Automation Wait Steps & Timing
Control the pace of your sequences with fixed, date-based, and window waits.
Timing is everything in a good automation. The Wait action lets you control the pace of your sequences — preventing contacts from being bombarded, and ensuring messages arrive at the right moment.
Types of Wait Steps
Wait a Fixed Amount of Time
Pause the automation for a specific duration before moving to the next action.
- Wait 1 hour before sending a follow-up SMS
- Wait 2 days before sending a check-in email
- Wait 1 week before sending a re-engagement message
To set up: Click + Add Action → Wait → choose the duration.
Wait Until a Specific Date/Time
Hold the automation until an exact moment.
- Wait until tomorrow at 9:00 AM
- Wait until the contact's birthday
- Wait until a custom date field on the contact (e.g., contract renewal date)
This is especially useful for reminders tied to dates stored in contact fields.
Wait Until a Specific Day/Time Window
Only allow the automation to proceed during business hours or specific days.
- Only send between Monday–Friday, 9 AM–6 PM
- Skip weekends and holidays
This prevents contacts from receiving a 2 AM text because they submitted a form at midnight.
Best Practices for Timing
Don't stack actions without waits. If you have five actions in a row with no waits, all five will fire within seconds. Always add a wait between communication steps.
Match timing to urgency. Lead follow-up should be fast — send the first SMS within minutes. Educational nurture sequences can be spaced days apart.
Use business-hours windows for SMS. SMS sent outside normal hours feels intrusive. Apply a "send within business hours" condition to your SMS actions.
Keep sequences under 6–8 touches. If a contact hasn't responded after 6–8 touchpoints, move them to a "cold" segment rather than continuing to message them.
Pausing and Stopping Automations
You can remove a specific contact from an automation at any time:
- Open the contact's card.
- Go to the Activity tab.
- Find the active automation and click Remove from Workflow.
To pause all contacts from a specific automation, toggle the automation to Inactive (Draft mode). Contacts already inside will hold at their current step until it's re-activated.