Email + SMS sequences that actually convert.

Four sequences cover ninety percent of what automation can do for a small business. Build them once. They work every day after that.

Email reaches everyone cheaply; SMS gets read almost immediately. The craft is using each for what it's good at — email for substance, SMS for speed and nudges — inside sequences that run themselves. These are the four worth building first.

1. The welcome sequence

Trigger: new lead or subscriber. An instant SMS acknowledgment with a human tone. An email within five minutes carrying the substance — what you do, for whom, what happens next, one clear link. A day later, proof: your best reviews, a before/after, a short case story. Two days after that, the direct ask: book, call, or reply.

2. The follow-up sequence

Trigger: inquiry or quote with no response. This is the money sequence — silence is where leads actually die. Alternate channels: SMS nudge day one, email with added value day three (answer the question they didn't ask — timing, process, guarantee), final polite SMS day seven. Then stop. Three touches is persistence; ten is spam.

3. The reactivation sequence

Trigger: customer inactive for a defined stretch — 90 days, a year, whatever fits your cycle. "We noticed it's been a while" plus a concrete reason to return: seasonal relevance, a new service, a modest incentive. Past customers already trust you; this is the cheapest revenue you'll ever generate, and almost nobody automates it.

4. The review sequence

Trigger: job completed / purchase delivered. One SMS while the experience is fresh, with a direct link. One email reminder three days later if nothing happened. Then stop. Feed the responses into your profile and your local SEO compounds on its own.

Rules that keep it converting

• Write like one person texting another. Sequences fail when they sound like sequences.
• One call to action per message. Two links is a coin flip; one is an instruction.
• Any real reply pauses the automation — a human takes over. Always.
• Honor opt-outs instantly, SMS especially. Trust is the asset; the sequence is just the pipe.