Step delays

Each step's Wait after this step sets the gap, in days, before the next step for that lead. Our rule: start close together, then back off steeply.

Delays between messages: start at 2 to 3 days, then back off

Start with 2 to 3 days between sends, then back off steeply:

1. First gaps: 2 to 3 days.
2. Next gaps: 4 to 5 days.
3. Later gaps: 6 to 7 days.

Early touches land while your first message is still fresh. Later ones get more room, so the sequence never feels like a chase. This holds for LinkedIn messages, emails and both together.

Email-only cadence

For an email-only sequence, send 3 to 5 emails. Our usual cadence for five: the first email, then 2 days later, 3 days later, 5 days later and 5 days later. As step waits, that's 2, 3, 5, 5 and 0 on the last email.

It works best when every email gives something, and when each one stays short. See the email-only starter.

Delay after a connection request: the acceptance window

The wait after a Connection Request is the time a lead has to accept. When it ends, Victoria checks the connection once and sends the lead down Yes or No. Someone who accepts after the check stays on No.

We recommend an acceptance window of about 10 days: long enough that most people who will accept have done so, short enough that the people who won't still hear from you by email soon after.

• Too short, and people who would have accepted end up on the email-only path.
• Too long, and leads who won't accept wait before getting anything.

The built-in templates set the request's wait to 5 days. To follow our recommendation, raise it to about 10 days in the Sequence editor, and shorten the wait after the connection check so leads on No aren't kept waiting even longer.

The wait after the connection check

The branch has its own wait, between the connection check and the first step on either path. It doesn't extend the acceptance window: the check has already happened. The built-in templates set it to 5 days, and the Sequence tab doesn't show or change it.

So in a built-in template, the first step on either path goes out the acceptance window plus the branch wait after the request. A lead who accepts during the branch wait still stays on No. To shorten the branch wait, ask the Copilot to change that step's delay; our starter sequences set it to 1 day.

A wait of 0 days

A wait of 0 sends the next step the same day. Use it on a last step (nothing follows it), or for a profile view right before a connection request. Avoid two messages on the same day.

Real gaps are longer than the delay

A wait counts from when the step actually went out, and steps only go out inside work hours and within daily limits. A 2-day wait set on a Friday step usually lands the next week on a Monday-to-Friday schedule. See Work hours and daily limits.

When to change step delays

• Senior or enterprise buyers: lengthen gaps a little so the sequence feels measured.
• A real deadline, such as an event: shorten gaps, but keep at least a day between messages.
• Live campaigns: changing a wait is safe; a lead already waiting keeps its date and later leads use the new wait. See Edit a live campaign.