Sequence Schedule Overview – Outreach Support

Objective

Learn about Sequence Schedules in Outreach, allowing you to create and manage a series of time blocks configured on various calendar days that reflect time frames in which emails can be delivered from a Sequence and Tasks can be created. Sequence Schedules ensure that Tasks are processed during reasonable times and days when recipients are likely to be available and responsive.

Applies To

Outreach Users

Overview

How Sequence Schedules Work

In a sequence with steps by day interval, steps are scheduled to start at a set interval time (15 mins, 2 hours, 5 days, etc.). Intervals will then correspond with the schedule, looking at schedule time blocks, to decide whether it should or should not initiate that step.

If a step lands outside of an available time block, Outreach will wait until the next available window to initiate that step. As that step moves forward, the rest of the schedule will move forward so the following steps do not play "catch up."

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An example of this in action would look like this:

Step 1 email goes out on day 1.
Step 2 email is scheduled to be delivered 3 days later.
3 days later, step 2 lands on a Sunday.
Since there are no available time blocks on Sunday, per the schedule owner's customization, step 2 will not send until the next available time block.
The next available time block is Monday from 7 AM - 4 PM, so it waits until 7 AM on Monday to send step 2.
Step 3, which was scheduled for 3 days after step 2, will now send 3 days after Monday instead of 3 days after Sunday.

(For more information on schedule intervals, refer to the Outreach Sequence Overview.)

Accessing Sequence Schedules

Access the Outreach Platform.
Click the gear icon above the user's initials in the bottom left corner of the navigation sidebar.
In the left nav, click Administration > Workflow automations > Schedules.
Either click an existing schedule to manage it, or click Add schedule to create a new schedule.

For more detailed information regarding creating a sequence schedule, refer to How To Create a Sequence Schedule.

Configuring Sequence Schedules

Setup Basics

A sequence schedule is configured based on completion of the following fields/sections:

Schedule name - Identifies the name of the schedule.
Owner - Identifies the owner of the schedule.
Scheduling options - Identifies when an email or task should process.
Time blocks - Identifies the timeframes in which tasks can process. (For more detailed information, see How To Create a Sequence Schedule.)

Time Zone Options

Outreach provides users with the opportunity to configure a specific time zone for sequences. Options include:

Use prospect's timezone as default - Scheduled emails and tasks process based on the timezone listed for each individual Prospect.
Use sender's timezone if prospect timezone is unavailable - Scheduled emails and tasks process based on the sequencer's default timezone as established by the user's calendar settings instead of the schedule's default timezone.
Default timezone - Scheduled emails and tasks process based on the selected timezone when either prospect or sender timezone option is unavailable.
Holidays by country - Emails and tasks will be processed on the next available schedule block after a holiday. (See more in the International Holiday Schedules section below.)
Note: Click the more information (?) icon to view holidays recognized for that country.

International Holiday Schedules

In the setup field Holidays by country, you can select the country whose holidays should be applied to the schedule. When enabled, emails and tasks that are scheduled to be delivered on a holiday associated with this country will be rescheduled for the next available schedule block after the holiday.

On scheduled holidays, an informational banner will appear in the user interface notifying Users that their tasks and automated emails may not be sent due to holiday observance. The banner will be presented to all Users if a schedule is enabled that respects a regional or USA holiday (regardless of whether or not Prospects are in a sequence using that regional holiday schedule).

Note the following about applying country-specific holidays to your schedule:

Holidays can be applied to sequence schedules by country only -- you cannot select specific individual holidays to apply.
You are able to apply only one country's holidays per schedule.
When selecting from the Holidays by country dropdown, all of the holidays associated with the chosen country must be applied to the sequence schedule. You cannot further select which of that country's holidays to specifically apply or exclude with respect to your schedule.

Pausing Sequences for Holidays

If you would like to pause Outreach campaigns for additional time, there are two recommended methods.

Relying mostly on automated emails? Just pause.

For sequences with a heavy amount of automated emails, the easiest way is to simply pause your sequence.

How to do it: This can be done either by disabling each sequence (which will impact all Prospect within that sequence), or sequence steps, or you can pause specific Prospects.
Pro tip: Tag these sequences so that after the holidays you know the specific ones to turn back on.
Be aware: Scheduled emails with manual customization will be lost when a sequence is turned off. This includes any personalization that was added to a scheduled email.

Tend to send manual emails? Reschedule.

For sequences that heavily utilize manual emails, manually reschedule all "scheduled emails" from your Outreach outbox. This method will ensure any customization of email content is not lost.

How to do it: From the Outreach outbox or emails tab in the sequence view:
1. Set the date to the beginning of the first no-delivery-day.
2. Filter the emails based on the scheduled date.
3. Bulk reschedule them to the day after no-delivery-dates.
Be aware:
- Emails will pile up on the first day of the scheduled delivery date, which means there is potential to reach your daily email limit. As a result, it is possible that some scheduled emails will be postponed for a few days.
- Keep in mind that large email deliveries to the same domain can have an impact on your email deliverability.