Why Didn't My Follow-Up Go Out?

Summary

Overview: A follow-up sequence sends check-ins to a lead who has gone quiet. When a follow-up does not go out, the conversation usually shows a grey note that says why (for example "Follow-up 2 skipped — ..."), and the lead's Follow-up panel shows the sequence's state. This guide lists each message and the fix.

Prerequisites:

• The lead is on a follow-up sequence. See How to Put Leads on a Sequence.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Follow-up panel says "next touch in ..." and nothing has gone out yet

Follow-ups only go out inside your Follow-up sending window: "Scheduled follow-ups only go out between these times — a touch that comes due outside the window waits for the next opening."

Fix: Nothing to fix. To change the times, the Admin edits Follow-up sending window on the Sequences page. See How to Set the Follow-Up Sending Window.

The Sequences page says "Automatic follow-up is off"

Quiet leads are enrolled automatically only into the sequence that is both the default and turned on. The notice tells you which part is missing: "Automatic follow-up is off: no sequence is the default." (for example after the default was deleted) or "Automatic follow-up is off: the default sequence “…” is switched off."

Fix: The Admin stars a sequence to make it the default, or turns the default's switch on. See How to Choose the Default Sequence.

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence ended — the lead replied"

A sequence stops as soon as the lead writes back. Pippin answers their message instead.

Fix: Nothing to fix. Start a sequence again later if the lead goes quiet. See How to Put Leads on a Sequence.

The Follow-up panel shows "paused"

A sequence pauses when someone on your team takes over the conversation from Pippin, when the workspace becomes inactive, or when your email inbox (Gmail or Zoho Mail) needs to be reconnected (see the next question).

Fix: Click Resume AI in the conversation header; the next step is rescheduled from that moment. If the workspace is inactive, the Admin reactivates it under Settings › Billing. See How to Take Over a Conversation From Pippin.

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence paused — Gmail authentication has expired. Please reconnect your Gmail channel in Settings → Channels. It picks up again on its own once the email inbox is reconnected."

Google (for Gmail) or Zoho (for Zoho Mail) stopped accepting your workspace's email connection, so email follow-ups can't go out. Pippify pauses the sequence instead of stopping it. The note can also say "Gmail credentials are invalid. Please reconnect your Gmail channel in Settings → Channels." On Zoho Mail it says "Follow-up sequence paused — Zoho Mail stopped accepting this connection. Please reconnect your email in Settings → Channels. It picks up again on its own once the email inbox is reconnected."

Fix: The Admin clicks Reconnect Gmail (or Reconnect Zoho Mail) on the Email card in Settings › Channels. The sequence then resumes by itself, the conversation shows "Follow-up sequence resumed — the email inbox is connected again", and the step that was waiting goes out (inside your sending window). See How to Disconnect or Reconnect Gmail or How to Connect Zoho Mail.

The panel says "All 3 steps sent · waiting for a reply until ..." or the conversation says "All 3 follow-ups sent — waiting 2 days for a reply before marking the lead lost"

Every step went out. The sequence now waits for the time set under if there is no reply within before it ends. Nothing more is sent during the wait. If the lead replies, the sequence ends and the lead is not marked lost. If not, the conversation shows "Follow-up sequence "…" ended — no response after 3 touches", and the lead is marked lost when the sequence is set to Mark the lead as lost.

Fix: Nothing to fix. To change the wait, the Admin edits the sequence. See How to Create a Follow-Up Sequence.

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence end held — waiting on a quote in the Review Queue"

The wait after the last step is over, but the lead has a quote waiting for approval, so the sequence doesn't end yet.

Fix: Approve or reject the quote in the Review Queue. See How to Approve or Reject Items in the Review Queue.

The conversation says "Follow-up 1 held — waiting on a quote in the Review Queue", or the panel shows "waiting on Review Queue"

The lead has a quote waiting for approval, so follow-ups wait too. A follow-up whose wording Pippin wants a person to check also waits in the Review Queue.

Fix: Approve or reject the waiting item in the Review Queue. See How to Approve or Reject Items in the Review Queue.

The conversation says "Follow-up 2 skipped — a quote for this lead is still waiting in the Review Queue"

The quote waited too long, so Pippin skipped that step and moved to the next one.

Fix: Clear the quote from the Review Queue so the remaining steps can go out.

The conversation says "Follow-up 2 skipped — no channel to reach this lead on (no email address, and no phone number or chat conversation the plan covers)"

Pippin had no way to reach the lead for that step. For example, the step was SMS but your plan does not include SMS and the lead has no email address.

Fix: Add an email address or phone number to the lead, or change the step's channel. See How to Create a Follow-Up Sequence.

The conversation says "Follow-up 2 skipped — this phone number cannot receive messages"

The number cannot receive texts (for example a landline), so the step was skipped.

Fix: Ask the customer for another number or an email address. See Why Wasn't My SMS Delivered?

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence stopped — no email inbox is connected. Connect one in Settings → Channels"

The same kind of message appears for "no SMS number is connected", "no WhatsApp number is connected", and "the Facebook Page is no longer connected with Messenger enabled". The channel the step needed is not connected, so the whole sequence stopped.

Fix: The Admin connects the channel under Settings › Channels (for email, Gmail or Zoho Mail), then you start the sequence again. See How to Connect Gmail or How to Connect Zoho Mail.

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence stopped — the lead last wrote on Messenger or WhatsApp more than 24 hours ago and there is no email or phone to fall back to. Start it again after they write"

Messenger and WhatsApp only allow messages within a set time after the customer last wrote. With no email or phone to use instead, the sequence stopped.

Fix: Start the sequence again after the customer writes. See Why Can't I Reply on WhatsApp or Messenger?

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence stopped — a message could not be sent"

A follow-up failed and a retry also failed.

Fix: Check that your channels are connected under Settings › Channels, then start the sequence again. If it keeps happening, email support (below).

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence ended — the lead opted out", or the panel says "Follow-ups are off for this lead — they unsubscribed."

The lead unsubscribed. Pippin will not contact them again.

Fix: None. You can still message them yourself. See What Happens When a Customer Opts Out.

The panel says "Paused by the lead until <date>." or "The lead asked us to stop following up."

The lead used the unsubscribe page to pause or stop follow-ups. A paused lead's follow-ups can start again after that date. They still get answers if they write to you.

Fix: None. See What Your Leads See When They Unsubscribe.

The conversation says "Follow-up sequence ended — the lead was marked won or lost", or the panel says "Follow-ups are off — this lead is marked Won ..."

Follow-ups stop when a lead is marked Won or Lost.

Fix: Move the lead back to an open stage, then start a sequence. See How to Mark a Lead Won or Lost.

The panel says "Follow-ups are off while this lead is archived. Unarchive it to start a sequence."

Archiving a lead stops its sequence. The conversation shows "Follow-up sequence ended — stopped by" and the name of the teammate who archived it (or stopped by a rep when the teammate can't be named).

Fix: Unarchive the lead, then start a sequence. See How to Archive or Unarchive a Lead.

The panel says "No follow-up sequences yet."

There is no turned-on sequence to start.

Fix: Click Create one on the Sequences page. See How to Create a Follow-Up Sequence.

My workspace uses Review every reply. Do follow-ups wait for approval?

No. On Review every reply, follow-up sequences still send on their own. Only a follow-up whose wording Pippin wants checked waits in the Review Queue.

Next Steps & Related Resources

• Next steps:
  • How to See Who Is on a Sequence and Why It Stopped
  • How to Set the Follow-Up Sending Window
• Related articles:
  • When Follow-Ups Are Sent (Sending Window)
  • How to Put Leads on a Sequence
  • Why Some Replies and Follow-Ups Wait for Approval
  • What Happens When a Customer Opts Out
  • How to Choose the Default Sequence

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

Last Updated: 10/19/2026