Start sequence from a reply in gmail

[leebetts]

I would like the ability to start a sequence from a reply in gmail.

Here is just one use case:

1. We start a prospect on a sequence, which encourages them to book a demo with us.

2. The prospect replies to one of the emails in the sequence and says:

"Thanks Lee, I'll book a time next week."

3. Now we want to enroll that prospect in a new sequence that says "thank you" and then follows up with him multiple times if the prospect forgets to book a demo.

We have multiple use cases like this.

Without the ability to do this in gmail, we'll have to jump in and out of the CRM tens of times per day. Not ideal.

[leebetts]

Hi Community, 

Just want to give an update here because it has been some time since the last update came though, I'm sorry about that. This is still being reviewed, and a problem that we plan to prioritize this year, however, it will likely come later in the year, so I am updating the status here to Not Currently Planned. 

We see a lot of value in solving this issue, especially in cases when folks are working from an email client. Once we have solved some core issues related to managing enrollments and reporting, we plan to priortize solving this problem.

Best,

Glen

[leebetts]

Hi Community, 

I'm updating this idea to "Being Reviewed". We're looking into a few variations of "replying with a sequence" and from some of the use-cases in your comments and from some customers I've spoke with, it sounds like there are a couple of ways folks think of "replying with a sequence".

If you'd be interested in providing some more feedback to help us scope out the work, you can fill out this form to participate.

1) After receiving an email, clicking "reply" and using a sequence to respond back instead of a one-off email. This seems to be the majority of feedback.

2) When sending an email to a contact, selecting an option to "follow-up" with a sequence.

We're primarily focused on #1, but would be interested to hear feedback on either. 

Best,

Glen

[XantheGrace]

I would find it incredibly useful if sequences could be set up to respond to a pre-existing email thread in  Gmail!

I deal with a lot of events enquiries involving specific details, and Sequences would become fantastically useful for me if I could set it up to respond to our ongoing conversation. This is particularly useful for when I am chasing up an enquiry that's gone quiet.  In particular, it would increase my productivity massively, as Sequences could be set up as an auto response to initial enquiries, a way to find out which enquries are viable leads and which aren't with a minimal effort, but maximum personalisation. 

Cheers HS team!

[kstewart]

Hi there, it has come to my attention that you can start a sequence from Gmail when composing a new email, but not when replying to an email... ?  will this be updated?

[edjusten]

Hi @kstewart  Sequences are designed to send targeted, timed emails to nurture a new prospect over time.  A sequence automatically ends when a prospect replies to a sequence message, therefore, its not possible to start a sequence on a replied email. Instead you will need to start a new email.  

Could you expand a bit on your use case for enrolling a contact your have already established a relationship with in a sequence? I'd enjoy learning more about how you are using the tool. 

Thank you,

Ed Justen

[kstewart]

Hi there

thanks for your response.

We are a B2C organisation. Hubspot tends to focus alot more towards B2B. hence why i think this is an issue for us. We have hundreds of new potential clients a week. We need a CRM with a big focus on automation.

As an example, a client could be on an initial "first contact" sequence. They respond requesting more info or providing more info for us, I send them more info on our products, I then need to enrol them in a new "follow up" sequence, as I simply cannot keep up with hundreds of individual clients/ follow up emails. that would require me to create individual tasks. Clients dont always respond straight away, they need follow up emails. Alot of our clients come back to us 3-5 emails down the track.  

hope that makes sense?

[edjusten]

Hi @kstewart  Thanks for sharing your use case. I can see where enrolling a user you are already in contact with would benifit you, however I'm curious if the sequences you are refering to are really sales steps as opposed to marketing steps. Our marketing tool has a workflow feature that allows you to automate the enrollment of a contact into a sequence of emails, but again, this would be a sperated thread of emails; you wouldn't be able to  add a sequence of  new messages to an existing thread of of emails.  

Tagging two of our Inbound professors and a HubSpot partner for further comment @KyleJepson  @cbsembler @TheGilldog  Any thoughts here? 

Thank you,

Ed Justen 

[cbsembler]

Hello @kstewart, 

When looking at using automation for follow-up like this is might make sense to implement a Marketing Workflow to nurture these leads towards the action you want them to take. 

A Sales sequence is going to be more focused on that 1:1 conversation with the goal of having them respond. If you are looking to nurture with product content and further communication a workflow will help you automate those tasks. 

If you are looking at how to set this up you can check out this guide here. This will allow you to create multiple actions and add content to nurture these contacts. 

Please let me know what else I can do to assist you. 

Warmly, 

Courtney Sembler 

Inbound Professor 

[kstewart]

thanks for your answers!

Im in sales, not marketing however. We have already made the connection with client, have qualified them, and the client has become an opportunity. I dont see why I should need to go back to  marketing workflow. It simply doesnt work for me, and I dont want them receiving marketing look/ type emails. Sequences and templates can be personalised.

and also,  I need a clear concise sales process.

Sales needs automation also! (more so in my opinion)

[RyanSF]

There was an option for me to select between templates, sequences and docs when clicking "templates" when replying in email. This option has disappeard and only displays templates and docs now. There needs to be a way to enroll someone in a sequence from a gmail response, not just when composing a new email or having to go to the CRM to enroll someone. Please fix.

[RyanSF]

Here is an example. Can you add the option to the threaded reply?? It would be very helpful. 

[Dovies]

I completely agree. 99% of the time I use Sequences, it's in a reply. Otherwise, I have to set a task to follow up manually if I don't hear back from them. It's critical for saving time in a sales rep's regular workflow. 

[RyanSF]

Hey Hubspot Team,

Any chance of implementing this change? Should be a simple update and would save us a bunch of time in the long run. 

Look forward to hearing from you!

[lhaime]

It would be great to have the ability to reply to a contact's email with a sequence, rather than starting a new email thread.

[chriscoderhouse]

I agree! Please

[cduffy]

Agree on this! Platforms like Outreach allow you to enroll contacts in a follow-up sequence right from the Gmail composer so you can automate your follow-up. I understand that this may not be the original intent of the Sequences tool, but in order for it to practically help salespeople automate their processes we really need this functionality!

[MonetiseSport]

This is the really the arrogant "cop out" of Hubspot quite often. "No you can't do this or you can't automate B because we don't see that as sales we see that as as marketing"

We have a sales process B2B where we seek to auomate every part of the deal cycle. Yes we want to cusomtise and yes we want to be personal but we do that within the seuqences itself that have built in tasks to send us reminders and other things. 

Now I have a business contact asking me for further information which just happend to be my next automated seuquence but I can't reply with the automated Intro requested deal. 

That would go something like 
Hi xxxx, 
Glad to see you are interested in our product here is the twoo sheeter ( attached document) that can teach you more about our core markets, reach and engagement. 
Instead I have to send out a new email risking that the CMO completley loses track of where we were in the conversation in question. 

[MonetiseSport]

again this is a "cop out" 
Any sales has stages hence the funnel and the deal stage cycle. 

Its crazy that according to you any sales cycle I start will just let me have an automation in the first response and then the rest has to be manual labouring in sales. Since I work with digital ad sales (and compete with programmatic ads) that is just not a dooable option. Since Ideally at any time I want to have a sales funnel with about 120-130 live deals in different stages. Being confident that the sequences take care of the funnel and all the follow up and reminders in the early cycles. 
So I can put my energy on where its best suited meetings, proposal and closing deals. 

[Maltonite]

We have a very similar use case. We have a sales inbox, with agents picking up the lead and engaging with them. At any one time, an agent will have 100+ open deals, so again impossible to nurture each manually, especially with small margins. 

[Kinga]

That would be a great feature! Please Hubspot implement this 🙂

[sthomsen]

This is a big need for me. I'd like to enroll prospects in a new sequence after I receive a relevant reply. My use case specifically is if I receive an email notification that someone has declined a meeting they booked - I'd like to enroll them in a sequence that nurtures them into re-booking a meeting.

Thanks!

[elizabeth10]

Agreed!  I would love the ability to add a client into a sequence in a replied email.  Just throwing in my vote! Please implement.  🙂  Thanks!