Setting up a sequence in Aloware is a great way to streamline your communication and workflow. Here's a simple guide on how to create and set up a new sequence to automate messaging, engage with contacts, and manage leads effectively.
Step 1: Creating a new sequence
Go to the "Sequences+" tab and click the "+New Sequence" button.
Set the configurations in the new sequence page wizard:
Name - select a clear name so your team knows the sequence.
Description - provide a brief overview to explain the purpose and contents of the sequence.
Process on - select whether the sequence will run daily or only on business days (Monday-Friday, excluding holidays).
Run on National Holidays
Optionally, allow the sequence to run on specific holidays like New Year's Day, Independence Day, and others.
January 1 - New Year's Day
3rd Monday in January - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
3rd Monday in February - President's Day or Washington's Day
Last Monday in May - Memorial Day
June 19 - Juneteenth (Signed into law on June 17, 2021)
July 4 - Independence Day (Observed on Friday or Monday if July 4 falls on a Saturday or Sunday)
1st Monday in September - Labor Day
4th Thursday in November - Thanksgiving Day
December 24 - Christmas Eve
December 25 - Christmas Day
December 31 - New Year's Eve
Day schedule - adjust the sequence timing to match your contact's time zone and set operational hours. Messages will be sent the next business day if it’s outside these hours.
Specify time - decide the specific times when leads should be enrolled in the sequence.
If you want to enroll leads at any time, simply leave the "Do not enroll leads that come in outside the time range" option unchecked. This allows you to control when to add leads to the sequence based on your preferences.
Prevent enrollment if contact is communicating (or has already communicated) with an agent - stop enrolling contacts who are already communicating with an agent.
Outbound line - choose the communication line for the sequence.
Throttle - set how many leads to process per minute for efficiency.
Remove leads if they respond - leads will be automatically removed from the sequence if they respond to a message or answer a call.
Remove lead if they opt-out- automatically remove lead upon enrollment time if they have chosen opt-out.
Remove lead if user manually calls an enrolled lead - automatically remove the lead from the sequence if an agent or user manually calls the lead.
Use contact's owner line - Aloware uses the contact's owner line first. If the contact has no owner or the owner doesn't have an assigned line, the selected outbound line is used instead.
Use contact's last communication line - Aloware prioritizes using the contact's last communication line. To activate this, disable "Use Contact's Owner Line." If there's no assigned owner or if the owner doesn't have a designated line, Aloware uses the selected outbound line instead.
Click the 'Save & Continue' button once done.
Step 2: Adding steps flow
In Aloware, sequence steps show a series of automated tasks that happen one after the other.
After creating a sequence, go to the "Steps" tab and click "Add Steps."
Types of sequence steps - choose from different steps like automated dialing, SMS messaging, and more:
Automated dialing
Progressive dialer - it calls the contact, makes sure they answer, and then calls agents in a group. You can use a message to tell the contact what to do, like press 1 to talk, press 2 to end the call or press 9 to stop getting calls.
Preview dialer - it calls a group of agents first, and then connects one of them to the contact. Aloware will repeat the message to agents until they press any key to connect.
You can send a message to the contact like, "Hey [AgentName], we're about to call [FirstName] [LastName] from [State]."Add to power dialer - puts the contact in a user's power dialer.
Remove from power dialer - when a contact gets enrolled in a sequence with this step, the contact will be removed from the Power Dialer list even while the Power Dialer is in progress.
Users can choose to remove contacts from the power dialer lists of all users.
Automated SMS messaging
Send SMS message - sends an automatic text message to the enrolled contact.
Send picture/ MMS message - sends an automatic picture MMS message to the enrolled contact.
Send SMS to ring group - sends an SMS text message to a ring group with the enrolled contact's information.
Each automated message includes an opt-out phrase. Note that Aloware limits the number of messages a sequence can send to a specific contact to 10 per hour.
Contact management actions
Add tag to contact - adds a tag to the enrolled contact.
Remove tag from contact - removes a tag from the enrolled contact.
Users can remove all tags from a contact in one easy step within Aloware sequences. Just check the box, and all tags will be cleared from the contact. This ensures your contact list is clean and ready for any new processes.
Change contact disposition status - changes the disposition status of the enrolled contact.
Mark contact as DNC - mark the enrolled contact as DNC (Do Not Contact).
Change contact's owner - this changes the owner of the contact. When a new contact is assigned, the new owner will receive an SMS notification.
If more than 20 contacts are assigned at the end of the sequence, users will quickly receive an SMS saying, "You have been assigned to a group of contacts," to keep them informed.
Round-robin change contact owner - changes the person responsible for the contact in a round-robin way.
Change lead source - updates the contact's lead source.
Add line to contact - adds a phone line to the contact.
Communication actions
Send webhook - sends a webhook with the enrolled contact's information as a payload.
Automated email - Aloware can work with Mailgun and SendGrid to send emails in two ways:
Send email to contact - sends an email to the contact.
Send email to ring group - sends an email to a group with the contact's info.
Automated line and voicemail
Send ringless voicemail - sends a voicemail to the contact in the US and Canada (only for verified accounts).
Start AloAI conversation
Steps settings
Delay - when setting up a sequence, you can specify delays between steps. These delays determine how quickly your sequence progresses. You have several options:
No Delay - the step executes immediately.
Default Delay - you can set a delay of minutes, hours, or days after the previous step, which is relative to the initiation of that step.
Time of Day - combines an absolute time with a relative delay. For example, you can schedule a step to run two days from now at 8 AM.
Company timezone - you can ensure that all sequence steps are executed according to your company’s local time, regardless of the contact’s timezone.
Contact timezone - schedules steps based on the contact’s local time, ensuring messages are sent at appropriate times for them.
Text message - increase delivery success by personalizing messages. Use shortcodes such as [FirstName] or [TrackingNumber].
Add opt-out phrase for this message - to comply with messaging regulations, adding the opt-out phrase in the message is enforced on the account level. If you wish to describe this feature, please contact us for assistance.
Message in dialers - design your message according to the following instructions: "To connect immediately, press 1. To schedule a callback at a more convenient time, press 2. If you wish to be removed from our contact list, please press 9."
Repeat message and require sent to press any key to connect to contact - With 'Repeat Message' enabled, add a prompt like 'Press any key to connect' at the message's end, guiding agents on connection steps.
Step 3: Setting Intake & Triggers
The Intake and Triggers feature decides which contacts to include or exclude from the sequence. It helps manage who gets added or removed, ensuring the sequence works effectively.
Lead intake by email - Aloware automatically enrolls any contacts sent to this special email address.
In the Intake & Triggers tab, click the "Install Email Service" button.
A unique email address is set to send a new email to contacts.
Aloware converts formatted lead data from emails into new Aloware contacts using an advanced algorithm. This ensures efficient and seamless integration of new contacts into the system for further processing and engagement.
Triggers - triggers are an integral part of the sequence flow. They are activated when contacts enrolled in the sequence exhibit a specific behavior or action, ensuring that contacts who still meet the criteria can progress through the sequence seamlessly.
Navigate to the Intake & Triggers tab and click on the "Add Trigger" button.
Select the appropriate trigger types:
Add contact disposition trigger - when a contact's status changes (e.g. connected, bad timing), you can select to either enroll or disenroll them from this sequence.
Add call disposition trigger - when a call receives a status (e.g. connected, busy), you can choose to either enroll or disenroll the contact from this sequence.
Add contact trigger - new contacts will automatically join this sequence upon their creation.
Add call trigger - if you make an outbound call and its duration (talk time, wait time, overall duration) is equal to or greater than X seconds, the contact will be removed from this sequence.
Add contact DNC trigger - when a contact is added to or removed from the do not contact (DNC) list, they will be included in this sequence.
Add appointment trigger - whenever an appointment is scheduled, displayed, or canceled, the contact will be added to this sequence.
Add contact tagged trigger - this trigger activates when specific labels are added to a contact.
Add contact tag removed trigger - this trigger activates when tags are removed from a contact.
Once set, click the save triggers button.
Step 4: Enroll contacts
To finalize the setup of your sequence, you will need to add or enroll contacts into the sequence.
Simply click on the "Enroll Contacts" button to start adding contacts. You can select contacts from the existing lines or tags under the contact group, or even enroll a new single contact.
