If you handle B2B sales, partnerships, or client onboarding, you already know the pain: leads go cold, prospects ghost you, and manual follow-ups fall through the cracks. Automating your follow-up emails can help, but only if it’s done right—and without turning your outreach into robotic spam. This guide will show you, step by step, how to set up automated follow-ups in SureConnect, avoid common pitfalls, and actually get more replies.
Let’s get you out of the weeds and back to closing deals.
Why automate follow-up emails (and why not to overdo it)
First, a reality check. Automated email follow-ups are great for:
- Catching leads who forget to reply.
- Saving time on repetitive outreach.
- Making sure no one falls through the cracks.
But automation isn’t a silver bullet. If your emails are generic or you send too many, people will tune you out—or worse, mark you as spam. Automation works best when it feels personal, not like a mail merge gone wild.
Bottom line: Use automation to handle the grunt work, but keep your messaging tight and relevant. Don’t set it and forget it.
Step 1: Get your SureConnect account ready
Before you start, make sure you can actually send automated emails with your SureConnect plan. Some features may only be available on paid tiers.
- Check your access: Log into SureConnect and look for “Sequences” or “Automations” in the sidebar. If you don’t see it, you might need to upgrade.
- Connect your email: For best deliverability, connect your business email account (Google Workspace, Outlook, etc.) inside SureConnect’s settings. Don’t use a throwaway Gmail—it hurts your sender reputation.
- Import your contacts: Upload a CSV or sync with your CRM. Clean lists matter; don’t blast old or unqualified leads.
Pro tip: Test with your own email first. You don’t want a typo in your first real campaign.
Step 2: Map out your follow-up sequence
Automated follow-ups work best when you plan them like a conversation, not a script. Here’s how to sketch out a basic sequence:
- Initial email: Your original outreach—personalized, short, and to the point.
- 1st follow-up: Wait 2-3 days. Keep it friendly (“Just checking in…”), reference your earlier email, and make it easy to reply.
- 2nd follow-up: Wait another 3-4 days. Add a little more value—maybe a relevant article, case study, or answer to a common objection.
- 3rd (and final) follow-up: Wait a week. Keep it brief and low-pressure (“Should I close your file?” works surprisingly well).
Don’t: Set up endless follow-ups or guilt-trip messages (“I guess you’re ignoring me…”). That only annoys people.
Do: Personalize each step as much as possible. Even small tweaks (“Saw you posted on LinkedIn about X…”) make a difference.
Step 3: Build your sequence in SureConnect
Now, let’s get hands-on. SureConnect’s automation tools are pretty straightforward, but here’s what actually matters:
- Create a new sequence
- Go to “Sequences” (or “Automations”) in the main menu.
- Click “New Sequence.”
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Name it something clear, like “Q2 Outreach - SaaS Prospects.”
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Write your emails
- For each step, add your email copy. Use merge fields for first name, company, etc.—but don’t overdo it. “Hi {FirstName}” is plenty.
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Paste your draft, and then read it out loud. If it sounds fake, rewrite it.
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Set timing and triggers
- For each follow-up, choose how many days to wait after no reply.
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Decide what stops the sequence: reply, booking a meeting, or manual removal. You don’t want to keep following up with someone who’s already responded.
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Preview and test
- Send the whole sequence to yourself first. Check for formatting issues, broken links, or awkward merge fields.
- Make sure the timing works—SureConnect sometimes uses business days, not calendar days.
Pro tip: Don’t just copy-paste marketing templates from the internet. They’re overused, and people can spot them a mile away.
Step 4: Segment your audience (don’t batch-and-blast)
One of the biggest mistakes in B2B automation is treating everyone the same. You’ll get better results if you break your contacts into segments:
- By industry: Tailor your messaging (even slightly) for SaaS, manufacturing, agencies, etc.
- By lead source: Cold inbound, webinar attendees, referrals—each should get a different approach.
- By deal stage: Early cold prospects need a different touch than warm leads who’ve already had a call.
Most of this can be handled with tags or custom fields in SureConnect. When you create a sequence, filter by these segments so the right people get the right message.
What to skip: Don’t waste time on micro-segmentation if you only have 100 leads. But if you’re working a big list, it’s worth the extra setup.
Step 5: Set up tracking and notifications
Automation isn’t much help if you don’t know what’s working. Set up tracking so you can see:
- Who opened your email
- Who clicked links
- Who replied
In SureConnect, you can usually turn on open/click tracking per sequence. If you’re worried about privacy or deliverability, turn off click tracking for sensitive industries—sometimes those tracking links trigger spam filters.
Set up notifications so you’re alerted when someone replies or books a meeting. Otherwise, you’ll miss hot leads because you assumed the robot had it covered.
Step 6: Monitor, tweak, and stay human
No “set it and forget it” here. Automation is only as good as the attention you give it.
- Review results weekly: Which emails get replies? Where do people drop off? SureConnect will show you stats per step.
- Change one thing at a time: If your second follow-up always bombs, rewrite just that email—don’t overhaul the whole sequence out of frustration.
- Reply quickly: If someone responds, jump in personally. Don’t leave them in the robot’s hands.
What to ignore: Don’t chase “industry benchmark” open rates. Focus on real replies and booked meetings. Vanity metrics won’t pay your bills.
A few honest tips from the trenches
- Don’t over-automate. If your list is small or high-value, manual follow-ups might work better.
- Keep it short. Most follow-up emails should be under 100 words.
- Give people an out. A line like “If now’s not the right time, just let me know” improves response rates—and keeps you off the spam list.
- Resist the urge to nag. Three emails is usually enough. If they’re not interested, move on.
And if you’re not getting replies? It might not be your automation. It could be your offer, your timing, or your list. Automation won’t fix a broken pitch.
Wrapping up: Keep it simple, keep it real
Automating follow-ups in SureConnect is mostly about cutting busywork—not turning yourself into a spam bot. Start small, test your sequence, and keep your messaging honest and human. Iterate as you go. Tools like SureConnect can save you time, but results come from clear, relevant outreach—no shortcuts.
Now, go set up that first sequence. And if it doesn’t work? Change it. That’s the whole point.