Build sequences and operators

A sequence organizes the outreach you want to happen over time. Automatic steps run through connected channels; manual steps become Tasks for someone to complete.

Open Sequences → My library, select Add, and choose:

• Sequence template: write reusable messages and task instructions yourself, with variables that fill in for each prospect.
• Athean operator: describe your audience, goal, and messaging to an assistant. The operator uses research and instructions to generate a personalized sequence for each contact.
• Marketplace: start with something your team already uses. Save it to your library or duplicate it to make an independent copy.

Choose the audience and the next action you want the prospect to take before building the steps. Creation and editing depend on your permissions; ask your administrator if the action you need is unavailable.

1. Choose Sequence template and enter a Sequence name that identifies its purpose.
2. Select Add step. Start with a Call, Task, Manual email, or Automatic email, or choose an available LinkedIn step.
3. Open each step and write the message, call notes, or task instructions. For an email, check its subject and body. Use Insert variable to add supported contact, account, or other available fields.
4. Use Assign to on a manual step when a particular teammate should receive that Task.
5. For email follow-ups, choose an existing thread or New thread. Emails in an existing thread inherit its first subject; start a new thread when the subject should change.
6. Add the remaining steps, drag them into order, and review their timing. Use Expand all to read the sequence together.
7. Select Create & exit. When editing an existing template, use Save & exit.

Manual means the step creates work for a person; Automatic means Athean attempts the action through the connected channel. AI-written content and automatic sending are separate choices: a generated message can still be a manual email task.

For a manual email step, choose Generate personalized email with AI instead of Write my own email to generate the message when you work on the email task. Review and edit that message before sending. This option is unavailable with Send automatically; use an operator when you want to generate and approve a personalized sequence before it runs.

Saving the template makes it reusable. Contacts are enrolled separately through Add contacts. When editing shared content, check who receives the change before saving.

Use a step's timing control to run it immediately, after a number of business days at a chosen time, or after an amount of time in hours and minutes. Review the full order: completing or skipping a manual task lets the sequence move on to its next step.

Immediately is not an exact send time. Automated immediate steps are staggered, usually over about two hours. Daily caps, sending variance, and available capacity can move a projected send later. Day-based timing uses the sequence's scheduling timezone, which can be the contact's timezone when that setting is enabled. See Sending settings before planning a time-sensitive sequence.

LinkedIn steps have their own requirements. An automatic LinkedIn message sends only to a first-degree connection, checked when it is due. An earlier connection request does not make the message wait for acceptance; if you are still not connected, that message step is skipped. Automatic InMail also depends on the sending account's available credits.

Keep the intended outcome clear even when a channel cannot be used. During enrollment, review which steps will be omitted for contacts with missing or unusable email, LinkedIn, or phone information.

1. Choose Athean operator. In Set up your operator, enter an Operator name and select Start building.
2. Describe who to reach, why the outreach is relevant, the outcome you want, and the channels and tone to use. Give the assistant useful boundaries, such as which claims require evidence.
3. Review the proposed sequence. Ask the assistant to change the structure or instructions until the steps match your workflow.
4. Open Edit details to inspect Operator instructions and Sequence steps. You can edit these directly and add instructions that apply only to an individual step.
5. Review Context settings to choose which available sources inform generation, such as email threads, notes, opportunities, signals, calls, meetings, and the contact's LinkedIn profile.

For example: “Build a sequence for operations leaders at manufacturing accounts with a recent expansion signal. Start with a short manual email, follow with a call task, and use only verified account context.” Review the resulting steps and timing before publishing.

Draft saved confirms the operator draft has been saved automatically. Edits stay in the draft until you publish. If the page shows Couldn't save, use its retry action and wait for confirmation before leaving.

1. Open Preview and select Select contacts. Choose sample contacts that represent the audience, then select Run preview.
2. Read the generated sequence for each sample. Check the facts, relevance, message quality, call notes, and requested next action.
3. Refine the instructions or steps. When the page shows Edits not yet previewed, select Re-run preview to see the effect of your changes.
4. When the results are ready, select Publish draft, review the confirmation, and select Publish.

Previews create sample drafts, not live outreach. Publishing a new draft creates the live operator; publishing an edit replaces that operator's saved configuration. Publishing does not enroll the preview contacts. Use Add contacts on the live operator for that separate flow.

Use Discard only when you want to delete the draft and its edits. The confirmation makes clear that discarding cannot be undone.

After reviewing sequence performance, decide whether to improve the shared playbook or try an independent variation. Duplicate gives you a separate copy to adapt and share with a smaller audience.

Before publishing an operator revision, preview representative contacts. After saving or publishing, reopen the original and check its content. Review a new enrollment or generated draft to confirm the change reached the intended audience, then compare its results after it has had time to run.

Open the saved template or published operator and use More actions → Share when you have permission. Choose who has Access, whose libraries should contain it under Add to libraries, and whether to List in Marketplace. These are separate choices: placing a sequence in a library or listing it does not grant access.

A newly published operator starts with restricted access. Review sharing explicitly before expecting teammates to use it. See Marketplace for the sharing options and how to save or duplicate a sequence.

Select Add contacts when you are ready to use the sequence. Review the contacts, sender, and enrollment settings. Operator enrollment from My library or Marketplace creates personalized drafts for review in Approvals. Follow Approve and manage sequences to start the outreach and keep its Tasks moving.