# Step delays

How to space the steps of a Victoria AI sequence, from the connection acceptance window to backing off between messages.

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](https://docs.versionseven.ai/playbook/sequences/email-only-give-first).

## 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](https://docs.versionseven.ai/help/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](https://docs.versionseven.ai/help/edit-a-live-campaign).