Troubleshooting exclusion settings not working in Salesforce sync

If your exclusion settings aren't working as expected and contacts are still receiving emails despite being excluded, there are several common causes to investigate. This issue often occurs when exclusions rely on CRM data or when configuration settings aren't properly enabled.

Common Causes of Exclusion Failures

CRM Sync Issues

When exclusions rely on CRM data fields (such as 'last activity date' from Salesforce), contacts that aren't properly synced to the CRM won't be excluded as expected. Common causes of sync failures include:

• Duplicate records: which prevents the contact from syncing and therefore prevents CRM-based exclusion criteria from being applied.

• Missing CRM field values — if an exclusion relies on a specific field (e.g., "ARR - Enterprise"), contacts without that field populated in the CRM won't match the exclusion criteria.

• Incorrect company associations — contacts must be properly associated to the correct company record for company-level exclusions to apply.

Understanding the Dual-Layer Exclusion System

Exclusions won't apply to a sequence if the sequence's ruleset has exclusions toggled off. See Step 2 below to verify ruleset configuration.

1. Global/Sequence Level: Settings → Exclusions → click 3 dots → Advanced → Sequences toggle

2. Sequence Ruleset Level: Sequence → Settings → Ruleset → verify exclusions are toggled ON

If either level is disabled, the system treats excluded contacts as eligible for enrollment, which can result in unintended outreach to active deals or other protected contacts.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting

When a contact or company that should be excluded gets enrolled anyway, systematically check both configuration levels:

1. Verify Global Settings

1. Go to Settings → Exclusions

2. Click the 3 dots next to your exclusion

3. Scroll to Advanced

4. Ensure the Sequences toggle is ON

2. Verify Sequence Ruleset

1. Go to the specific Sequence

2. Click Settings → Ruleset

3. Verify that exclusions are toggled ON in the ruleset

4. If using the default ruleset, check Settings → Sequence → Ruleset to ensure the default has exclusions enabled

3. Check for CRM Sync Issues

If exclusions still aren't working for certain contacts after verifying configuration settings, check for duplicate records in your CRM that may be blocking the sync process and preventing CRM-based exclusion criteria from being applied.

4. Verify Company Domain Matching (for company-level exclusions)

Company-level exclusions match on the company record's domain field in your CRM, not the email domain, and require exact matches.

1. Confirm the company record's domain in your CRM matches exactly what's in your exclusion criteria (e.g., example.com)

2. Check for domain variations (e.g., exampleinc.com vs example.com) – each variation must be added as a separate exclusion

3. Verify the contact is associated to the correct company record with the matching domain

Prevention Tips

• Regularly audit your exclusion settings at both the global and sequence ruleset levels

• Monitor for duplicate records in your CRM and resolve them promptly

• Test exclusions with a small sample before running large campaigns

• Verify that CRM data fields used in exclusions are syncing properly

• Allow up to 30 minutes for exclusion or CRM field updates to propagate through the system before testing