So you want more replies from your outreach, but you don’t want to spend half your day babysitting your inbox or clicking “send” over and over. You’re using—or thinking about using—Phoneburner because you want to automate the grind, not just make more calls. This guide is for people who actually want results, not just to tick a “sent email” box.
If you’re tired of sending one-off emails and hoping for the best, you’re in the right place. Let’s walk through how to set up automated follow-up emails in Phoneburner, what actually matters, and how to avoid the rookie mistakes that tank your response rates.
Why Automated Follow Ups Matter (and Where They Go Wrong)
Most people don’t respond to the first email. That’s just reality. Automated follow-ups mean you don’t have to remember who to chase and when. But here’s the thing: bad automation is worse than none. You’ve seen those sequences that feel like a robot yelling into the void—don’t be that person.
If you set this up right, you’ll: - Catch the folks who meant to reply but forgot. - Stay top-of-mind without being a pest. - Actually save time (instead of creating more work).
Set it up wrong, and you’ll annoy people, get flagged as spam, and watch your response rate nosedive.
Step 1: Get Your Contacts and Lists in Order
Before you even touch automation, clean up your contact list. Phoneburner works off lists (“Dial Sessions”), not just random uploads. Here’s what to do:
- Segment your contacts. Don’t lump everyone together. Break them out by lead source, industry, stage, or whatever matters in your workflow.
- Ditch the dead weight. If you have contacts who never open, bounce, or unsubscribed, remove them now. Sending to garbage contacts just hurts your deliverability.
- Import clean data. Make sure names, emails, and any custom fields you’ll want to use in your emails are accurate. Personalization only works if the data isn’t a mess.
Pro tip: If you’re migrating from another CRM, double-check that fields map correctly. “First Name” mismatches are the fastest way to look like a robot.
Step 2: Build Your Email Templates (Don’t Phone It In)
Inside Phoneburner, you’ll need to create the emails that make up your follow-up sequence. This is where most automations fall flat—don’t just copy-paste generic templates.
- Go to Settings → Email Library in Phoneburner.
- Create a new template for each stage of your sequence (First follow-up, Second follow-up, etc.).
- Personalize. Use merge fields like
{{First Name}}or{{Company}}to make the message sound like a real human wrote it. - Keep it short. If you wouldn’t read it, neither will they.
- Don’t sound like a sequence. Avoid “Just following up…” as your subject every time. Vary your tone, and add a little context.
What to ignore: - Overly designed emails. Stick to plain text or minimal formatting; fancy templates scream “mass email” and often go to spam. - Gimmicky subject lines. If it wouldn’t get you to open it, don’t use it.
Step 3: Map Out Your Follow-Up Sequence
You want just enough touches to get noticed, but not so many that you become a nuisance. Here’s a basic (but proven) structure:
- Day 0: Initial email (sent manually or as part of a call session).
- Day 2-3: First follow-up (“Just wanted to bump this up…” but better).
- Day 6-7: Second follow-up (offer value, not just “did you see this?”).
- Day 10-14: Final nudge (“Should I close your file?” or something low-pressure).
You can tweak timing, but don’t send more than 3-4 follow-ups unless you want to get blocked. More isn’t better—better is better.
Step 4: Set Up Automation in Phoneburner
Now, let’s actually connect the dots. Phoneburner doesn’t have a “drip campaign” in the same way as some email marketing tools. Instead, you’re building automations based on call outcomes and status changes. Here’s how to do it:
A. Create Statuses for Each Stage
- In Settings → Statuses, create custom statuses like “Follow-up 1 sent,” “Follow-up 2 sent,” etc.
- These statuses act as triggers for your automations.
B. Add Email Actions to Statuses
- For each status, set up an automatic action to send the appropriate email template when a contact is moved to that status.
- Go to Settings → Statuses → (choose your status) → Automatic Actions.
- Choose Send Email and select the right template.
- This means when you finish a call or update a contact, the next email goes out automatically.
C. Schedule Follow-Ups
- Use Phoneburner’s reminders or your own task system to know when to move contacts to the next status if they haven’t replied.
- This isn’t 100% hands-off. You’ll need to review your follow-up queue and move contacts forward on schedule.
- For higher-volume teams, you can bulk update statuses to trigger the next round of emails.
Pro tip: Phoneburner’s automation is powerful, but it’s not a full “set and forget” drip machine. Plan to spend a few minutes each day reviewing your follow-up list.
Step 5: Test, Watch, and Adjust
This is where most folks fail—they set up a sequence and never look back. Bad idea.
- Test your emails. Send them to yourself and a coworker to see how they look. Broken merge fields or wonky formatting kill trust fast.
- Monitor replies. Are people actually responding? Are you getting more unsubscribes or spam complaints? Track what happens.
- Tweak the timing and messaging. If you’re not getting replies by the second or third follow-up, try changing the subject or body. If people reply with “Please stop emailing me,” dial it back.
Honest take: If your sequence isn’t working after a few weeks, it’s probably the message, not the tool.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
- Works: Simple, personal-sounding emails—sent at a reasonable cadence—almost always beat slick, “salesy” messages sent too often.
- Doesn’t work: Mass-blasting everyone with the same email. The more you segment and personalize, the better it works.
- Ignore: Anyone telling you that “one perfect template” will fix your response rates. This stuff takes testing and adjustment.
Also, don’t obsess over open rates. Focus on replies. Opens are nice, but replies pay the bills.
Quick Troubleshooting
Not seeing emails go out? - Double-check that your status automation is set up correctly. - Make sure your email templates are assigned to the right automatic actions. - Verify that your sending domain isn’t getting flagged for spam (check your spam folder and test send).
Responses dropping off a cliff? - Review your messaging—are you actually adding value, or just nagging? - Try spacing your follow-ups further apart. - Make sure your send times aren’t all at the same hour—mix it up a bit.
Getting blocked or bounced? - Clean your list again. - Avoid spammy words and too many links. - Use a real reply-to address, not a “no-reply.”
Keep It Simple. Iterate as You Go.
Don’t overcomplicate things. Start with a basic, 2-3 step follow-up sequence. Watch what actually gets responses, then tweak. Automation is supposed to save you time, not turn you into a full-time sequence manager.
Remember, the goal isn’t to send more emails. It’s to get more replies from real people. Set up the basics, keep it personal, and adjust as you learn. That’s how you actually boost your response rates—without annoying everyone in your database.