Multichannel sequences

Overview

A single cold touch is a coin flip; a well-built sequence is a system. The job of a cadence is to earn attention across several relevant touches without becoming noise, and to stop the instant it should (reply, meeting, or disinterest). Sequence = architecture; copy (cold-email-writing) and channel mechanics (linkedin-outreach) hang off it.

Design the architecture, not just the emails

A touch has four decisions: channel, timing, angle, and ask. Vary the angle across touches (new value each time - a different pain, a proof point, a resource) rather than "just following up." Every touch must stand on its own; a prospect may only ever see touch #3.

A solid default cadence (tune to your motion)

That's a blended ~6-8 touch starter. Scale the total by deal size (across all channels): roughly 8-10 for SMB over ~2 weeks, 10-14 for mid-market, and 12-16 for enterprise over 3-4 weeks. The follow-ups do the heavy lifting - one large study found steps 2-6 drove ~59% of all replies (step 3 alone a third of email-sourced meetings), so the first touch is rarely where the reply comes from. Diminishing returns are real, but they come from email fatigue, not touches per se: cap each email wave at ~3 and switch channels rather than send a 4th near-identical email (4+ emails in a row sharply raises spam/unsubscribe rates).

Channel roles

• Email - the workhorse: carries the detail and the ask.
• LinkedIn - warms and humanizes: profile view, genuine comment, soft connect. (Respect LinkedIn's invite limits - see linkedin-outreach.)
• Phone/voicemail - highest intent, best after a prospect has seen your name.
• SMS - only with prior relationship/opt-in; powerful but easy to overuse.

Sequence the channels so each one references the last - a connected story, not four strangers shouting the same thing.

Branch and exit logic

• Reply (any) → pull them out of automation immediately; a human (or reply-handling-and-objections) takes over. Never let a sequence keep firing at someone who answered.
• Opened repeatedly, no reply → a lighter "is this a priority?" nudge.
• Hard no / unsubscribe → stop, suppress, honor it instantly.
• No engagement by last touch → exit to a long-term nurture, not the trash.

Pace for deliverability

Spread sends evenly across the day and across inboxes; never burst a whole list at once. Warmup and daily caps still apply (see email-deliverability). An even, paced send protects the domain that the whole sequence depends on.

Do / Don't

• Do give every touch a fresh angle and make each one self-contained.
• Do stop on reply and honor opt-outs instantly.
• Don't send "just following up" with no new value.
• Don't run 15 touches - diminishing returns become brand damage.

Common mistakes

• Same message re-sent as the "follow-up."
• Four channels that don't reference each other (feels like four spammers).
• A sequence that keeps firing after someone replied.
• Bursting the whole list on day 0 and torching deliverability.

Go live with Chronos (optional)

• geo_propose_campaign - draft a full multi-channel cadence from an ICP + goal.
• geo_create_campaign / geo_launch_campaign - build and run it, paced automatically.
• geo_compile_flow_spec / geo_launch_flow_from_spec - express a custom branch/exit flow and launch it.
• geo_update_campaign, geo_pause_campaign, geo_resume_campaign - adjust a live cadence.

Chronos enforces reply/exit guards, pacing, and per-inbox caps so touches stay even and stop on reply.

Connect in ~30s → CONNECT-CHRONOS.md. Free, no card.

See also: cold-email-writing, linkedin-outreach, reply-handling-and-objections.