Use when you need to design the cadence/sequence structure that moves a cold prospect to a booked meeting across multiple channels - the orchestration of touches, not the copy of any one message. Trigger phrases "design an outreach sequence", "build a cold cadence", "how many touches should my sequence have", "multi-channel sequence", "what's a good follow-up cadence", "set up day-by-day steps", "how long should my sequence be", "add LinkedIn and calls to my email sequence", "design a breakup email sequence", "what's the spacing between touches". Workflow chooses channels and mix, sets length and step spacing, defines bump/follow-up logic, matches personalization tier to account tier, wires the "why now" signal hook, varies the message angle across steps, and sets exit/branch criteria. Do NOT use for writing the words of a single email - use [[cold-email-craft]]. Do NOT use for who to put in the sequence - use [[prospect-list-builder]]. Do NOT use for building the sequence inside a tool - use [[apollo-prospecting]].
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name: outreach-sequence-designer
description: Use when you need to design the cadence/sequence structure that moves a cold prospect to a booked meeting across multiple channels - the orchestration of touches, not the copy of any one message. Trigger phrases "design an outreach sequence", "build a cold cadence", "how many touches should my sequence have", "multi-channel sequence", "what's a good follow-up cadence", "set up day-by-day steps", "how long should my sequence be", "add LinkedIn and calls to my email sequence", "design a breakup email sequence", "what's the spacing between touches". Workflow chooses channels and mix, sets length and step spacing, defines bump/follow-up logic, matches personalization tier to account tier, wires the "why now" signal hook, varies the message angle across steps, and sets exit/branch criteria. Do NOT use for writing the words of a single email - use [[cold-email-craft]]. Do NOT use for who to put in the sequence - use [[prospect-list-builder]]. Do NOT use for building the sequence inside a tool - use [[apollo-prospecting]].
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# Design a Multi-Channel Outreach Sequence
A sequence is a system, not a stack of emails. The unit of design is the *cadence*: which channels fire, in what order, how far apart, with what angle, and when a prospect exits. Most reps obsess over the words of touch #1 and ship a 3-email "sequence" that is really one email sent three times. That loses on both axes - single-channel, and no angle variation - so it gets ignored after the first send.
The core insight: replies are a function of *coverage over time*, not cleverness in a single message. The majority of positive replies land after the first touch, and a meaningful share come from channels other than email. Your job here is to design the orchestration so that a prospect who ignores your Day 1 email still gets a relevant, differently-angled reason to respond on Day 4 and Day 9 - without you babysitting it. The words live in ; the *structure* lives here.
## When to use this skill
- You are standing up a new outbound motion and need a defensible default cadence.
- Your current sequence is email-only and reply rates have flatlined.
- You are getting opens but no replies, and suspect the follow-up logic (not the copy) is the problem.
- You need to differentiate effort by account tier without building three separate machines.
- You have a fresh batch of signals and need a "why now" cadence to act on them.
Use for the actual message wording, for building this inside a tool, and for reading whether it works.
## The workflow
1. **Set the goal and the exit.** Define the single conversion event (usually "meeting booked" or "positive reply"). Then define every way a prospect *leaves* the sequence: replied, meeting booked, opted out, hard bounce → pause immediately; soft bounce → retry once then pause. Branches first - they protect your domain and your reputation.