If you’re sending outreach emails for sales, recruiting, or just trying to get a response, you already know the follow-up is where most replies happen. But doing it by hand? Forget it. That’s why you’re here—to make your follow-ups in Quickmail handle themselves based on what your recipients do (or don’t do). This guide is for anyone who wants fewer headaches, better reply rates, and zero wasted time chasing ghosts.
Let’s get right to it.
What Quickmail Actually Does (and Doesn’t)
First, a gut check. Quickmail is a tool for automating cold email outreach and follow-ups. It sends emails one-by-one (not as a mass blast), so you look like a real human, not a spam bot. The magic is in how it lets you set up “if this, then that” rules based on recipient behavior—opens, clicks, replies, and more.
But here’s what it doesn’t do:
- It won’t write your emails for you (AI or no AI, the best copy is still yours).
- It can’t guarantee delivery or reply rates—no tool can.
- It doesn’t do full CRM stuff. It’s focused on outreach, not managing your whole pipeline.
If you want to automate smart follow-ups without overcomplicating things, you’re in the right place.
Step 1: Map Out the Behaviors You Care About
Before you touch Quickmail, get clear on what you actually want to react to. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a spaghetti mess of triggers and half-baked “if opened 3 times but didn’t click” logic.
Typical behaviors you can use:
- Opened the email: Means they at least glanced at it (but don’t obsess over this—open tracking is unreliable).
- Clicked a link: Shows some real interest.
- Replied: The gold standard—you want to stop further follow-ups here, obviously.
- Did nothing: Most common. You’ll want to nudge these folks.
Pro tip: Don’t go nuts with micro-triggers. Complex automations usually just create more work and confusion. Start simple: “If no reply after X days, send follow-up.” Add nuance later if you really need it.
Step 2: Build Your Email Sequence in Quickmail
In Quickmail, a “Campaign” is just a series of emails sent to a list. Here’s how to set up a basic sequence:
- Create a new campaign.
- Name it something you’ll actually recognize later (not “Campaign 7 - New”).
- Add your contacts.
- Import a CSV or add manually. Double-check for typos; one bad email can mess up deliverability.
- Write your first email.
- Keep it short and to the point. Nobody wants to read your life story.
- Add follow-up steps.
- Each follow-up is a “step.” You can add as many as you want, but 2-3 is plenty for most outreach.
What works:
Short, direct emails. Don’t try to be clever or overly formal. Busy people appreciate brevity.
What doesn’t:
Long-winded intros, obvious mail merges (“Hi {FirstName}!”), or fake urgency.
Step 3: Set Up Triggers Based on Recipient Behavior
This is where the automation actually happens. In Quickmail, you control when each follow-up goes out—and more importantly, when it shouldn’t.
The Basics: Stopping Follow-Ups on Reply
- In each step, make sure to check the box for “Stop campaign if recipient replies.”
- This is what keeps you from looking like a robot after someone writes back.
Adding Conditions for Opens and Clicks
Quickmail lets you add conditions to each step. Here’s how:
- Go to your campaign, and open a follow-up step.
- Look for “Conditions.”
- Set rules like:
- Only send this step if recipient did NOT open previous email (or, more rarely, if they DID).
- Only send if recipient did NOT click a specific link.
- Choose your timing.
- E.g., “Send 3 days after previous email, if no reply.”
A candid note:
Open tracking is flaky. Apple Mail and Gmail block a lot of tracking pixels. If your entire flow depends on “opened but didn’t reply,” you’ll get misleading data. Use clicks and replies as your real signals.
Step 4: Personalize (But Don’t Overdo It)
Personalization helps, but only to a point. Quickmail supports merge fields (like first name, company, etc.), so you can add “Hi {{FirstName}}” and similar tokens.
What’s worth personalizing:
- First name (unless your data is messy)
- Company or job title, if relevant to your pitch
- One line showing you did minimal research (“Saw your recent post on X…”)
What to skip:
- Overly complex merge fields (half will break)
- Anything that can’t be automated cleanly
Keep it real—don’t pretend to know more about the recipient than you do.
Step 5: Test Your Sequence—Then Test Again
Before you unleash your campaign on real people, always test:
- Send the sequence to yourself (and maybe a coworker).
- Click on links, reply, and see if the automations fire as expected.
- Check for typos, broken merge tags, and awkward timing.
Honest take:
Most automation mistakes happen because someone got lazy on testing. Don’t be that person. Five minutes now saves hours of embarrassment later.
Step 6: Monitor, Adjust, and Repeat
Once it’s live, keep an eye on your campaign stats:
- Reply rates: Are people actually responding?
- Open/click rates: Directionally useful, but don’t obsess.
- Bounces: Remove bad emails to protect your sender reputation.
Tweak your timing, subject lines, and content based on what’s actually working. Don’t be afraid to kill a sequence if it’s not getting replies.
Ignore:
- Vanity metrics (“Wow, 90% opened!”). If nobody replies, it doesn’t matter.
- Automated “AI suggestions.” Use your own judgment.
Real-World Tips (So You Don’t Waste Time)
- Limit the follow-up chain: Three emails max is usually enough. More than that, and you’re just annoying people.
- Always give an easy out: A line like “Just let me know if this isn’t relevant, and I won’t bug you again” goes a long way.
- Don’t chase opens: Focus on replies and clicks. Everything else is noise.
- Keep your lists clean: Old or scraped emails are a fast track to spam filters.
- Don’t try to automate everything: Some prospects need a human touch. If someone important replies, respond personally.
Wrapping Up
Automating follow-ups in Quickmail can free up your time and boost your reply rate, but don’t let automation turn you into a robot. Start with a simple sequence, react to replies and clicks, and keep tweaking as you go. Forget the hype about 10-step sequences or “AI-driven” magic—real results come from clear messaging and respecting your recipients’ time.
Keep it simple, keep it human, and you’ll do just fine.