Fix a sequence that is not sending
Check replies and enrollment states, and fix sequences that are not sending.
Available on Pro, Growth and Enterprise
A sequence stops for a contact when they reply, finish the last step or hit a problem. Check their enrollment status to decide what to do next.
Who can use it
Section titled “Who can use it”Owners, admins and members on a plan with sequences (see Sequences). Ask the agent which contacts need attention and whether to resume or unenroll them.
When a contact replies
Section titled “When a contact replies”Sends pause while Lightfield checks whether a reply came from a person or an automated message, such as an out-of-office.
A reply from a person counts whether it comes by email or LinkedIn, or as any email from the contact synced to your workspace. When one arrives:
- The contact’s enrollment ends in every live sequence.
- Any of their messages waiting in For review are withdrawn.
- The reply lands in the sender’s inbox and on the sequence’s Replies tab. Replies to a warmed mailbox go to the connected mailbox chosen for it.
An automated reply pauses the contact instead, and the enrollment shows Paused after an automated reply. If the reply gives a return date, they resume on that date; a step that came due while they were away sends once they’re back, within the send window. If it gives no date, they stay paused until someone resumes them. Automated replies don’t count as replies in the sequence’s results.
To hear about replies as they arrive, turn on Sequence replies in Settings → Notifications. To act on them automatically, such as creating a follow-up task, build an automation with the When a contact replies to a sequence trigger.
Respond to the person
Section titled “Respond to the person”Read the reply before choosing the next action:
- Interested: answer their question and propose a specific next step.
- Wrong person: ask who would be the right contact.
- Not now: record the reason and timing, then follow up when they suggested.
- Not interested: respect the answer and stop outreach.
Needs attention
Section titled “Needs attention”Needs attention means one contact is paused on a step until someone acts. Other contacts keep going. To find them, filter the sequence’s Enrollments tab by Needs attention and open one to see why. For an alert, turn on Sequence failures in Settings → Notifications; it sends at most once a day per sequence.
| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| A template couldn’t be filled | Fill in the missing values and click Approve, or fix the contact’s record and click Retry (see below). |
| A step failed, such as a message that failed quality checks | Fix the step’s instructions, publish, then click Resume on the enrollment. An error a retry can’t fix ends the enrollment as Failed. |
| LinkedIn would not return the profile for this contact | LinkedIn refused to look up this one contact, so nothing was sent; the sending account is fine. Check the LinkedIn URL on the contact, correct it, then click Resume. If it fails again, click Unenroll and reach them by email. |
| The sender can’t send | Fix the sender. The contact resumes on its own once the sender is sending again. See Settings → Sequences. |
If the sequence itself is paused, resume it first.
Fill in a template that couldn’t be filled
Section titled “Fill in a template that couldn’t be filled”If a template variable has no fallback and that contact’s field is empty, Lightfield holds the message as a draft. A field deleted after publishing does the same. Other contacts keep going.
Approving resumes the enrollment and sends the message within the send window and sending limits. Read the draft before you approve.
- On the Enrollments tab, filter by Needs attention and open the contact.
- The held draft names what’s missing, for example Contact · Job title could not be filled, and shows each missing value as a red chip.
- Click each red chip, type the value, and click Approve. Or fill in the field on the contact’s record and click Retry, which writes the draft again from the contact’s current details.
To stop it happening again, give the variable a fallback and publish.
What ends an enrollment
Section titled “What ends an enrollment”| Outcome | What happened |
|---|---|
| Replied | The contact replied by email or LinkedIn, or emailed you on any synced thread (shown as an unrelated reply). This ends their enrollment in every live sequence. |
| Completed | They finished the last step without replying. |
| Undeliverable | The address bounced, failed a deliverability check, or had bounced before. |
| Not accepted | A LinkedIn invite wasn’t accepted in time, and the sequence has no email step before or after it. |
| Invite refused | LinkedIn wouldn’t deliver the invite, and the sequence has no email step before or after it. |
| Review expired | A message in For review wasn’t approved or dismissed within 30 days. |
| Disqualified | The step’s instructions told the agent to drop contacts who don’t meet a condition, and this contact didn’t. |
| Cancelled | Someone unenrolled them. Their remaining steps are skipped. |
| Contact deleted | The contact was deleted. |
| Failed | A step hit an error Lightfield couldn’t recover from, or the contact’s LinkedIn URL was removed so their LinkedIn steps couldn’t run. |
Undeliverable contacts
Section titled “Undeliverable contacts”To protect your senders, Lightfield checks each address after you enroll a contact and again before each email step. The enrollment ends as Undeliverable, and nothing is sent, when the address hard-bounced before in your workspace, the mailbox doesn’t exist or isn’t safe to contact, or the domain accepts all mail so the mailbox can’t be confirmed (a catch-all domain). A sent email that hard-bounces ends it the same way.
The check runs on each address before sending, not when a contact is enriched, so an enriched address can still fail. To fix one, update the contact’s address and enroll them again. Owners and admins can allow catch-all addresses or skip verification under Deliverability in Settings → Sequences. We recommend leaving both off, since bounces hurt every sequence in the workspace.
Pause or unenroll a contact
Section titled “Pause or unenroll a contact”Open the contact’s enrollment from the Enrollments tab.
- Pause contact holds them until someone clicks Resume contact. A contact you pause stays paused even after a sender problem clears.
- Unenroll ends the enrollment and skips their remaining steps. To start over, enroll them again.
Pausing the whole sequence holds only contacts waiting on a step. Work already in progress finishes.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”I enrolled contacts and nothing sent
Section titled “I enrolled contacts and nothing sent”First check whether the sequence is Active. Publishing a new sequence leaves it paused; click Activate when you are ready to send.
If it is active, check the send window. Sends outside it wait until it opens. Then check Enrollments for Needs attention and For review for messages waiting for approval.
My sequence won’t activate
Section titled “My sequence won’t activate”No designated sender can send on one of its channels. If the message mentions a sending mailbox, turn on Enable for sequences for your connected account or fix the mailbox it names in Settings → Sequences, then designate it in the sequence’s Senders row. If it mentions LinkedIn, see LinkedIn steps.
A test run failed saying no sender is available
Section titled “A test run failed saying no sender is available”No designated sender can send on that channel. Ask the agent to check the selected accounts. Test runs use the draft, so you can fix this without publishing.
Sending stopped and nothing looks broken
Section titled “Sending stopped and nothing looks broken”Filter Enrollments by Needs attention and open one to see the reason. A sender that can’t send is the most common cause; those contacts resume on their own once it’s fixed. Contacts paused by a failed step, or by someone, stay paused until you click Resume.
I edited the copy but the old version is still going out
Section titled “I edited the copy but the old version is still going out”The change isn’t published. The agent only publishes when you ask, so click Publish changes or ask the agent to publish. You don’t need to pause the sequence first.
Every test run has the same opener with different names
Section titled “Every test run has the same opener with different names”Check the contact data and step instructions. Ask for a specific signal per contact and a fallback when none is available, then test several contacts.
Common questions
Section titled “Common questions”What happens when a contact replies to a sequence? Their enrollment ends in every live sequence, and their messages waiting for review are withdrawn. An out-of-office pauses them instead.
Do paused contacts restart on their own? It depends on why. Contacts paused because a sender couldn’t send resume once it’s fixed. Contacts paused by a failed step, an automated reply with no return date, or a person stay paused until you click Resume.
Do I need to enroll a contact again after fixing their LinkedIn URL? Check the enrollment’s status. If LinkedIn refused to look up the profile and the enrollment shows Needs attention, correct the URL and click Resume. If the URL was removed and the enrollment ended as Failed, fix the URL and enroll the contact again.
Can the agent fix enrollments for me? Yes. Ask it in chat to find contacts that need attention, explain what went wrong, and resume or unenroll them.