Auto-advance

Auto-advance moves a lead out of a step on its own. Combined with a script on the next step, that's how a second and third follow-up happen without anyone remembering.

You'll find it inside each step on Flow Settings → Steps.

Choose the schedule

After a set time — move after 2 days. You pick a number and a unit: minutes, hours or days. The clock starts when the lead entered the step.

On a day of the week — move on Tuesday. Every lead sitting in that step moves that day, using the flow's timezone. Good for a weekly rhythm rather than a per-lead countdown.

Choose the condition

This matters more than the timing.

• Only if no reply received — skips anyone who has texted you back. This is the default, and it's almost always the right answer.
• Always — moves everyone, replies or not.

"Only if no reply" is what makes automated follow-up tolerable. Somebody who already answered gets left alone for a human to handle. Choosing Always means you might send a "just checking in" text to someone mid-conversation with you.

Choose the destination

By default a lead moves to the next column in order. You can also send it somewhere specific:

• Move to flow — This flow, or a different flow in your organisation.
• Move to step — a particular column, or the first step when you're crossing flows.

Sending a lead to another flow is a handoff. Their comments, messages and any pending sends travel with them.

Whether a handed-off lead keeps its current assignee is controlled by Keep Same Assignee on Auto-Move on the Messaging tab. Leave it on when the same person should stay with the family; turn it off when the receiving flow's own assignment rules should take over.

It waits for the text to go out

If the step also has auto-send turned on, the timer doesn't start until the message has actually been sent. A lead that lands at 2am with your sending window closed gets texted when the window opens, and the two-day clock starts from then.

Without that, you'd quietly advance people you never contacted.

Leads it skips

Auto-advance leaves a lead alone when:

• It has replied and the condition is only if no reply.
• An automation has paused it — including duplicate detection.

A worked example

A three-touch sequence that runs itself:

Anyone who replies stops moving and waits for a person. Anyone who doesn't ends up in No response, where you can leave them, or let stale auto-archive clear them out after 30 days.

Next: Assignment.