v4 · LIVE
Structure · Process · Cadence

The Follow-Up Cadence

Kanban-driven setter & closer process — the rep only ever drags a card; automation sets the funnel Stage and the next call date.

Why this works

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A self-limiting daily queueOnly the leads due today appear — never an unworkable pile.
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One drag = the dispositionNo forms, no data entry — the move does the bookkeeping.
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No lead is ever lostParked leads return warm as “Returning” on their date.
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The next call schedules itselfAutomation stamps the next date and the funnel Stage for you.

The lead's journey at a glance

Entry
New Sales lead → Auto-seedStatus = New · Next = today → Lands in “New”
Setter board — one drag = the disposition
New→ Attempt 1+1 day→ Attempt 2+2 days→ Attempt 3+3 days→ Attempt 4+3 days→ Attempt 5+5 days→ Attempt 6+7 days→ Attempt 7+14 days→ Cold+30 days
↻ A Returning card re-enters here and is worked like New — seven touches over ~5 weeks, tight up front. The no-show and closer tracks run the same 7-step ladder at different speeds — see the timing table below.
Talked to them — the outcome auto-sets the funnel Stage
Meeting Set→ Pitch Booked Callback Later→ Future Potential Soft No→ Picked Up – Not Sched. Not Interested Disqualified Do Not Contact
Parked states (Callback Later · Soft No · Cold) aren’t dead — they cycle back as Returning on their date. Red states leave every board.
After the pitch — the closer cadence new
Pitch Booked→ Post-Pitch / Far-Future Follow Up→ Closer “Due Today” boardsame 7-step drag · slower pace→ Deal Won
Closers work their post-pitch follow-ups on a dedicated “Closer Follow Up — Due Today” board — same one-drag motion, no clicking into the record.

Blue = entry · Teal = active calling cadence (Kanban columns) · Amber = booked / closer cadence · Purple = parked & recyclable (returns as Returning) · Green = won · Red = terminal.

Walkthrough — follow one lead through the board

A test lead, "Acme Roofing — Test Lead," step by step. (Faithful recreation of the live board — same columns & colors, neutral data.)

1The lead lands in New — your due-today queue.
 Warm Calling — Due Today  ·  grouped by Follow Up Status
New 196
Acme Roofing — Test Lead
Acme Roofing · $0.00
Jane Tester
New Lead · due today
Test Setter
…195 more due today…
Attempt 1 0
No deals
Attempt 2 0
No deals
Attempt 3 0
No deals

Auto-stamped the instant it was created: Follow Up Status = New, Next Follow Up Date = today. No setup by the rep — it's just in the queue.

2You call — no answer. Drag the card one column right, to Attempt 1.
⤷  drag = disposition
New 195
card leaves here →
Attempt 1 1
Acme Roofing — Test Lead
dropped here · +1 day
Attempt 2 0
No deals
Attempt 3 0
No deals

The drop stamps Last Call Date = today and reschedules to +1 day, so the card disappears from today's board and comes back tomorrow. Setter ladder (7 attempts): New → 1 (+1d) → 2 (+2d) → 3 (+3d) → 4 (+3d) → 5 (+5d) → 6 (+7d) → 7 (+14d) → Cold (+30d).

3Different outcome: you reach them and they book. Drag to Meeting Set.
scrolled right to the conversation-outcome columns
Cold 0
No deals
Returning 0
No deals
Meeting Set 1
Acme Roofing — Test Lead
→ Pitch Booked
Callback Later 0
No deals

The rep only dragged a card. Automation set the funnel Stage for them — open the record and:

StagePitch Booked AUTO-SET
Follow Up StatusMeeting Set
Last Call Datetoday
Next Follow Up Date— (cleared, off the board)

It leaves the cold board entirely. If the meeting later no-shows, it reappears on the No-Show Recovery board.

4Or they say "call me next month." Drag to Callback Later — you're asked for the date.

Pick the date and it's parked until then. (If the prompt doesn't surface on the drag, the system safely defaults to +30 days — a callback is never lost.) Stage is auto-set to Future Potential.

5On that date, it comes back warm — automatically — in the Returning column.
three weeks later · 8:00 AM
New —
today's fresh leads
Returning 1
Acme Roofing — Test Lead
Acme Roofing · $0.00
due today · "you asked me to circle back"
Attempt 1 0
No deals

The date-based automation flipped it from Callback Later to Returning at 8 AM. Treat it as warm — they already engaged. Work it like a fresh attempt: drag through the ladder, or to a new outcome. The loop continues — no lead is ever truly lost.

Step-by-step

1  Entry — a new lead lands

  1. A deal is created in the Sales pipeline (inbound form, webinar list, import).
  2. Auto-seed: Follow_Up_Status = New, Next_Follow_Up_Date = today. (The funnel Stage stays whatever the lead came in as — the cadence runs alongside it.)
  3. It appears in the New column of the setter "Warm Calling — Due Today" board.

2  The setter works the board — one rule

Call the card, then drag it one column right. The drag is the disposition — automation sets the funnel Stage and the next call date, and the card leaves today's queue until it's due again. The rep never types a date (one exception: Callback Later).

Didn't reach them (the no-contact ladder):

  1. No answer / voicemail / brush-off → drag to the next Attempt column. Now seven attempts, tight up front: New → 1 (+1d) → 2 (+2d) → 3 (+3d) → 4 (+3d) → 5 (+5d) → 6 (+7d) → 7 (+14d) → Cold (+30d).
  2. Exhausted the attempts, never connected → Cold. Stage moves to Future Potential; comes back in 30 days as Returning.

Talked to them (the conversation outcomes):

Drag to…WhenAutomation sets Stage →What happens to the card
Meeting SetThey booked a pitchPitch BookedLeaves the board (date cleared); returns only via No-Show Recovery
Callback Later"Call me on/after X"Future PotentialYou're prompted for the date; comes back then as Returning
Soft NoNot now, still open somedayPicked Up - Not ScheduledParks ~30 days, returns as Returning
Not InterestedA firm noNot InterestedLeaves the board
DisqualifiedNot a real fit / bad leadDisqualifiedLeaves the board (also flags lead quality)
Do Not ContactAsked us to stop / complianceSales - DO NOT CONTACTSuppressed — do not call again

3  The Returning column — warm re-engagements

  1. Parked leads (Callback Later, Soft No, Cold) carry a future date, so they sit off the board while they wait.
  2. When that date comes due, automation flips them to Returning (at 8 AM) and they reappear in your working area.
  3. Treat a Returning card as warm — they already engaged once. Work it like a fresh attempt: drag it through the Attempt ladder or to a new outcome.

4  Meeting booked → outcome

  1. Showed & pitched → Stage = Post-Pitch Follow-Up → on to close (or Won).
  2. No-show → set Stage = Meeting (No Show) and Follow_Up_Status = New → it lands on the No-Show Recovery board.

4b  The closer cadence — post-pitch follow-ups new

After a closer has met with the client, the deal works a closer-side cadence — the same one-drag motion. (Closers prefer working the board to clicking into each record.)

  1. Deals on Post Pitch Follow Up or Far Future Follow Up (Pipeline = Sales) that are due today/overdue surface on the "Closer Follow Up — Due Today" board.
  2. Same seven columns, but a slower, relationship-paced ladder: New → 1 (+2d) → 2 (+3d) → 3 (+4d) → 4 (+5d) → 5 (+7d) → 6 (+10d) → 7 (+14d), then Cold → Far Future Follow Up. The drag is the disposition, exactly like the setter board.
  3. Conversation outcomes (Meeting Set, Callback Later, Soft No, …) behave identically; a won deal moves to Deal Won.

5  No-show recovery — same motion, tighter timing

Same drag-through-columns muscle, faster cadence since they were already committed.

  1. Cadence (tighter — they already committed once): New → 1 (+1d) → 2 (+1d) → 3 (+2d) → 4 (+2d) → 5 (+3d) → 6 (+5d) → 7 (+7d) → Cold (+30d).
  2. Conversation outcomes (Meeting Set, Soft No, Not Interested, …) work exactly the same here.
  3. Rebooked → back to Stage = Pitch Booked.

6 ·  Terminal states

Deal Won · Not Interested · Disqualified · Sales - DO NOT CONTACT. These leave all active boards. (Parked states — Callback Later, Soft No, Cold, Future Potential — are not terminal; they cycle back as Returning.)

Cadence timing — three tracks v4 · 7 attempts · LIVE

The same 7-step ladder at three speeds. The track is chosen automatically by the deal's Stage — the rep just drags a card; nobody picks a track.

Drag to…Setter · Cold-CallingSetter · No-Show Recovery (tighter)Closer · Post-Pitch (slower)
New / Returningtodaytodaytoday
→ Attempt 1+1 day+1 day+2 days
→ Attempt 2+2 days+1 day+3 days
→ Attempt 3+3 days+2 days+4 days
→ Attempt 4+3 days+2 days+5 days
→ Attempt 5+5 days+3 days+7 days
→ Attempt 6+7 days+5 days+10 days
→ Attempt 7+14 days+7 days+14 days
→ Cold+30d → Future Potential+30 days+30d → Far Future Follow Up
Full span~5 weeks, 7 touches~3 weeks (fast recovery)~6.5 weeks (relationship-paced)

Which track runs? A deal on a normal calling stage → Cold-Calling. A Meeting (No Show) deal → the tighter No-Show Recovery. A Post Pitch Follow Up / Far Future Follow Up deal → the slower Closer pace. Same drag, same columns — only the wait between calls differs. Conversation outcomes (Soft No, Callback Later, Meeting Set, …) behave the same on all three: Soft No → Picked Up - Not Scheduled +30d; Callback Later → the rep's date (else +30d); Meeting Set → Pitch Booked, off the board.

The fields & automation behind it

FieldTypeJob
Follow_Up_StatusPicklist: New · Attempt 1–7 · Cold · Returning · Meeting Set · Callback Later · Soft No · Not Interested · Disqualified · Do Not ContactThe Kanban columns. The "what happened on the last touch" field — set by dragging.
Next_Follow_Up_DateDate (ⓘ tooltip in CRM)Drives the "Due Today" filter — the self-limiting daily queue.
Last_Call_DateDate (ⓘ tooltip in CRM)SLA & reporting. Stamped only on real call advances.
StageFunnel picklistThe funnel truth. The automation writes it for you (Pitch Booked, Future Potential, etc.) — reps don't touch it.

Automation (all invisible to reps): (1) a seed rule sets New + today's date on every new Sales lead; (2) a status-change rule fires the Deluge function on every drag to set the Stage + dates; (3) a date-based rule flips parked cards to Returning when they come due; (4) a layout rule prompts for the date on Callback Later. No Blueprint, no clicking into records.

Three boards, one motion

Board (Kanban view)ShowsUsed by
Warm Calling — Due TodayPipeline = Sales · Stage = Leads NA · Next_Follow_Up_Date due today/overdue · grouped by Follow_Up_StatusSetters — main calling block
No-Show Recovery — Due TodayStage = Meeting (No Show) · due today · grouped by Follow_Up_StatusSetters — no-show block
Closer Follow Up — Due Today newPipeline = Sales · Stage = Post Pitch Follow Up or Far Future Follow Up · due today/overdue · grouped by Follow_Up_StatusClosers — post-pitch follow-ups

Heads-up on views: the default "Due Today" views can be filtered to Deal Owner = you, so a rep with nothing assigned sees an empty board. For a shared pool, use the owner-less version of the view.

System reference — automations by stage & status build spec

What a fully working system does at every follow-up status and every pipeline stage — the trigger, the automation it fires, the fields it writes, and where the deal then shows up. Working = live and correct. Gap = currently broken or incomplete; see the known-gaps box below. Verified against the B411_Cadence_Stamp function and the live Zoho workflow rules (2026-10-01).

Table A — Follow-Up Status (the cadence)

Function B411_Cadence_Stamp runs on every Follow_Up_Status change (rule "Cadence - stamp dates on status change", Pipeline = Sales) and on new-lead seed (rule "Cadence - new lead seed"). Intervals shown as setter / no-show / closer — the track is picked automatically from the deal's Stage. A Note "Cadence Update by <rep>" is logged on every change except the New seed.

Status set to…Automation runsFields writtenBoard / visibilityFlag
(blank / -None-)Function returns immediately — no-op guardnoneStays off all boards (an exited deal can't bounce back)Working
New / ReturningSeeds / re-surfaces the cardNext_Follow_Up_Date = today. Last_Call_Date not stamped.Lands on the due-today board (New seed logs no Note; Returning does)Working
Attempt 1Reschedules next call; consolidates a worked fresh leadNext = +1 / +1 / +2; Last_Call_Date = today; if setter-entry stage → Stage = Leads NADrops off today, returns on the next due date; stays on Cold-Calling boardWorking
Attempt 2Same as aboveNext = +2 / +1 / +3; Last_Call = today; setter-entry → Leads NASameWorking
Attempt 3SameNext = +3 / +2 / +4; Last_Call = today; setter-entry → Leads NASameWorking
Attempt 4SameNext = +3 / +2 / +5; Last_Call = today; setter-entry → Leads NASameWorking
Attempt 5SameNext = +5 / +3 / +7; Last_Call = today; setter-entry → Leads NASameWorking
Attempt 6SameNext = +7 / +5 / +10; Last_Call = today; setter-entry → Leads NASameWorking
Attempt 7SameNext = +14 / +7 / +14; Last_Call = today; setter-entry → Leads NASameWorking
ColdParks the lead; sets nurture stageNext = +30; Last_Call = today; closer-stage → Far Future Follow Up, else (non-no-show) → Future Potential (no-show keeps its stage)Off board until due, then flips to ReturningWorking
Soft NoParks "open someday"Stage = Picked Up - Not Scheduled; Next = +30; Last_Call = todayOff board until due, then flips to ReturningWorking
Callback LaterHonors the rep's dateStage = Future Potential; Next = rep's future date, else +30; Last_Call = todayOff board until due, then flips to ReturningWorking
Meeting SetMarks a booked pitch, pulls it off the boardStage = Pitch Booked; Next cleared; Last_Call = todayLeaves all calling boardsGap 5
Not InterestedTerminal dispositionStage = Not Interested; Next cleared; Last_Call = todayLeaves all boardsWorking
DisqualifiedTerminal dispositionStage = Disqualified; Next cleared; Last_Call = todayLeaves all boardsWorking
Do Not ContactSuppresses the leadStage = Sales - DO NOT CONTACT; Next cleared; Last_Call = todayLeaves all boards — never call againWorking

Setter-entry stages (the only ones a worked Attempt pushes to Leads NA): New Lead, New Lead Under $1M, Unaware Prospect, New Fresh M411. Closer, no-show, booked and parked stages keep their own stage through the ladder.

Table B — Pipeline Stage (Sales pipeline)

How a deal enters each stage, what fires on entry, the fields written, and the board it lands on.

StageHow a deal entersAutomation on entryFields writtenShows up onFlag
New Lead / New Lead Under $1M / Unaware Prospect / New Fresh M411 (setter entry)Deal created, Pipeline = SalesRule "Cadence - new lead seed" → sets status, then runs B411_Cadence_StampFollow_Up_Status = New; Next = todayCold Calling – Due Today (New column)Working
Leads NAA setter logs Attempt 1–7 on a setter-entry dealCadence function moves the stageStage = Leads NA (+ the Attempt's dates)Stays on the Cold Calling boardWorking
Future PotentialVia Cold (cold-call) or Callback LaterDate rule "Cadence - return to board" flips Cold / Callback Later / Soft No → Returning when the date comes dueStage, Next (nurture)Off board until due, re-surfaces as ReturningWorking
Picked Up - Not ScheduledVia Soft NoCadence function (+ return-to-board rule)Stage; Next = +30Off board until due, re-surfaces as ReturningWorking
Meeting (No Show)A Client Meeting's Showed_Status becomes "No show"Workflow "4Biz - Client Meeting Status Updated" → function clientmeetingupdatedealstage_4biz sets Stage onlyStage = Meeting (No Show). Follow_Up_Status & Next NOT touched.Nothing — stale status + no due date keep it off the No-Show Recovery boardGap 1
Pitch BookedVia Follow_Up_Status = Meeting Set, or set by hand when a 1st meeting booksCadence function (on Meeting Set) — otherwise noneStage = Pitch Booked; Next clearedOff all calling boardsGap 3
Post Pitch Follow UpCloser nurture after a held 1st pitch with no 2nd meetingRuns the closer cadence track once setStage (manual to enter)Closer Follow Up – Due TodayGap 4
Post Pitch Meeting BookedA 2nd meeting is bookedNone auto-sets this stageStage (manual)Off calling boardsGap 3, 5
Post Pitch No ShowA post-pitch (2nd) meeting no-showsNone auto-sets this stageStage (manual)Not on any recovery boardGap 7
Far Future Follow UpVia Cold on a closer-stage deal (+30)Cadence functionStage = Far Future Follow Up; Next = +30Closer nurture; returns when due (planned: cancel-no-reschedule parks here)Working
Sales - DO NOT CONTACTVia Do Not ContactCadence functionStage; Next clearedSuppressed — terminal for callingWorking
Not Interested / DisqualifiedVia the matching dispositionCadence functionStage; Next clearedOff all boards (terminal)Working
Deal Won Tracking / Closed Deals - TrackingSale madeManual — end of pipelineStageOff calling boardsWorking

Known gaps being addressed

The cadence engine above is live and working. These are the known seams between it and the meeting/booking flows — on the roadmap, not fires to fight.

  1. No-show deals aren't re-seeded into the cadence. A no-show moves the Stage but leaves Follow_Up_Status / Next_Follow_Up_Date stale, so the deal never surfaces on the No-Show Recovery board. Fix in progress: also set Follow_Up_Status = New + Next = today on no-show.
  2. Meeting cancel / reschedule does nothing. The meeting function checks Showed_Status == "Canceled", but the real values are "Canceled Needs to Reschedule" / "Canceled No Reschedule" — so the branch never fires.
  3. Booking a meeting doesn't auto-set the stage or deal owner. Reps set Pitch Booked / Post Pitch Meeting Booked and the owner by hand.
  4. A held ("Showed") first pitch doesn't auto-move to Post Pitch Follow Up. It's a manual stage change today.
  5. The cadence "Meeting Set" branch always forces Pitch Booked. It isn't post-pitch-aware, so marking a booked 2nd meeting as Meeting Set wrongly clobbers Post Pitch Meeting Booked.
  6. A form re-fill (lead magnet) resets an engaged deal to "New Lead" with no guard. That can yank a post-pitch deal back to the top of the funnel.
  7. "Post Pitch No Show" isn't in the cadence closer / no-show track. The no-show track (isNoShow) only recognizes Meeting (No Show), so post-pitch no-shows don't get the tighter recovery pace.