Conversation follow-up: when the customer stops replying
How XBASE reaches back out, as your agent, to people who stopped replying: trigger, waits, messages, each channel window and costs.
Updated on
Follow-up is an automation that reaches back out to a customer who stopped replying to your AI agent. The messages go out as the agent, through the conversation's channel, and become part of its memory. When the customer replies, the follow-up stops on its own.
The fastest way to start is the Follow-up for people who stopped replying template: follow How to create a follow-up.
How it works
- The automation starts with the Conversation without reply trigger, in the Start step.
- Every 10 minutes, XBASE looks for conversations of the chosen agents where the last message is from the business and the customer hasn't replied for the set time.
- Each conversation found becomes an execution. It follows the steps: Send as agent, Wait, another Send as agent and so on.
- A conversation enters once for each unanswered customer message. If the customer replies and then goes quiet again, a new follow-up starts.
The "Conversation without reply" trigger
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Agents | Only conversations handled by these agents are included. At least one. |
| Hours without reply | Time since the business's last message with no reply from the customer. From 0.5 to 72 hours. |
| Channels | WhatsApp, Instagram Direct and Email. At least one. |
| Only conversations that came from an ad | Leaves out people who did not arrive through an ad. |
| Ad name contains | Includes the conversation whose ad has any of the snippets in its name (case-insensitive) or the same id. |
| Tags | Includes the conversation with any of the selected tags. |
| Only in these stages and Never in these stages | Limit by funnel stage. |
| Maximum per round | How many conversations enter every 10 minutes. The default is 50. |
The Wait and Send as agent steps
In the editor, both are in the Follow-up group of the steps column.
Wait holds the execution for the set time, in minutes, hours or days. When the time is up, XBASE checks the interruptions. If any applies, the execution ends and the next steps do not go out:
- Stop if the customer replies (on by default);
- Stop if it goes to Human Support (on by default);
- Stop if the conversation enters these stages, for example "Deal closed".
Send as agent sends the text you wrote, as the conversation's agent:
- {{nome}} becomes the customer's first name;
- an [options: A | B | C] line at the end becomes buttons on WhatsApp;
- a [product: link | phrase] line becomes the product card, with the photo from the page;
- Email subject applies to email conversations.
The WhatsApp preview shows the message as it arrives and counts the characters.
Both steps only work with the Conversation without reply trigger, because they need a conversation.
Buttons and lists on WhatsApp
| Options in the [options: …] line | How they arrive |
|---|---|
| Up to 3, with up to 20 characters each | buttons |
| Up to 10, with up to 24 characters each | list, with the See options button |
| More than that | text, one option per line at the end of the message |
The preview warns you when a button goes over 20 characters or when there are more than 3 buttons.
Window per channel
| Channel | Rule |
|---|---|
| Text only up to 24 hours after the customer's last message. Outside that, the approved template chosen in the step is sent. Without a template, the step is skipped. | |
| Instagram Direct | 24 hours. Outside that, the step is skipped. |
| No window. |
In the Send as agent step, If the 24 h window is closed defines what to do: Use the template or Skip this step. The template's {{1}} receives the customer's first name, and the template must be approved on the conversation's number.
Costs
- Text inside the 24-hour window has no Meta charge.
- The template is free within the 72-hour window for people who arrived through an ad that leads to WhatsApp. Outside it, Meta charges each template sent, as explained in WhatsApp billing.
Protections against mass sending by mistake
- The follow-up starts as a Draft and only runs after it is published.
- Only conversations of the chosen agents are included.
- Maximum per round limits how many conversations start every 10 minutes.
- The automation won't activate while a step still needs configuring: This automation can't be activated yet appears, with what is missing.
- A message that failed is not sent again.
On the agent's page
In the agent's Panel, the This agent's follow-ups card lists the automations with the Conversation without reply trigger that include this agent, with the status of each one. Click one to open the editor. Create follow-up opens the gallery template with the agent already selected.
Frequently asked questions
See also
Overview
How XBASE automations work: the available triggers, the editor steps, the templates, testing, how to turn them on and the execution history.
Create an automation
Step by step to create, in XBASE, a scheduled routine with an AI agent from a template, then test it, turn it on and check its history.