If you work in B2B sales, customer success, or account management, you already know the pain: following up is a full-time job. Prospects go dark, clients need reminders, and your team spends too much time chasing people instead of closing deals. It’s easy to let things slip—nobody likes the feeling of “I should have sent that email yesterday.”
This is where workflow automation comes in. And if you haven’t looked at Solidinbox’s workflow templates, you might be missing out on a practical way to make follow-ups less painful (and less manual). Don't expect magic, but with the right setup, you can save hours a week and avoid embarrassing dropped balls.
Below, I’ll walk you through how to actually use these templates, what works, what to skip, and how to keep things from turning into an automated mess.
Why Automate Follow-Ups Anyway?
Before diving into templates and tools, let’s get real: most B2B teams don’t drop the ball because they’re lazy. It’s usually because:
- Too many leads, not enough hours in the day
- Siloed info—one person takes notes, another sends emails
- Manual reminders (sticky notes, calendar pings) get ignored
Automation isn’t about replacing people. It’s about reducing boring, repetitive tasks so your team can focus on actual conversations. The trick is to keep it helpful, not robotic.
Solidinbox Workflow Templates: What Are They?
Solidinbox offers workflow templates that let you set up “if this, then that” rules. For example:
- If a lead doesn’t reply in 3 days, send a reminder email.
- When a deal reaches a certain stage, assign a follow-up task to the account manager.
- If a client opens your proposal but doesn’t respond, ping them (without sounding desperate).
Templates are basically pre-built recipes. You pick one, tweak it for your team, and let it run. They’re not perfect, but they can save a ton of setup time compared to building automations from scratch.
Step 1: Decide What to Automate (And What to Leave Manual)
Don’t automate everything just because you can. The best candidates for automation are:
- Routine nudges: Reminders after no response, check-ins, “just bumping this up” emails.
- Task assignment: When something happens (like a deal moves forward), auto-assign tasks.
- Data updates: Logging follow-up attempts, updating CRM fields.
What to avoid automating: - Sensitive conversations (pricing, complaints, contracts). - Anything needing a human touch or nuanced reply. - Mass cold outreach (it’s spammy, and people see through it).
Pro tip: Ask your team, “What’s the task you forget most often?” Start there.
Step 2: Pick (or Build) the Right Workflow Template
Solidinbox has a bunch of workflow templates in its library. Don’t just grab the first one—look for:
- Trigger: What kicks off the workflow? (e.g., no reply in X days, proposal opened, deal stage changed)
- Action: What actually happens? (email goes out, task assigned, Slack notification sent)
- Conditions: Any filters? (only for deals over $10k, only for new leads, etc.)
Common templates to try: - No-Reply Reminder: Sends a follow-up if someone hasn’t answered in [X] days. - Post-Meeting Tasks: Auto-creates summary tasks for attendees after a call. - Deal Progression: When a deal hits a certain stage, assigns next steps.
What to skip: - Overly complicated, multi-branch templates. If you can’t explain it to a new hire in under a minute, it’s probably too complex to maintain.
Step 3: Customize the Template (Don’t Be a Robot)
The default templates are just a starting point. You have to tweak them:
- Edit the follow-up messages. Make them sound like you, not like a bot. No “Just circling back to touch base…” unless you want to be ignored.
- Set realistic timing. Don’t send reminders every day—space them out so you don’t annoy people.
- Add personal touches. Use merge tags (like first name, company, last conversation) to keep it human.
Reality check: The more generic your automation, the less effective it’ll be. A little effort up front saves you from embarrassing auto-emails that make you look lazy.
Step 4: Test It—Really
Before letting your workflow loose on real clients or prospects:
- Send test emails to yourself and your team.
- Check task assignments: Make sure tasks land with the right person (not just you!).
- Watch for weird triggers: Sometimes a template fires off at the wrong time—double-check your conditions.
What usually goes wrong? - Wrong merge tags (e.g., “Hi {{first_name}}, …” to the CEO). - Emails go out at 2 AM (bad look). - Tasks assigned to the wrong team or person.
Don’t trust the template until you’ve seen it in action.
Step 5: Roll It Out (and Watch What Happens)
When you’re ready, turn on your workflow for a single team or deal type. Monitor:
- Response rates: Are you getting more replies, or just more unsubscribes?
- Team feedback: Are the automated tasks helpful, or just more noise?
- Mistakes: Catch them early—nothing ruins trust faster than a “follow up” email after someone already replied.
Pro tip: Set a calendar reminder to review your automations in a week. Automation isn’t “set and forget”—it’s “set and tweak.”
Step 6: Iterate and Improve
Nobody gets it perfect the first round. Some things to look out for:
- Too many reminders: If people ask to be removed, you’re overdoing it.
- Tasks pile up: If your team ignores automated tasks, they’re probably not helpful.
- Missed edge cases: Did your automation fire for the wrong type of client? Adjust your filters.
Keep it simple. It’s better to have one or two automations that actually work than a dozen that nobody trusts.
Honest Takes: What Works, What Doesn’t
What works: - Automating routine reminders, so people don’t fall through the cracks. - Assigning follow-up tasks right after meetings or stage changes. - Keeping templates simple and easy to audit.
What doesn’t: - Using automation to replace real conversation. - Over-customizing every workflow—maintenance becomes a nightmare. - Treating automation as a “set and forget” solution.
Ignore the hype about “fully automated sales” or “no-touch account management.” The real world is messier. The best teams use automation to handle the grunt work, not the actual relationship-building.
Pro Tips for Teams New to Workflow Automation
- Start small: Automate one follow-up task that everyone hates doing.
- Get buy-in: Involve your team in picking and tweaking templates—you’ll get fewer complaints.
- Document as you go: Write down what each automation does and who owns it. Otherwise, you’ll forget why you set it up.
- Don’t be afraid to turn things off: If something’s not working, pause it. You won’t hurt anyone’s feelings (except maybe Solidinbox’s).
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Automation with Solidinbox workflow templates can save your B2B team hours—and plenty of headaches—but only if you keep things simple and pay attention to what actually helps. Start with one or two pain points, test your templates carefully, and don’t be afraid to change course. The goal isn’t to automate everything. It’s to make sure nothing (and nobody) gets forgotten.
Try it, tweak it, and keep what works. The robots aren’t coming for your job—but they can help you get out of your inbox a little faster.