How to Create an Automated Follow-Up Sequence in Make.com From Scratch

A well-structured follow-up sequence is the difference between a 5% close rate and a 25% close rate for most small businesses. In this tutorial, you'll build a complete automated multi-step follow-up sequence in Make.com — from trigger to delay to conditional branching based on prospect behavior.

This is a sequence your clients can deploy for lead nurturing, post-demo follow-up, post-quote follow-up, or reactivation campaigns. It's a $300–$800 productized service that takes about 3 hours to build.

What You'll Build

• Trigger: new lead enters the sequence from a form, CRM, or spreadsheet
• Email 1: immediate personalized intro email
• Wait 2 days
• Check: did they open or click? (conditional routing)
• Email 2A (opened): value-add follow-up
• Email 2B (not opened): re-subject line variant
• Wait 3 days
• Email 3: final nudge with CTA
• CRM update: mark as "Nurturing Complete"
• Slack notification: alert sales rep if no response after full sequence

Step 1: Set Up Your Make.com Scenario

Log into Make.com and click Create a new scenario. Name it Lead Follow-Up Sequence v1. Make organizes everything into modules connected in a flow.

The first module is always your trigger. For this sequence, you'll use a Google Sheets → Watch Rows module to detect new leads added to a spreadsheet.

Step 2: Configure the Trigger Module

Add the Google Sheets → Watch New Rows module:

• Connection: your Google account
• Spreadsheet ID: your leads sheet
• Sheet Name: Sequence Leads
• Limit: 10 rows per execution

Your sheet needs columns: id, first_name, last_name, email, company, entered_sequence_at, status.

Set up a Webhook to run this scenario every 15 minutes, or use the Scheduling panel to run at specific times.

Step 3: Send Email 1 — The Intro Email

Add a Gmail → Send an Email module (or Outlook, or your SMTP service via the Email module):

• To: {{1.email}}
• Subject: Quick question for {{1.company}}
• Body (HTML): personalized intro using first name and company name
• From Name: your client's name
• Reply-To: your client's email

After sending, add a Google Sheets → Update a Row module to log the send:

• Update column email_1_sent_at to {{now}}
• Update column status to Email 1 Sent

Step 4: Add the 2-Day Wait

Make.com handles delays differently than n8n. You can't simply "pause" a scenario — instead, you use a scheduler + date comparison approach.

The cleanest approach: after sending Email 1, store the next_action_date as 2 days in the future. Create a separate scenario that runs daily, checks for leads where next_action_date <= today, and processes them.

In your update module, add:

• next_action_date: {{addDays(now; 2)}}
• next_action: send_email_2_check

Step 5: Build the Follow-Up Scenario

Create a second scenario called Follow-Up Sequence Processor. This runs daily and picks up leads that are ready for their next touch.

Trigger: Scheduling → Every Day at 9:00 AM

First module: Google Sheets → Search Rows:

• Filter: next_action_date <= {{formatDate(now; YYYY-MM-DD)}}
• Filter: status != Completed
• Limit: 50

Step 6: Add Conditional Routing with a Router Module

Add a Router module after the search. This is Make.com's equivalent of n8n's IF node, but more powerful for multiple branches.

Configure three routes:

• Route 1: next_action = send_email_2_check — check open status and send Email 2
• Route 2: next_action = send_email_3 — send final follow-up
• Route 3: next_action = mark_complete — close out the sequence

Step 7: Check Email Open Status (Route 1)

In Route 1, add another Router to split based on whether Email 1 was opened. Since standard Gmail doesn't expose open tracking natively, integrate a sending service like Mailtrack or Sendinblue via their API.

HTTP Request module:

• Method: GET
• URL: https://api.sendinblue.com/v3/smtp/statistics/events?email={{1.email}}&event=opened
• Header: api-key: YOUR_SENDINBLUE_KEY

Then add a nested Router:

• If events.length > 0 → send Email 2A (engaged follow-up)
• If events.length = 0 → send Email 2B (re-engagement)

Step 8: Send Email 2A and 2B

Email 2A (opened): Subject line like "Here's what other [industry] companies are doing..." — add a case study or value prop.

Email 2B (not opened): Completely different subject line like "{{1.first_name}}, did you see this?" — shorter, punchier.

After each send, update the sheet with:

• email_2_sent_at: now
• next_action_date: {{addDays(now; 3)}}
• next_action: send_email_3

Step 9: Send the Final Email (Route 2)

Email 3 is your break-up email — the last touch that creates urgency:

Subject: "Should I close your file, {{1.first_name}}?"

Body: Short, 3-sentence email acknowledging that you've tried to connect, offering one last chance to engage, and saying you'll stop reaching out.

After send: update next_action to mark_complete, next_action_date to tomorrow.

Step 10: Complete the Sequence and Alert Sales

In Route 3, update the lead's status to Sequence Complete - No Response, then add a Slack → Send a Message module:

• Channel: #sales-followup
• Message: 📋 {{1.first_name}} {{1.last_name}} at {{1.company}} completed the full sequence with no response. Consider a manual LinkedIn outreach.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

• Scenario timeout: Make.com has a 40-minute execution limit. For large lead lists, use the SplitInBatches iterator to process in chunks
• Duplicate emails: Always check your status column before sending — add a filter module at the start of each route to skip already-processed leads
• Timezone issues: Make.com uses UTC by default — set your timezone in scenario settings to avoid sending emails at 3am your client's time

If you want to compare Make.com against n8n for this type of workflow, our guide on n8n vs Make vs Zapier for AI agents covers the trade-offs in detail. And for a deeper dive into building AI-enhanced workflows, check out our beginner's guide to AI agents in n8n.

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