Cadence email steps allow you to maintain consistent email engagement. Whether your goal is to generate early responses from new prospects or stay top of mind until a Person is ready to re-engage, email steps allow you to strategically deliver email communication.
When you add an email step, you have two options for adding email content:
Standard Email : Allows you to type an email draft, insert an email template, or use AI to draft an email. AI Dynamic Email : Allows you to add prompts that Salesloft’s AI can use to generate an email for each Person. AI-generated email steps are tailored to each Person and are drafted when the email step is due. By adding email steps, you can structure your workflow and optimize your engagement strategy.
In this article, you will learn about adding email steps to a Cadence, including:
Before you add an email step, there are a few things you'll need to consider. These include:
By default, both the standard Salesloft admin role and the standard user role can create and edit personal Cadences, i.e. add email steps to a personal Cadence. The ability to create and edit team Cadences, however, is only available to admins and users with the Team Cadences: Create & Edit permission enabled. Cadence steps are sent Monday-Fridays unless specified otherwise. Check out the Send an Email Step on Saturdays and Sundays best practice article for more information. Sending preview emails ensures formatting and dynamic tags are populating correctly. Due to this nature, expect the following behavior with email previews:
When adding an email step to a Cadence that is set to thread from a previous email, the email preview will not thread from other email subject lines in the Cadence. The Email Myself a Preview option uses a third-party service to send a preview to Salesloft and does not account for the outgoing email server's format. As a result, the preview may differ from the actual email your recipients receive. Using an email template in a Cadence email contributes to the template-specific stats. Pro Tip : Create templates before you add email steps. This way you can select the templates you previously created. The ability to create email steps using AI is governed by the Generative Artificial Intelligence setting . To learn more about Salesloft's use of AI, check out our Salesloft & AI article. You can use AI to generate email steps for both Personal and Team Cadences. AI-dynamic emails are generated using the instructions and information you provide. We recommend only including information that you’re comfortable sending to a potential customer in a sales email. Please review all AI-generated email content before sending. VIDEO
To add a standard email step, follow these steps:
Open the Cadence Overview Page: Navigate to the Cadences page, then click the title of an existing Cadence to open it. You may also Create a new Cadence if necessary. You will land on the Cadence’s overview page.Add an Email Step : From the Cadence Overview Page, add a Cadence step . Then, click the email icon.Select Standard Email : Select the Standard Email option. Complete your Step Settings : In the Email Step Settings window, review and complete the following fields enter the standard Cadence email step information:
Day Number: Enter the Day you would like the step to run. Automation (Optional): Check the Automate this step box to automatically send the step at a specific time. Multitouch (Optional): Check the Enable Multi-Touch box. This allows the email step to be run on the same day as the previous step. Hit Next: Step Content: This will direct you to an email composition window where you can draft the email content. Create your Step Content : Complete the following fields:
Name the email step. Add a Subject. Enter your email content. You can add content by:
Finish adding the Step : Once you’ve added and reviewed your email content, hit Add Step .
Figure 1: Create a Standard Email Step.
AI Dynamic email step content is generated in real-time, i.e. when a user starts the task. When you create an AI Dynamic email step, you provide instructions for the email. Once the task is started, Salesloft uses the provided instructions to generate a tailored email.
Before sending the email, you can make context-aware follow-ups or last-minute adjustments to messaging.
To add an AI Dynamic email step, follow these steps:
Open the Cadence Overview Page: Navigate to the Cadences page, then click the title of an existing Cadence to open it. You may also Create a new Cadence if necessary. You will land on the Cadence’s overview page.Add an Email Step : From the Cadence Overview Page, add a Cadence step . Then, click the email icon.Select AI Dynamic Emails : Select the AI Dynamic Emails option. Complete your AI Dynamic Email Fields : In the AI Dynamic Email fields, review and complete the following information:
Step Name : Enter a name for the Cadence stepInstructions : Describe your product/service for this cadence.: You can include a description of your value prop for your business or product. What benefits does your product or service provide? How does your product or service uniquely deliver its core benefit?Call to Action : Enter a statement or instruction that encourages a specific action. For example: Book a Meeting.( Optional ) Language : Click the dropdown to select the language you want the email to be created in( Optional ) Day Number : ( Optional ) Enable Multi-touch : (Optional) Click the Use AI to rewrite instructions button (wand icon) to use AI and refine your written instructions into a prompt. Generate a Preview (Optional) : Select the Generate Preview button to see a real-time preview of the AI-generated email on the right-side of the window.Hit "Add Step" : Complete the setup by hitting "Add Step."
Figure 2: Create an AI Dynamic Email Step.
When you add an email step using a template, you have the option to automate the email step. Automating an email step allows the email to send automatically, without you having to hit Send .
Things to Note: The Automate this Step checkbox is not available for AI-generated email steps.
To automate an email step, follow these steps:
Create a Standard email step : Create a Cadence if necessary. From your Cadence’s overview page, add a Cadence step . In the Create Step box, select the email icon. Select the Standard email option. Select "Automate this step" : Check the Automate this step box. Enter your automated email options : Click the Send Email dropdown to choose how you would like the automated email to be sent. Choose from the following options:
At a Specific Time : Allows automated emails to be sent at a specific time. When you select this option the following fields will appear for you to fill out:
Select Time : Type in a time of click the clock icon on the right side of the text box to open the time dropdown. Select a time. Select Time Zone : Pick one of the following options:
Person's Time Zone Your Time Zone After a Time Dela y: Enter the number of minutes after a Person enters this step you want the email to wait before sending. When you select this option the following field will appear for you to fill out:
Enter the Time Delay: The number of minutes after a Person enters this step you want Salesloft to wait before sending the email.
Figure 2: Automate an email step from the Create Step window.
When an automated email step is created, the overview page will show a stylized email icon. The email step will also have an Automated label.
Figure 3: View email step details from the step panel.
Threading an email step means sending your message as a reply within an existing email conversation thread. This keeps your communications organized and allows the recipient to see the full context.
Things to Note: When you run a threaded email step, content is pulled from the email thread even if the prior step was skipped.
To thread an email step, follow these steps:
Create a Standard email step : Go to the Cadences page and select a Cadence. This will direct you to the Cadence Overview. Add a new email step and select Next: Step Content. Select the Thread email option : In the Create Step modal where you compose the email, click the Thread dropdown and choose from the following options:
New Thread : Starts a new email threadDay {}, Step {} : Allows you to thread an email from a particular email step.Hit Add Step .
Figure 4: Thread an email step from the email creation window.
Cadence Step Panel Overview Once the email step is added, you will see it on the Cadence Overview page as its own Cadence Step details panel.
The Email step includes the following details:
Email Details :
Name : Each email used will have a designated name.Preview : The preview shows the first line of text in your email. Template Labels : Right next to your template you may see a boxed template label. The labels include the following:
Saved : Saved templates were either chosen from your template list or were composed while creating your Cadence and saved later. Either way, a saved template gathers metrics and can be used in other Cadences and one-off emails.Team : Any templates used within your Cadence that are saved as Team Templates.Automated : Email step is set to send automatically on the date the Person is due for that step.Email Stats : Comprehensive breakdown of the email stats specific to this Cadence step
Sent : Total number of emails sent using this Cadence steps.Views : Percentage of emails views over the number of emails sent.Clicks : Percentage of emails that contain links that were clicked over the number of emails sent.Replies : Percentage of emails that received replies over the number of emails sent.Figure 5: View email step details from the step panel.
AI Generated Emails using the Account Research Agent Salesloft's Account Research Agent can inject Account information into an AI-generated email step. This is helpful for delivering highly personalized engagement at scale.
To use the Research Agent, an admin must enable the setting . To learn more about the Account Research Agent, check out the Understanding Account Research Agent in Salesloft article.
To learn more about AI inside Salesloft, check Salesloft & AI .
