What Happens When a Customer Opts Out

Summary

Overview: When a customer opts out, Pippin stops contacting them completely: no replies, no follow-ups, no quotes and no booking links. Your team can still message them by hand. Customers can also choose a softer option that only stops follow-ups.

Prerequisites:

• None. Opt-outs work on every workspace.

How Pippin Decides

1. A customer is unsubscribed when they:
   • reply to an SMS or WhatsApp message with only one of these words: STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END or QUIT, or
   • select Unsubscribe from everything on the email preferences page linked from a follow-up email, or use their email app's own unsubscribe button on a follow-up email.
2. The opt-out applies to the person on every channel, not just the channel they used.
3. Once a lead is unsubscribed:
   • Pippin sends nothing on its own: no replies, follow-up steps, quotes, booking links or intros.
   • Any follow-up sequence the lead is on stops.
   • The lead shows an Unsubscribed badge in the Inbox.
4. If an unsubscribed lead writes to you again, the message appears in the conversation, Pippin stays silent, and your team gets an Opted-Out Lead Replied notification so someone can answer.
5. A customer who replies by SMS or WhatsApp with only START, UNSTOP or YES is subscribed again, whichever channel they opted out on. Pippin does not reply to these keywords, because the phone carrier sends its own confirmation.
6. On the email preferences page, a customer can instead choose a softer option. These stop follow-ups only, and Pippin still answers if they write to you:
   • Pause for 30 days: any follow-up sequence the lead is on stops, and no new one starts until that date. After it, the lead can be followed up again. The lead shows Follow-ups paused.
   • Stop following up: any follow-up sequence the lead is on stops, and no new one starts. The lead shows No follow-ups.

Limits

• Only a message that is exactly one of the keywords counts. "Please stop emailing me" is read by Pippin as a normal message.
• The email preferences link is added to follow-up sequence emails.
• There is no button in Pippify to unsubscribe or resubscribe a lead for them. SMS and WhatsApp customers can resubscribe themselves with START, UNSTOP or YES.
• Your team can always send a message by hand, even to an unsubscribed lead.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Check whether a lead opted out

1. Open Inbox and select the conversation.
2. Look for the Unsubscribed, Follow-ups paused or No follow-ups badge.
3. Open the lead's details panel to read how and when it happened, for example "This lead replied STOP on Oct 5, 2026. The AI will not contact them — no replies and no follow-ups. You can still message them yourself."

Step 2: Answer an opted-out lead who writes back

1. Select the Opted-Out Lead Replied notification, or open the conversation in the Inbox.
2. Read the customer's message.
3. If a reply is appropriate, write it yourself and send it.
4. You see "Heads up: this lead has opted out of messages. Your message was sent, but the AI will stay silent on this thread."

Step 3: See who left a sequence

1. Go to Sequences and click View leads on a sequence.
2. Leads who opted out show Stopped — opted out.

Verify It Worked

Success criteria:

• An opted-out lead shows the Unsubscribed badge.
• No new AI messages appear in that lead's conversation.
• The lead no longer shows as active on its sequence.

Troubleshooting

Common errors

• A customer wrote "stop" in a longer sentence but wasn't unsubscribed: only a message that is exactly the keyword counts. Fix: honour the request by pausing the AI on the conversation (Pause AI) and taking it off any sequence.
• An email customer who unsubscribed asks to hear from you again: Pippin keeps them unsubscribed. Fix: reply to them yourself from the Inbox.
• The customer's link shows Link not recognized: the link is invalid or has expired. They can reply to any email and ask you to stop.

Limitations & considerations

• Opting out does not delete the lead or its conversation.

Next Steps & Related Resources

• Next steps:
  • What Your Leads See When They Unsubscribe
  • How to See Who Is on a Sequence and Why It Stopped
• Related articles:
  • How to Take Over a Conversation From Pippin
  • How to Reply to a Lead From the Inbox
  • When Follow-Ups Are Sent (Sending Window)
  • How Notifications Work

Need more help? For more information and assistance, please send an email to support@pippify.ai.

Last Updated: 10/12/2026