> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.getmobly.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.getmobly.com/help-center/pulse/understanding-sequences.md).

# Understanding Sequences

Pulse is Mobly's built-in follow-up engine. It lets you build automated email sequences that go out to leads at exactly the right time — triggered by a scan, a qualifier value, or a lead score — without any manual work after the event.

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## What Pulse Does

Instead of manually emailing every lead after a show, you build a sequence once and Pulse handles the sends. A sequence is a series of messages with rules for when each one goes out: immediately after a scan, after a delay, or on a specific date.

Every lead who matches your trigger gets enrolled and moves through the steps automatically.

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## The Three Building Blocks

### 1. Triggers — who gets enrolled

A trigger defines which leads enter a sequence. Three options:

* **Scanned** — any lead scanned at the linked event is enrolled immediately
* **Qualifier applied** — a lead is enrolled when a specific qualifier value is applied to them
* **Lead Score** — a lead is enrolled when they hit a score category (Hot, Nurture, Caution, Cold)

You can combine multiple triggers on one sequence. A lead only enrolls once per sequence even if they match multiple triggers.

### 2. Steps — what gets sent

Each step is an email and has:

* **Channel:** Email (the only fully-supported channel today)
* **Timing:** When to send it (see below)
* **Content:** Subject + body
* **Sender:** Who the email appears to come from — the lead's assigned owner, the account owner, or a specific person you set

### 3. Timing — when each step sends

Three timing modes per step:

* **Right away** — sends as soon as the previous step completes (or immediately for the first step)
* **After a delay** — waits a set amount of time: minutes, hours, or days
* **On a specific date** — sends on a date and time you choose, with an optional end date (after which the step is skipped)

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## How Sequences and Events Connect

Sequences live at the **org level** — they're not created per-event. But each sequence is linked to one event when it's active. The event connection determines:

* Which leads can be enrolled (leads scanned at that event)
* Which sender "owner" is used when sending from the lead owner

You connect a sequence to an event from the event's **Sequences tab** in the hub.

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## Deduplication

Mobly prevents a lead from receiving the same message twice. If a lead is already enrolled in a sequence and something triggers enrollment again, the duplicate enrollment is ignored. They continue through their existing enrollment without restarting.

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## Pause and Resume

You can pause a sequence at any time. While paused:

* No new enrollments are processed
* Pending steps for already-enrolled leads are held — they don't send, and they don't skip

When you resume, pending steps pick up from where they left off.

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## CRM Logging

When Pulse sends an email to a lead, that send is logged as an activity on the lead's contact record in your connected CRM — **for CRMs that support activity logging.** That's HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zoho today.

For Pipedrive, Marketo, and Pardot, the email goes out as expected, but the activity isn't pushed to the CRM as a separate record. Field-level updates (like last touch timestamp) still flow through normally.

See the [CRM comparison — activity logging](/help-center/integrations/crm/comparison.md#activity-logging) for the full matrix.

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## Sending Address Verification

Pulse emails go out from a real person — typically the lead's owner — so recipients see follow-up from someone they recognize. Mobly's email infrastructure runs on MailerSend, and MailerSend requires explicit permission from each sender before sending on their behalf.

What that means in practice:

* The first time someone is configured as a Pulse sender, they get an email **from MailerSend** asking them to approve permission for emails to be sent on their behalf.
* Mobly triggers this verification automatically when the user is added to an event.
* After approval, Pulse emails go out from that user's address normally — recipients don't see MailerSend in the From line on the actual lead emails.

> **If emails aren't sending:** check whether the sender approved the MailerSend permission email. Until they do, sequences using that sender are blocked.

For the full setup walkthrough including the sender flow, see [Setting Up a Pulse Sequence](/help-center/pulse/setting-up-a-pulse-sequence.md#step-5-verifying-your-sender-address).