Follow-Ups
Follow-up rules act on conversations that have gone quiet. After a wait, they send a message, change the issue's status, or both. Use them to nudge a customer who hasn't replied, to close a conversation the customer has abandoned, or to reassure a customer who is still waiting for your team.
Follow-ups run on WhatsApp and In-App Chat conversations.
Outgoing and incoming follow-ups
Each rule waits on one side of the conversation:
- Outgoing waits for the customer. The clock starts when an agent replies, and the steps run while the customer stays silent. Use it to chase a customer who hasn't answered your question.
- Incoming waits for your team. The clock starts when the customer writes, and the steps run while no agent has replied. Use it to acknowledge a customer outside working hours, or to escalate a conversation nobody has picked up.
An agent is a member of your team or an AI agent. Messages sent by a follow-up don't count as agent replies.
Create a follow-up rule
- Open the Planner app and go to its Setup tab
- Expand Automation Rules, then Automatic Follow-Up
- Click Add a Follow-Up Rule
- Fill in the settings below, add at least one step, and click Save
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Channel | WhatsApp or In-App Chat. |
| Direction | Outgoing or Incoming. |
| Integration ID | Required. The WhatsApp Business Platform or In-App Chat integration whose conversations this rule follows up. |
| Phone Numbers | WhatsApp only. Limit the rule to conversations on these business numbers. Leave it empty for every number. |
| Issue Type | Required. The rule only applies to issues of this type. |
| Issue Filters | Limit the rule to issues in certain statuses, groups or with certain assignees. See Issue filters. |
| Steps | Required. What to do and when. See Steps. |
Issue filters
For each of Statuses, Groups and Assignees you can set:
- Only: the rule applies only to issues with one of these values. Leave it empty to match everything.
- Except: the rule never applies to issues with one of these values. An exclusion always wins.
Pick No Group to match issues without a group. Incoming rules can also pick Unassigned to match issues without an assignee. Outgoing rules only run on assigned issues, so they can't include Unassigned.
Two rules with the same channel, integration, issue type and direction can't both match the same issue. Make their filters exclusive, for example by giving them different Only statuses. An empty Only list overlaps with everything, because new statuses, groups or members could be added later. An outgoing rule and an incoming rule can cover the same issues.
Steps
Each step has:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Wait for | Required. A number of minutes, hours or days. The first step waits from the agent's reply (outgoing) or the customer's message (incoming). Each later step waits from when the previous step ran. |
| Send Message | Turn on to send the message you write to the customer. |
| Change Status | Move the issue to this status. |
A step must send a message, change the status, or both. Steps run in order while the conversation stays quiet. Steps are checked every 30 seconds, so a step can run up to half a minute after it's due.
When a follow-up stops
An outgoing follow-up stops when:
- the customer replies
- the issue is unassigned, locked, or moved to a status the rule doesn't cover
- the issue is closed
- the rule is deleted, or no longer matches the issue
- the last step has run
If a later update makes the issue match a different outgoing rule, the follow-up starts again at that rule's first step.
An incoming follow-up stops when an agent replies, the issue is locked or closed, or the rule no longer matches. If the customer writes again while it's running, the clock keeps its original start, so the wait is measured from the first unanswered message. When an agent replies, a matching outgoing rule takes over.
When a follow-up starts, it copies the rule's steps. Editing the steps later changes only follow-ups that start after you save. Deleting the rule stops every follow-up running under it.
WhatsApp messages
WhatsApp only lets a business send a free-form message within 24 hours of the customer's last message. If a step falls outside that window, its message is skipped, but its status change still happens and the next step is scheduled. Keep the waits on WhatsApp outgoing rules under 24 hours if the messages matter.
Example: chase, then close
Your agents ask customers for details on WhatsApp and move the issue to Waiting on Customer. You want to nudge the customer after 4 hours, and close the issue if they still haven't replied by the next day.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Channel | |
| Direction | Outgoing |
| Issue Type | Support Request |
| Statuses: Only | Waiting on Customer |
| Step | Wait for | Send Message | Change Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 hours | "Hi! Just checking in. Did that solve it?" | |
| 2 | 20 hours | "We'll close this for now. Reply any time to reopen it." | Resolved |
If the customer replies after the first nudge, the follow-up stops and the issue stays with the agent.
Example: reassure waiting customers
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Channel | In-App Chat |
| Direction | Incoming |
| Issue Type | Support Request |
| Assignees: Only | Unassigned |
| Step | Wait for | Send Message |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 minutes | "Thanks for your patience. Someone from our team will be with you shortly." |
Customers whose chat hasn't been picked up within 5 minutes get a reassurance message. As soon as an agent replies, it stops.