Why outreach needs a plan, not a memory
JT
Jordan Tran · Sales Development Rep
"I know I'm supposed to email on day one, call on day three, and follow up again on day seven. But with 40 leads at once, I can't hold every date in my head."
A "lead" is a person who might want to buy from you. A "touch" is one attempt to reach out to them — an email, a call, or a task.
When follow-up depends on a rep remembering to do it, some leads get five touches and others get none. Outreach quality becomes a matter of luck, not a reliable process.
What you'll achieve
Every lead gets the same disciplined series of emails, calls, and tasks. Build the plan once, and it runs automatically for every rep.Anatomy of a sequence
A Sales Sequence is built for a Target Object — Lead or Contact — and made up of Steps. Each step has a Type (Send Email, Call Task, or Generic Task) and a Day Offset that says how many days after enrollment it should run.
Email stepsPick an Email Template. When the step comes due, SmartLite sends that template to the lead or contact's email address automatically.
Call / Task stepsGive it a Task Subject. When the step comes due, a task with that subject is created and assigned to the rep who enrolled the record.
Enroll a recordOnce a lead or contact is enrolled in an Active sequence, its steps run automatically, counted from the day it was enrolled.
Performance at a glance
Each sequence shows how many records are Enrolled, Active, Completed, and Replied — so you can see whether the cadence is actually working.1 Build "New Lead Outreach"
Start a new sequenceGo to Sales Sequences → New Sequence, name it "New Lead Outreach", and set Target Object to Lead.
Add two stepsStep 1: type "Send Email", Day Offset 0, pick a template. Step 2: type "Call Task", Day Offset 3, subject "Follow-up call".
Save and check ActiveSave the sequence, make sure Active is checked, then enroll a real lead and watch its steps run on schedule.
Day-to-day: sales development reps
Enroll new leads as they come inAdd each qualified lead to the right sequence so nobody depends on you remembering the follow-up schedule.
Work the generated tasksCall/Task steps show up on your task list right when they're due — just work through them.
Day-to-day: sales managers
Check enrollment statsReview Enrolled/Active/Completed/Replied counts to see whether a cadence is actually converting.
What to try next
Look at the Journey Builder trail if you need branching logic — not just a fixed schedule of steps.Test what you learned
1. What decides exactly when a step fires for an enrolled lead?
Whenever the rep remembers to trigger it manually
The step's Day Offset, counted from the day the lead was enrolled
2. What do you need to add to an Email step so it can actually send something?
Nothing — any active sequence step sends an email by default
An Email Template attached to that step