Understanding Delays in Automations
Learn how to use Delays to perfectly time your automated actions, emails, and follow-ups to ensure your outreach feels natural and professional.
In your networking workflows, a Delay is an optional "Wait" block that you can insert between your Trigger (the "When") and your Action (the "Then"). Instead of an action executing the exact second a trigger fires, a delay temporarily pauses the automation to give it a more natural, human-like timing.
How Delays Work
When building a custom automation, you can select the Add delay button to insert a waiting period before your final action. This provides a buffer during which the automation remains "pending."
You have full control over the exact length of the pause. Simply enter a numerical value and select one of the following time units:
- Minutes
- Hours
- Days
Common Use Cases for Delays
Strategic timing is key to maintaining authentic business relationships. Here are three common ways to use Delays in your workflows:
1. Realistic Email Follow-Ups
If a new prospect exchanges contact info with you at an event, receiving an automated email while they are still standing in front of you can feel robotic. Adding a delay of 2 hours ensures the follow-up email lands in their inbox after the event, making the interaction feel much more personal.
2. Strategic Task Reminders
If a new lead is added to your CRM, you can set a delay to Wait 3 days before triggering the "Create Task" action. This ensures a fresh follow-up reminder appears on your dashboard exactly when it is the optimal time to reach out again.
3. Automated Drip Campaigns
By chaining multiple delays and actions together, you can create a complete sequence of events. For example:
- Trigger: Contact Tagged "New Lead"
- Delay: Wait 1 Day
- Action: Send Intro Email
- Delay: Wait 5 Days
- Action: Create Follow-Up Task