigger Date in the Due Date field.
Optionally, enable Notify Owner, configure a Reminder, or mark the task as High Priority.
Add a description of the task for better understanding.

First Call Follow-up

Call Follow-up is only available for Contacts Module.

Click +Call Follow-up.
Choose when the call should be scheduled in the Do this field.
Enter the call name in the Call Name field.
Select the call owner in the Call Owner field.
The Outbound Call Type field is selected by default. You can set a reminder if required.
Set the call start time relative to the Trigger Time in the Call Start Time field.
Enter the discussion details in the Call Purpose and Call Agenda fields.

Subsequent Follow-ups

A subsequent follow-up is an additional action that occurs after the initial follow-up in a sequence. It helps continue engagement with the customer based on their response or lack of response.

For example, after sending the first email, you can configure another email, task, or call as a subsequent follow-up if the customer does not reply or take action.

Adding Subsequent Follow-ups

After configuring the initial follow-up, click the + icon in the next Follow-up column to add another step in the sequence. You can choose to add an Email, Task, or Call follow-up.

For each subsequent follow-up, you must configure the action from the previous step that should trigger the next follow-up. The available trigger conditions depend on the type of the previous follow-up.

Use Cases

Consider, Zylker Real Estate, they receives customer enquiries for apartments, villas, and commercial properties through multiple channels. To ensure every lead is consistently engaged, the sales team uses follow-up and subsequent follow-ups to automate communication using emails, tasks, and calls based on customer interactions and sales activities.

When the Subsequent Follow-ups is based on Email Activity

Zylker Real Estate receives an enquiry from a customer interested in a luxury apartment project.

First Email Follow-up: As soon as the enquiry is submitted, an email containing the property brochure, pricing details, floor plans, and amenities is automatically sent to the customer.
Subsequent Follow-up 1: When the customer opens the email, a task is automatically assigned to the sales representative to contact the customer and understand their property requirements.
Subsequent Follow-up 2: After the sales representative completes the task, a follow-up call is scheduled to discuss site visit availability and answer any questions related to the property.
Subsequent Follow-up 3: And during the call, if the customer expresses interest in visiting the property. Based on the successful call outcome, another email is automatically sent with site visit confirmation details, directions to the property location, and available time slots.
Subsequent Follow-up 4: Later, when the customer clicks the booking link included in the email, a high-priority task is assigned to the sales manager to assist with pricing discussions and booking formalities.

When the subsequent Follow-ups is based on Task Status

Zylker Real Estate receives an enquiry from a customer interested in a gated villa project.

First Task Follow-up: Zylker Real Estate assigns a task to a sales representative after a customer enquires about a gated community villa project. The task requires the sales representative to contact the customer and collect details such as budget, preferred location, and expected move-in timeline.
Subsequent Follow-up 1: Once the task status is marked as Completed, an email containing shortlisted villa options, pricing details, and project highlights is automatically sent to the customer. The customer opens the email and clicks the site visit link provided in the email.
Subsequent Follow-up 2: This email activity triggers a follow-up call from the sales representative to finalize the site visit schedule and confirm the customer’s availability.
Subsequent Follow-up 3: After the call is successfully scheduled, another task is automatically created for the sales team to prepare site visit arrangements, brochures, and required documents.
Subsequent Follow-up 4: Once the site visit is completed and the task status is updated, a personalized follow-up email is sent to the customer with booking offers, EMI plans, and next steps for reservation.

When the Subsequent Follow-ups is based on Call Outcome

Zylker Real Estate receives an enquiry from a customer interested in a commercial property.

First Call Follow-up: Zylker Real Estate schedules a consultation call with a customer interested in investing in commercial property. During the initial call, the sales representative explains the property details, investment benefits, expected returns, and pricing structure.
Subsequent Follow-up 1: After the call outcome is marked as Completed, an email containing the commercial property brochure, ROI details, and floor layouts is automatically sent to the customer.
Subsequent Follow-up 2: The customer later opens the email and clicks the investment details link, which triggers a task for the finance consultant to contact the customer and discuss loan eligibility and payment options.
Subsequent Follow-up 3: Once the finance consultation task is completed, another follow-up call is automatically scheduled to answer final questions and discuss booking confirmation.
Subsequent Follow-up 4: And during this conversation, if the customer confirms their interest in moving forward with the purchase, a high-priority task is assigned to the sales manager to begin the booking, documentation, and payment processing activities.

Cloning Sequence

The Zylker Real Estate sales team already has a sequence for handling new customer enquiries. The sequence includes a welcome email, a follow-up task for the sales representative, and a reminder call if the customer does not respond.

Now, the team wants to create a similar sequence for another campaign with only minor changes, such as a different email template and follow-up timing. Instead of creating the entire sequence again from scratch, they can clone the existing sequence and update the required details.

To clone a Sequence

1. Click the More icon in the top-right corner and select Clone Sequence.

2. The existing sequence details, including follow-ups and subsequent follow-ups, are copied automatically. You can modify the required details and create a new sequence from the existing version.

3. While cloning a sequence, you cannot change the module. The cloned sequence can only be created for the same module as the original sequence.

Drafting and Publishing a Sequence

Draft Sequences

While creating a Sequence, it is automatically saved as a draft. This allows you to pause your work and continue configuring the Sequence later without losing any changes.

A Draft Sequence remains inactive and does not perform any follow-up actions. Records are not enrolled into the Sequence, and no emails, tasks, or calls are triggered while the Sequence is in Draft status. You can identify these Sequences from the Sequence list using the Drafts status label.

Publishing and Updating a Sequence

Once your Sequence is configured and ready to use, click Publish to activate it. After publishing, manually enrolled records begin progressing through the configured follow-ups, and records in custom view-based Sequences are enrolled automatically whenever they match the selected view criteria.

When publishing a custom view-based Sequence, a Publish Sequence confirmation pop-up will be displayed with an Enroll existing records option. Enabling this option enrolls records that already match the view criteria at the time of publishing. If the option is left disabled, only records that enter the view after the Sequence is published are enrolled automatically.

After a Sequence has been published, the published version remains active and cannot be edited directly. When you choose to modify a published Sequence for the first time, Bigin creates a draft version of the Sequence and redirects you to that draft. The original published Sequence continues running without interruption for records already enrolled in it.

All subsequent changes must be made in the draft version. Once your modifications are complete, click Republish to apply the updated configuration and make the new version active. This ensures that the live Sequence continues operating consistently while changes are prepared separately in draft mode.

Republishing a Sequence

You can continue to modify a Sequence even after it has been published. Once you make the required changes, click Republish to apply the updated configuration.

If the changes affect a follow-up that already has records scheduled on it, Bigin displays a warning before applying the updates. To ensure consistent execution, records currently waiting in the modified follow-up are automatically un-enrolled from that step. Records in other follow-ups that are not affected by the changes continue progressing through the Sequence without interruption.

Note

After a Sequence is published, follow-ups located in the middle of the Sequence cannot be removed without affecting the overall flow. However, you can edit existing follow-ups, remove the final follow-up, or clone the Sequence and create a modified version.

Sequence Reports

You can use reports to monitor and analyze the performance of your Sequences.

On the Sequence configuration page, click View Reports to access detailed performance metrics. Here, you can track different actions performed across emails, tasks, and calls within the selected Sequence.

You can also switch between the Follow-up View and Report View. In the Report View, you can monitor and analyze the performance of each follow-up type separately through dedicated tabs for Emails, Tasks, and Calls.

Filtering Records by Sequence Activity

Sequence activity can be used as a filter criterion in module views.

Using smart filters, you can identify records based on their participation and engagement within a Sequence. For example, you can filter records that are currently enrolled in a specific Sequence, have completed a Sequence, or have responded to a particular follow-up.

This can be useful for identifying highly engaged records and taking targeted actions. For instance, you may want to find all records that clicked a link in a Sequence email but have not yet responded, and then follow up with them manually.

Re-enrolling un-enrolled records

Managing Sequence: Un-enrollment Preferences

You can un-enroll the sequence that you create whenever you want. To do so:

Click on Manage Preferences in the top-right corner of the Sequence builder.
Choose when records should be automatically un-enrolled from the Sequence:

Never: Records remain in the Sequence until all follow-ups are completed.

Response received from any email: Records are automatically un-enrolled as soon as the contact replies to any email in the Sequence.
Record no longer matches the custom view criteria: Un-enrolled automatically if the record no longer meets the filters of the custom view used to enroll them.
On a specific date: Records are un-enrolled on the selected end date.

Notes.

When a record is un-enrolled from the Sequence, all scheduled follow-ups associated with that record are automatically cancelled.

Re-enrolling un-enrolled records

Records that have been un-enrolled from a Sequence or have already completed it can be enrolled again when required. During re-enrollment, the available options depend on the record's previous status.

If the Sequence was previously Stopped or Failed, you can choose Resume to continue the Sequence from the point where it was interrupted.
Alternatively, you can choose Restart to begin the Sequence again from the first follow-up.
For records that have already completed a Sequence, only the Restart option is available.
If any follow-up activities associated with the previous enrollment have been deleted or are no longer available, the record can only be re-enrolled using the Restart option.

Note.

Re-enrollment is currently supported only for manually enrolled Sequences. For custom view-based Sequences, records that leave and later re-enter the associated view are not automatically re-enrolled.

Enrolling Records in a Sequence

Records can be enrolled in a Sequence either individually from a record's detail page or in bulk from a module's list view.

Enrolling a Single Record

To enroll an individual record, open the record's detail page and navigate to the Sequences related list. Click + Enroll Sequence, select the required Sequence, and confirm the enrollment.

A single record can be enrolled in up to five Sequences simultaneously, allowing you to engage the same record through different business processes when required. Before confirming the enrollment, you can review and configure the enrollment preferences applicable to the selected Sequence.

Enrolling Multiple Records

To enroll multiple records at once, open the module's list view and select the required records.
Click Sequence under Actions, choose the Sequence you want to enroll them in, and confirm the enrollment.
You can enroll up to 100 records into a single Sequence in one operation, making it easier to engage large groups of records without enrolling them individually.
If the selected records have different enrollment statuses, for example, some records are already enrolled, some have completed the Sequence, while others have never been enrolled, Bigin displays an Enrollment Preferences dialog before proceeding. This dialog allows you to review the selected records and customize how each enrollment scenario should be handled before confirming the bulk enrollment. This helps ensure that only the intended records are enrolled or re-enrolled based on your preferences.

Note.

If a record is already enrolled in this Sequence, it will not be enrolled again. The existing enrollment continues without interruption.

Automatic Enrollment of records

For custom view-based Sequences, records are enrolled automatically whenever they meet the criteria defined in the associated custom view. No manual enrollment is required.

Note.

For custom view-based Sequences, records that fall out of the custom view after enrollment will continue through their follow-ups unless you've set an un-enrollment condition in Manage Preferences.

Viewing Sequence information for a record

You can view all Sequence-related information directly from a record.
Open the record and navigate to the Sequences related list to see the Sequences the record is enrolled in, along with details such as the enrollment status, the last follow-up response, and the follow-up type. You can also rearrange or customize the column according to your requirements.

Sequence Quick Preview

You can use the Quick Preview option from the Sequences related list to view the details of a record's enrollment without opening the Sequence.
The Details tab displays information such as the enrollment status, last follow-up response, last follow-up type, enrollment date, next follow-up, and the user who enrolled the record. You can also un-enroll the record directly from this panel.
The Follow-up Timeline tab provides a chronological view of all the emails, tasks, and calls in the Sequence, helping you track the record's progress and upcoming follow-ups at a glance.

Things to Remember

Once a Sequence is published, removing a follow-up from the middle of the Sequence disrupts the flow. You can edit existing follow-ups, remove only the last follow-up, or clone the Sequence and make the required changes in the cloned version.
If a Sequence is disabled while records are actively progressing through it, all pending follow-ups scheduled for those records are automatically canceled.
For custom view-based Sequences, records continue progressing through the Sequence even if they no longer satisfy the custom view criteria, unless an un-enrollment condition is configured.
If a record meets both the enrollment and un-enrollment criteria simultaneously, it is not enrolled in the Sequence.
To use Replied as the trigger condition for subsequent follow-ups, the Reply To email address must be IMAP-synced in Bigin.
Emails sent through Sequences count toward your organization's Automation Emails sending limit.