Create your first follow-up

A follow-up is a dated commitment on a channel, with the reason attached. The reason is the part people leave out and the part that makes it work: when it falls due, whatever acts on it has to know why it exists. Six channels are available, and one of them — task — is deliberately work for a person that nothing will ever send.

Status: Available What this means
Audience: both
In the app: #/follow-ups, #/needs-you
Last verified: 2026-09-10
Product version: 6.3.2

Anatomy of one#

The commitment: What was promised, in the words you would use to the customer. 'Send the revised quote', not 'follow up'.
The reason: Why it exists — the call it came from, the objection it answers, the thing that was missing. This travels with it and is what a draft is written against.
The due time: When it stops being early and starts being late. Follow-ups are worked by time, so a vague date produces vague chasing.
The channel: email, whatsapp, sms, phone, any, or task. any lets the best route be chosen; task means a person does it.

The task channel is worth knowing about on day one. Nothing drains it and nothing sends it — it appears as work for a person to do. 'Ring the supplier yourself', 'sign the delivery note', 'decide the discount' all belong there, and putting them there keeps them in the same queue as everything else you owe somebody.

Creating one#

From the conversation or call it came out of, create the follow-up there rather than on a blank screen.
Result It arrives already attached to the person and the thread, so the reason has context and nobody has to reconstruct it later.
Write the commitment as an instruction to a colleague, and put the reason underneath.
Result When it falls due, the draft written against it answers the right question instead of restating that a follow-up was due.
Choose the channel deliberately. Use task if the answer is 'somebody has to actually do this'.
Result You have avoided the most common disappointment — expecting Connect to do something in the physical world because a follow-up existed.
Set the due time and leave it alone.
Result It appears on #/follow-ups with everything else outstanding, ordered by when it matters.

What happens when it comes round#

Channel	What happens	If it cannot run
`email`, `whatsapp`	A reply is drafted against the reason and handled by that channel's autonomy	It waits in Needs You like any held message
`sms`	Depends on the provider carrying SMS; the live carrier does not	It stays outstanding rather than pretending to send
`phone`	A call is placed through the same gates as any outbound call, a couple per cycle	A line that is not ready is retried about an hour later
`any`	The route is chosen from what is available for that person	Falls back to remaining outstanding
`task`	It is shown as work for a person to do	Nothing automatic — that is the point

What a follow-up is not#

Not a reminder for you alone. Except on task, it is a commitment something will act on under the autonomy you set.
Not a calendar entry. It carries a reason and a channel, which a calendar entry does not, and it is drained rather than displayed.
Not a way past a rule. A due follow-up to a blocked or suppressed contact does not send; the block is a directive that holds across channels and future conversations.
Not fire and forget. The follow-ups screen is one of the five things worth reviewing weekly, because a growing pile of overdue ones is the earliest sign that autonomy is set tighter than your attention can support.

Questions#

What happens if I complete something myself?

Mark the follow-up complete. That stops the chase and records that the commitment was met — which matters later, because the record of what was promised and what happened is what a relationship view is built from.

Can Connect create follow-ups without me?

Yes, and that is much of the value: a promise made on a call or in a reply becomes a dated commitment automatically, rather than depending on somebody remembering. The Assistant can also create and complete them, within rights that are narrower than a person's.

Why did a phone follow-up never ring?

Three ordinary reasons: the line was not ready and it is waiting for a retry; it went past the lateness limit and was closed as missed; or the call needed approval under the voice channel's autonomy and is waiting for a yes. Each of those is recorded against the follow-up rather than left to be guessed.